text:
What do I do if a teacher fails me after they said I'd pass?
I just failed a university-level course that the instructor assured me I was passing.  We've discussed my grade in emails but we continue to disagree on how it should be calculated and even on what assignments should count. (The instructor did not adhere to the grading policy in her syllabus - this is a passing/fail issue.)
I have proof that I did enough to pass.  Grades are in and the school is out for the holiday break, but I feel like I need to do something before this becomes permanent.  What should I do?  As a student, how do I challenge a grade I think is unfair if can't resolve it with my instructor?

I think the question is clear and representative what a student might experience as an injustice and a crisis related to a poor or failing grade just before the holiday break.  It happens often enough, the details almost don't matter.  I think it's possible to answer this question with some factual advice that does not depend on the specifics or any other individual factors.

This is exactly why I never give students an estimate of their course grades.  I refer them to the grading plan in the syllabus and tell them to compute how well they must do on remaining work to earn the grade wanted.  (Of course, I have to stick to the grading plan in the syllabus to do this.)

I'll add a general comment: We have 2 paragraphs from a student so do not know the whole story of this situation. It's possible that the professor did something wrong, but it's also possible that the student is mistaken. I've had students many times expect grade X when they earned Y, and "somehow" calculated an average higher than what they really earned.

@chekid: I think as a general rule, one should always give advice based on the question we have. When somebody writes "a student cheated", people also don't question this premise. I've seen many unfair instructors in my life - they really do exist.

Contact your teacher (email) and start a paper trail where you outline the assignments in question: when they were due, when they were submitted, and if the teacher received them.
Given the break, schedule an appointment with the teacher after the break to sit down and discuss the issues at hand.
(As per aeismail's comment) I would agree to escalate to the department chair and inform your academic advisor before the dean.
At the same time as 5, should you choose to and if your institution has such a department, contact your ombudsperson office to create an informal avenue of conflict resolution outside of formal (and time consuming) solutions. They offer a means of conflict resolution that tries to arbitrate issues before you take formal action.
Depending on the results (no meet, meet but no success) escalate by appealing to your college Dean the issues and ensure that all paperwork is in order: an executive summary documenting the chronological order of events, all of your correspondence with the teacher indicating that you abided by the syllabus.
If and when you have a hearing, dress nice and present your case when you are called in for an appointment with the dean. Be factual and punctual. Don't demean or insinuate personal characteristics of the teacher in question, stick to the facts and what is the issue at hand.
At the end of the day, if all else fails, I would stand to believe that your college Dean answers to a higher 'officer' of the school. There should be a means to escalate your appeal to this final authority. There might be more, but for most if not all issues, this would be the highest authority to appeal to.

Best answer so far, except I would encourage the OP to also immediately notify his or her academic advisor about the situation, and maybe even copy the advisor on the email to the instructor. Instructors who behaved in such a way are much more likely to act if they know they are being held accountable to someone other than the student.

Also, probably the next point of contact is the chair of the department, not the dean. The dean would step in if the situation is not resolved at the chair level.

@aeismail great suggestions, I've added them as part of the answer.

Always double check the university's academic grievance policy. It often has very clear standards on who is to grieve the complaints and in which order, etc, and not doing things correctly could cause problems.

Go through the normal procedures listed here, but be willing at some point to move on. You don't know how many times I've heard from students claiming they should get grade X, when they earned Y. Profs do make mistakes occasionally, but they do generally know how to calculate grades.

A chancellor isn't a universal US position, I have a university president.

"In the US that would be the Chancellor or its equivalent in other countries."

@FrankFYC Yeah, which I read as "In the US, that's the chancellor, or whatever it is in other countries."

@Azor-Ahai removed it to reduce confusion.

Grades can almost always be changed later (often, even a year later!) if good cause is found.  So, there's probably no need to worry about what can be done over the holidays.  When everyone's back for the next term, there will be plenty of time to revisit your grade and make a correction if it's warranted.
If you can't resolve a grading issue with your instructor, you might next go to your department chair or your academic advisor.  But take care.  We've all experienced the disappointment of getting a lower grade than we'd hoped for on something important to us and we remember how that affected our emotions and sense of fairness.  As faculty, I now see it in my students and I can see it hurts and I wish I could make it go away by simply handing out exceptions.  But I can't without being unfair to others, e.g., those who were even closer to the cutoff but also received the same grade.
Consider the possibility you may have misunderstood how the grading was to be done and the extent to which any guidance you might have been given on your likely final grade was only guidance, not a guarantee.
I would double-check how your grade was calculated, including what assignments would count, against the syllabus and carefully re-read the explanations you received to be absolutely sure of your claims before going, e.g., to your department chair with a complaint.  Most institutions grant instructors considerable academic freedom to grade however they feel most appropriate and even to make reasonable changes to the way they grade during the term based on new information, e.g., discovery that an assignment or exam was harder than they'd anticipated.
That can even mean dropping entire assignments from the initial list in the syllabus. In a logic design course I used to teach at UW, I'd explain that homework sets were merely intended for practice, not meaningful use in grading since not everyone needs the same practice and anyone can get 100 with enough time spent.  What really mattered were the design projects in the lab and the exams.
Later in the course, with students busier on projects and already getting enough practice, I often proposed to my classes, okay, everyone has seen the problem set posted and no one has time to do it.  Does this problem set count or should we just go through the solutions in class?  If you are the one person who's upset because I eliminated that homework from counting, the chair is going to want to know about you right away.
It's possible your instructor has behaved unreasonably but take care to consider if there's another side to the story your chair will also hear about from your instructor if you go there.  Lawyering over individual words in the syllabus, arguments that amount to asking to be graded differently than the rest of the class and leaving out important details are rarely successful strategies.
Try to see if there's anything to learn from this so it doesn't happen again, which may be as simple as working a little harder next time or taking a lighter course load in the future so you have more time to do better.  Twelve units of straight As always beats seventeen units with a couple of Cs.

Is it possible that she is pushing it off until after the break then? Like how hard is it for a teacher to change a grade after the term?

@TonyGallagher  Changing a grade at most universities is done through a simple online form.  If you've done it before, it takes 5 minutes.  I've submitted many grade change requests where I've taught and never had one questioned.  Nor was there any time limit.  At UW, I think I could have changed grades I'd issued years earlier.  To your other question, yes, let her enjoy the break.  By the end of the term, faculty are exhausted as well.  Try not to let it ruin your holiday.  Enjoy the break and resolve to do better next term.

+1 "It's possible your instructor has behaved unreasonably but take care to consider if there's another side to the story your chair will also hear about from your instructor if you go there." No matter what the truth of the situation is, this is important advice.

This answer is very geographically specific. I'm guessing you are writing about institutions in North America. You should appreciate that what you are saying is almost completely wrong in some other places. Academic freedom does not apply to grading in other places. Period. Nor can instructions arbitrarily design assessments - never mind change them later.

In Germany there is a time limit (normally 1 month) for an appeal. That should be checked, waiting can essentially mean accepting the grade.

Could you clarify your last sentence, especially the word "always"? In my experience (non-academia, Central Europe), nobody ever wants to see your grades (when applying for the job, you only need to show that you completed the studies). In this case, every student who was quicker would have more money in the end.

@Udank If employers aren't concerned about grades, it's probably because they've got other ways to tell what a candidate knows, e.g., whiteboard problems for software engineers.  Twelve units of As is 3 courses = 3 problem areas the candidate can probably nail.  The Cs are things they probably can't do in an interview.

There were also no whiteboard problems for my friends (mathematicians). I would also say that if you cannot do a subject, you do not deserve a C.

First step is talk to the teacher. It may be a simple mistake, which is than easily fixed.
After that you follow the complaint procedure of your institution.

Step 1 - Find and read your university's grade-review policy: Every university has some policy in place to allow students to apply for review of grading from an instructor.  Your first step should be to check your university website or contact someone in the administration to find this policy, and then read it.  This will tell you the grounds on which you can apply for review, and the administrative process that is required.  For almost all such policies, time is of the essence - you are expected to take action on this within a reasonable time, so you should get started right away.
Step 2 - Do what the policy says; leave a paper trail: The specifics of what you do next depend on the particular review policy, but in my experience, most of these processes require you to contact your course lecturer in the first instance and then there is a process to escalate things to a reviewer if you are unsatisfied with the response.  Most policies do not give you an automatic right of review, but require you to give grounds for why you think a review is justified.  From your post it sounds like this will not be a problem.  As other commentators have advised, make sure you do everything by email so that you leave a paper-trail of your requests for review, etc.

I went through this exact situation a while ago, although it wasn't at university level, it was with my daughter who was threatened with not graduating middle school because of an elective Spanish course taught by someone who didn't like her, while her other grades were A's and B's.  Flunking 8th grade?  How stupid!  But, read on, your situation will replay in different ways for the rest of your life.
Get your emails organized so you have clear documentation of your attempts at resolution and your teacher's refusals to follow their rules for how the class was to be graded.  Be sure the emails contain the teacher's rules and why they are arbitrarily being disregarded.  If you can't get an answer to that issue, that's fine; it's evidence the teacher is not being honest.  Organize proof of the  assignments you turned in to earn a passing grade.
When you have proof of both your work and the teacher's refusal to pass you in a package that an outsider can easily understand, email the appropriate dean, dept head, whoever, with your information and ask for resolution, ie., a passing grade.
If your grade isn't changed, request a meeting with the teacher, dean and you.  You'll probably have to do this face to face meeting, email is a great way for the stubborn to shirk responsibility.
In my case, I had a ream of conflicting emails, constantly changing requirements, video evidence of assignments being handed directly to the teacher (friends have phones, too, LOL) she claimed were not submitted, etc.  Everything went to the Principal in emails, who supported the teacher until I requested a meeting among the three of us, during which it became clear to him the teacher was lying.  My daughter graduated and the teacher was fired, yay!
In college and grad school, I regularly approached professors who I thought misgraded my work or played favorites.  Do this well and you'll end up ahead, otherwise you're just another student in a mass of faces they see daily; if they know you better, they'll usually help you. Be prepared, know what you want from them, they despise indecision. Back then, email, the internet, anti-social networking, the ability to exist as text, images and vids wasn't possible, an individual's social market was vastly smaller so people were more genuinely assertive and persistent than now.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained, go as far as you need for this zero sum game teacher to be embarrassed; this is a great life lesson, something you'll go through many times.  Life is not fair unless you make it fair.

Interesting anecdote, although I'm not sure I can agree with the broad-brush generalization that most professors "despise" indecision.

The following suggestions are based entirely on you being 100% truthful and accurate with your statements.
Your assumptions should echo every item on assignments, attendance, quizzes, tests, etc.
I realize one of the topics discussed previously was which assignments would count toward your grade. Did you ask if there would be a penalty if you failed to turn in the assignments, even if those assignments did not count toward the final grade? Perhaps that is the reason for your current failing grade?
If all of the above still seems to support your assertion that you have earned a passing grade, I would recommend the following steps.
1. I agree with everyone's first step which appears to be contact the professor/instructor for your class.
If the first step does not produce your desired grade change, move to step 2.
2. Request a meeting with the chair/ head/director of the department that offered the course in question.
It is noteworthy that should you meet with the professor's direct supervisor who is in most cases the department chair/ head/director you must come prepared with documentation. This documentation must be thorough, and you must show any discrepancies, etc. You should have a copy to leave with the person you meet with now and in all of the following steps. Also, for this step and the subsequent steps, you will be meeting with people that undoubtedly will believe the professor's grade is accurate and justified.
You must prove that your current mark is inaccurate and unjustified.
If you still are unable to either understand why your current grade will remain in place or you believe you deserve to pass and no action in that direction occurs, move to step 3.
3. Schedule a meeting with the dean of the school or college within which is the location of the department. Again make sure you have documentation for everything, including emails, dates of meetings, returned assignments, quizzes, and any other formative evaluations you received throughout the class.
At this point you most likely are quite a distance from the professor and the dean might not even be totally familiar with the subject matter. So, your argument here must be objective. Do your best to not use any emotional statements as arguments for a passing grade. Keep it completely objective, using straight facts.
Still frustrated and not seeing the proper outcome?
4. Schedule a meeting with the Dean of Undergraduate Studies and once again present your argument.
If this still does not work for you, I might suggest that you take one final step.
5. Contact the Office of the Ombudsman and again be clear, concise, and factual in the presentation of your argument. Make sure you include dates of all meetings, topics discussed, why there has not been a proper resolution based on exactly what the previous people have told you not what you think.
If those steps do not change your grade, it would seem that you did not earn a passing grade. In the end, the professor of the course has the final say, and it is my experience that if the professor believes the grade is correct and justified it will remain.
Finally, take a moment to ask yourself the following questions. And ask them independent of whether your efforts result in a change from fail to pass.

Why did you put yourself in this position?
What is going wrong in your life that you are arguing about which assignments will count, etc. just to pass? and,
Why didn't you excell and pass without even the slightest concern?

Best of luck, let me know if you think I can help you along.

This is a bad situation. First, you should tell her about the situation. Maybe she sees that you are in a bad situation because of a mistake and grades your assignments. (Even if "grading is closed", there should always be a possibility to correct severe mistakes.)
If she refuses, go to a person higher than her and explain that person your situation (with all the proofs).
If this still doesn't help, try student unions, your advisor, more higher persons (if appliciable).
If still nothing happens (which is the case far too often), you cannot do anything more.

Could someone comment on the downvoting? I am fairly new to this site, sorry.

The answer is extremely vague, particularly in the academic context where the regulations and culture require things be done in a certain way, and adds nothing to the detailed answers that are already present.

Adding nothing is due to this answer being the first (together with Maarten Buis' answer);) I

What she said, is nothing compared to what she registered in written form. However, it is unlikely that she had done this intentionally with you. It is nearly sure, that it was a mistake from her part. The question is, where was the mistake: her 180, or her 115.
Alternatively, it might be a mistake from your part (you misunderstood something or so).
"Grading is closed" likely means that even she can't make a fix without contacting other people (typically, some higher-level administration) to change your result. Doing this, she would admit (for powers over her) that she did a mistake, she likely won't do it. However, if she accepts that you should have got 180, then she likely won't let you falsely failed.
Contact she, and explain the problem. Your goal shouldn't be to overpower she, because she is obviously more powerful as you in this case. Your goal should be to set she to your side. But she should see on you that you are very determined in this case.
If you don't have anything written about your 180, and she doesn't side with you, then you are likely lost.
If you are not in a critical situation (for example, you will be a dropout), then I would suggest to let it as it is.
If your degree depends on it, fight until the last shot (student's union and so on).

Letting it as is is horrible advice. The poster has proof the work has been submitted and written confirmation that the instructor refuses to grade it. The instructor is behaving maliciously, and should be castigated for it.

@aeismail This part: "I have [...] emails confirming [...] that she [...] said I would pass" sounds a little bit unrealistic to me. 1) How can the OP prove (by e-mails), what the instructor said? 2) Then she graded it or not? If she refused to grade, then why do we have a result? | I can't see it so likely that it is intentional bad behavior from her side, becase the question is too blurry. The answer tries to make an optimal strategy for the OP, to make his case more clear (and, to pass the class, if he can).

@aeismail If the instructor says verbally 180, and then registers 115, then it is 115, even if she wasn't fair doing this. There are various possibilities of an appeal (depending highly on the internal rules), but typically none is easy or has a high chance. It deserves its price if the alternatives are more worse. This is the logic of the answer.

You’re ignoring the part where she confirmed in an email she’s not grading assignments the student has proof were submitted. The instructor has no right to fail a student because she doesn’t want to grade work.

@aeismail If the instructor is not cooperative, it makes the thing very hard. Doing this after the closure of the grading makes it also very hard. If the OP finally doesn't have right (i.e. his work is really 115), it makes the thing impossible. Putting these 3 together, I think the chances are very low -> fight worths only in "capital cases".

@aeismail But the fact is that the OP got finally a grade, what contradicts the instructors' (or the OPs') statement that the instructor refuses grading.

The student got a grade because the instructor is required to enter grades at the end of the semester. That’s different from the charge of not grading assignments and failing as a result. If there is evidence the assignments were submitted on time and an email saying the instructor won’t grade them, that’s all the proof that should be required for a successful appeal. And it is certainly possible at many schools to appeal grades after they’ve been submitted.

Few things to clear up thing here. 1 my school uses something called blackboard and that is where we turn in our assignments and it keeps track of what is submitted and when. 2 the things I say I will literally copy paste from the email down below.

"I will however pass you this time because I see here you have submitted the assignments. Next time I hope you do not intend to put yourself in a situation where you have to do this type of thing."

Announcement sent via email to class "due to time constraints assignments Library Race, Cash Course, and DW academic plan will not be put into the gradebook. I hope you all have a wonderful break."

@TonyGallagher "Next time I hope you do not intend to put yourself in a situation where you have to do this type of thing."  What is this in reference to?  What is "this type of thing"?  It sounds as though you were at fault for something not mentioned in the question.

@JMac: I think the situation is that the student knows that so many lowest grades will be dropped, and immediately uses up all those chances by not even doing the first N assignments.  The professor is right to warn him that the behavior is stupid, but does still need to honor the grading policy in the syllabus.

@BenVoigt The wording really doesn't sound that way; but I guess we need OP's input.

Hey sorry it took so long. What she was referencing was that my grade shouldn't have been counting on these last 3 assignments to make it or break it but honestly there's only 220 points available for that class so unless you do every assignment outside of it I think your screwed. Because you need 140 at least. Correction:215 according to blackboard

Also @benvoigt i literally have never had a class like that and have never heard of a class like that. Now how exactly does that work in this case because she dropped the last 3 assignments for the entire class (although I texted a friend in my class and she said she had 1 of them graded on hers) so how exactly does that work in this situation?


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Would it be appropriate to ask depressed brother's professor to reach out to brother?
My brother is severely depressed and has absolutely minimal support, in any form, from my family.  He's a very bright guy with no direction and no resources at home. After graduating from high school, he spent 3 years at a dysfunctional relative’s home playing video games, and finally enrolled in college after I badgered him the entire time in-between.
He chose not to enroll for the second year of college. He stayed at home playing games again. He "did not like" school except for one course, where he happened to have a minor friendship with a professor.  This professor nominated my brother’s essay for a departmental honor. My brother rarely has good news, and when he does he often does not voluntarily share it. So for him to offer this story up to me makes it stand out.
This professor almost certainly knows my brother has some sort of problems. There are cases when you can just look at someone and know; my brother is one of those cases. But, given that this prof nominated my brother’s essay for a departmental honor, I think that the prof at least somewhat believes my brother is capable of some sort of achievement (I think my brother is even brighter and more capable than me, but I know him differently).
I want to reach out to brother’s professor and ask him to inquire about my brother’s situation. Going to college is the best chance my brother has to break a generational cycle, but he does not know this, and he will not listen to me (I am only 3 years older than him, he may think I'm a similarly clueless peer). This prof, on the other hand, is a person who my brother might listen to. Presumably the professor also agrees with my assessment of what an education can do for a life. I sense that this idea might get backlash – e.g. this is not the prof’s responsibility, that it is rude to even ask, and perhaps if the prof cared he would have reached out on his own already. However, on the other hand, this prof probably went into this business with the hopes of changing the world for the better, and thirty minutes or an hour of his time might change someone’s life. Plus, he has no reason to know just how dire my brother’s situation is (there are plenty of loser-looking people with average to robust support networks – but my brother does not). I plan on contacting the prof, either via email or phone. What I ask you is for advice on how to tactfully and effectively make this ask.
The end goal is to get my brother back in school and to encourage my brother to build his own support network, and to know that it is impossible to succeed without one. I accept that I might get a flat out “no,” but for the sake of this thread let’s assume that he agrees to something small like a phone call or a coffee (I assume he is kind enough to oblige, plus he seems to have liked my brother somewhat). Also, how should I handle the corollary issues that my ask might raise? For example, I don’t want to make this prof feel like I am asking him to be a mentor to my brother or that this will create some enduring obligation. Moreover, I can’t expect this prof to know how to deal with people the same way a therapist would. Is it appropriate to suggest that the professor suggest therapy (which is what’s truly needed here) to my brother? There are more things that may come up, but for the sake of ending this post, I’ll end it here. Many thanks to you all.

What part of the world / country are you in?

https://academia.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/4700/how-can-we-better-react-to-askers-who-are-having-a-mental-health-crisis

"I plan on contacting the prof, either via email or phone. What I ask you is for advice on how to tactfully and effectively make this ask."

If you can wait until January, I would.  Your email would seem less intrusive after the break, I think.
I suggest you make a connection with the professor, and have a rather open-ended call, rather than making a particular request.  Trust the professor's empathy and interest in your brother to (a) perhaps ask if there's anything he can do, and (b) think creatively about what he could do.
The professor is a different person from you, and his relationship with your brother is different from yours.  He may have a different way of interacting or influencing your brother, that might not be exactly what you are imagining.  But if the professor is interested in getting in touch with your brother, I imagine you'll feel relieved and grateful, and won't mind if he doesn't take a precise Jazzie3-clone approach.
I don't know what the professor's reaction would be, but if I were in his shoes, I would go into a conversation with my troubled student with, again, an open-ended approach.
Sometimes it's helpful to go with a loved one to a regular medical doctor.  See this other answer.
Sometimes it's helpful for the frustrated person (you) to talk things over with a therapist.  This can be hard to accept, but surprisingly, it can be helpful.
Possible starting point for an email:

Dear Prof. X,
I'm Zak's brother.  He was really touched when you nominated him for a
  prize, and I was impressed at how engaged he was in your class.
Zak isn't doing so well this year.
I can imagine that with confidentiality rules, there's not much you
  can say, but it would still be helpful for me to talk with the one professor Zak made a good connection with.  May I make an appointment to come and see you?

+1. I would just add the word "brief" to the last sentence (e.g., "an appointment for a brief phone call or visit"). As the instructor, I would be nervous about getting roped into an open-ended mental health intervention, but would happily agree to a brief call (during which, I might happily agree to another brief call with the student in question).

One thing to be aware of is that in the US there is a law (FERPA) that limits what professors can discuss with others about students and their academic performance.  The professor might not be in a position to talk about this student at all (even stating that a person was a student at the university could be a FERPA violation.)

FERPA does not prevent the professor from listening to anything OP wants to say to him, so this is mostly a non-issue, as OP only wishes to ask the professor to do certain things, and does not require any input from the professor’s side. All OP needs to do to get around FERPA (assuming the professor would be that concerned about it, which most aren’t) is “I know that my brother took your course, and that you are not legally allowed to confirm that fact, so you don’t need to say anything, please just listen to what I have to say.”

+1 This (FERPA) is exactly why I was asking OP which part of the world they were in ...

Starting with "Do you know my brother John who was a student at your university", I'm afraid that I'd have to say, "I'm sorry, I can't discuss anything about John with you."  Merely confirming that John was a former student of mine is against the rules.  It's true that I could listen to anything you have to say, but since I couldn't respond, I'd cut the conversation short at that point.

FERPA specifically allows directory information to be disclosed to third parties without consent, provided the university gives notice of such (and the student has not requested restrictions be placed on it).

@PeterK. true, but I have no way of determining whether a student has requested that their directory information be kept private so I have to assume that the student has done so.

Interesting. The annotation is made on the student's information where I am, so it's very easy to check.  I don't get many queries anyhow, and they're usually student-inspired (so I have their permission).

My suggestion is to do what you think can help your brother and not worry too much about what is “appropriate”. With that said, I think you are putting too much hope in the professor’s ability to influence your brother. Depression is a serious illness that among its other effects can greatly distort people’s view of reality, to an extent that often cannot be countered using logic and persuasion (but may be addressed using medication and other medical care).
So go ahead and try if you must, but keep in mind that the professor is quite likely to refuse to intervene, and that even if he agrees, the chances that it would make any difference are not great.
Finally, I think the idea to ask the professor to suggest to your brother to go to therapy is a very bad idea. The professor cannot possibly know your brother well enough for such a recommendation to carry any authority (you said yourself that “he has no reason to know just how dire my brother’s situation is”), so making such a suggestion would only undermine his credibility and make it less likely that your brother would listen to any of his other advice.
Good luck. And just to be clear, everything I say here is my opinion only and should not be used as a substitute for professional medical advice, which I think is what your brother really needs.

Your brother's problem is, unfortunately, becoming a common one for many students in relation to getting caught up with cheap distractions because of depression or anxiety. That said, I know that many universities are developing strategies for dealing with students who are suffering from anxiety and depression as it is now becoming well known that university students suffer high rates. We as professors are asked to watch out if students are having difficulties and provide support if we can, or refer them to campus services.
Here's a hard line. The family situation may have contributed to your brother's situation and state of mind, however, he is also responsible for the choices he makes. On the other hand, if you do go to the Professor and ask him to reach out to your brother it seems that you are expecting your brother to appreciate that someone does care about him, other than you, and that he will hopefully respond appropriately. Unfortunately, depression does not respond to this form of intervention. Depression is after all a chemical imbalance in the brain that will not be alleviated by a single gesture or intervention. I wish you good heart.

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One more year left before I apply to math graduate school. Any advice to obtain good recommendation letters?
I am in the last year of my undergraduate studies before I apply to graduate school. I have some questions and I am also in need of some advice.
I know one professor very well and I plan on asking him for a recommendation letter. I also plan on doing research with him next summer. But I need two more and I am not quite close with any other faculty members.

Are letters from professors weighted more heavily than letters from postdocs?
Is one class enough to get to know a professor/instructor well? Would two classes be enough?
What if I don't take a class with a professor but I do a reading course? Is a single term of a reading course good enough for a professor to know me?

I plan on applying to US grad schools next year

Are you currently going to school in the US?  One issue is many professors in certain countries don't know how to/are unable to write appropriate letters of US grad schools.

Yes I go to a school in the US

I'm a mathematician who has been on a graduate admissions committee (albeit just for a masters program) and have written recommendation letters also. To answer your questions:

Yes, letters from professors may be weighted more heavily than postdocs, but the difference will be tiny; this won't likely matter to everyone looking at things. The biggest differences will likely be twofold: first, people on the relevant committees are more likely to actually know a professor than a postdoc, and if they do, that will generally be a positive. Second, if a professor says "This is the best student I've ever had" or something similar, that will mean more from a professor than a postdoc who hasn't taught as much. That said, a good letter from a postdoc will matter more than a mediocre letter from a professor.
One class is enough, two or more is better. If you only have had one class, make sure to stop by their office hours, ask good questions, and generally excel in their class.
Yes, and if anything, a single reading course may be better than a single regular course since they'll have more one-on-one interaction.

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text:
Invited talk had to be withdraw for visa reason, can it be on CV?
I had been invited to give a talk at a summer school abroad, but had to cancel due to a complex visa issue that could not be foreseen at the time I accepted to give the talk: it turns out that I'll be transitioning between two visas because of a job change, and will be unable to leave the country at that time. I had already spend time preparing and had bought airplane and train tickets. I've explored possible solutions to be able to attend in person, none of which panned out; I've offered the summer school to give the talk remotely, but this wasn't an option; I have since been working with the summer school to find a replacement and have offered to help them if needed. At this point I've invested a fair amount of effort, energy, and money into this invited talk that is not even going to happen. As a not particularly fancy postdoc, I only get very few invited talks. I was also looking forward to this particular summer school (which doesn't help with me having trouble letting go of this CV entry).
Is it OK to list this talk on my CV under the invited talk section, with some unambiguous qualifier e.g. "withdrawn for visa reasons", or perhaps something similar? Or would it do more harm than good?
Related question: Invited to give a talk but could not attend, can it be on CV? --> it seems the answer might depend on the specific reason for not being able to attend

What's wrong with: "Invitation to keynote talk on XXX about YYY" or the like?  There may be many reasons why you didn't give it - job interview, other commitments etc.

Seems fraught with danger. If you mention visa problems then you've now put potential visa problems in the minds of people considering you for things. If you omit the fact that you didn't go then you risk being considered a liar if people investigate further, find you didn't speak, but never give you an opportunity to explain further.

it seems the answer might depend on the specific reason for not being able to attend - What?  The top answers to the question you to link to all say: No, do not put a talk on your CV you haven't given.

As long as you're honest about it, I suppose you could put it on a CV.  However, I don't think an invitation to give a talk is likely to count for anything if you didn't actually give the talk - it raises more questions than it's worth.

It's a bad idea to put it on your curriculum. You should list on the curriculum things you have done, not things you could have done or might have done. Listing such things could generate questions about the credibility of what else is on the curriculum. Everyone has some mishaps along the way and can't do something that was planned; most never even think of listing it on a curriculum, so those that do so potentially generate skepticism about motivations.
In some metric obsessed institutional contexts it can appear that a single item on the curriculum has an importance it does not really have. Being invited to give talks is a nice thing, interesting for many reasons, but will never be decisive when a curriculum is evaluated. When one cuts through the nonsense, what principally matters on a curriculum are publications (quality and quantity), funding obtained in competitive contexts, and, in some contexts, teaching experience/ability (for engineers, one might add patents and commercialization to the list). All the rest is of marginal importance.
Finally, you do not want to create the impression that you do things in order to have them on your curriculum (as opposed to for their own sake). That might appeal to some deanish/director types, but it doesn't appeal to those who take their craft seriously, who are those most likely to be judging the curriculum.


text:
What is the timeline for UK postdoc applications in math?
I (a graduate student in math at a US university) have heard a lot of advice about applying for postdocs in math at US universities. I've been told when applications for jobs and NSF are due, when you can expect hear back, and how long you have to make a decision.
What is the timeline for applications to UK universities for math postdocs?

Postdocs in math don't exist in the UK. Postdocs in maths, however... ;)

The timeline varies from one place to another. Some Universities will compose a shortlist in a week after the deadline and call candidates in for an interview a couple of weeks later. Following the interview, the final decision can be made in a couple of days.
However, it is not uncommon for the shortlisting to take several months. For various reasons, the final decision after the interview can also take longer. I received my postdoc offer ~3 months after the interview date.


text:
I got a way worse grade than my classmates for equal performance. What should I do?
The professor for this course was, according to every one of my classmates (only 7 of us total so I could get all the opinions) a nightmare. To illustrate, in the last week of class, after we present a final assignment (no instructions other than the title of the assignment in the syllabus), he asks us if we'd been getting any of his emails for the whole semester. We said no. That last class was a sizable part of the grade but obviously no one had instructions or any knowledge of the percentage of the assignment relative to our grade.
Each week people in our course were confused about material and procedure and we all thought we were fools that should have known better. But we all had realized, in this last class meeting, that there was a reason for the disconnect: the instructions were not going through to us via email.
There was a discrepancy in my grade vs the other classmates grades, even though there is no discernible performance gap. I got the lower grade. The classmates I spoke with were surprised, for the same reason I am - namely they did not perceive a noticeable performance gap. My skin is crawling at the thought of asking the professor what the reason for this low grade was, but should I do it? Or can I go elsewhere (i.e. a Dean or something) first? I know for a fact other students are willing to attest to this professors disorganization and other bad qualities (some already have). I also suspect this professor has had complaints lodged against him in the past for similar reasons.

in my opinion is the key phrase here. Chanches are, your opinion is not correct.

I edited for clarity. As I said later though my classmates did agree with me.

@Jazzie3 quite often what students think is equivalent work, and what actually is equivalent work are different.  I've had students come to me with a friends paper for comparison (math); all of the broad strokes were indeed there, but none of the same detail was.  It's possible that you learn something important by just asking what it is that the prof felt was missing from your work.  Who knows, maybe they missed something as well.

+1 to Scott H's comment. I'll add that you shouldn't assume the worst. The professor has no reason to want to fail you - "I thought a class in ____ and half the students failed" is not something to be proud of. Ask the professor why you received a low grade. Do it in a non-accusatory way, and odds are they'll be willing to discuss it.

We've all had a bad grade that we didn't expect. What you need to do is find out why you were given one and not accuse anybody of doing wrong by you. For example, I got an average mark on an assignment I thought was pretty decent. When I approached my marker about it, they said "The assignment was actually well written, but due to the marking criteria there were several things that were missing from it so I had to deduct marks."

As to the comment about the professor not wanting to give bad grades: I sensed a good deal of animus. On my last day this professor made a snarky comment to me and a classmate about how long this semester had seemed. Sure I can't read into this too much and some will say it's subjective, but again, taken together with the prof's lack of responsibility mentioned above, I would say that he was objectively toxic. Also, another student had already complained to the school about him, so perhaps he was feeling even more upset - I'm not sure if he knew about the complaint before grades were due.

@Jazzie3 Remarking that it seemed like a long semester doesn't sound snarky to me.  It sounds like how I and pretty nearly every instructor I know feels by the end of every semester.  Teaching is a lot more work than you may think!

I am aware that teaching requires a lot of work - I taught high schoolers. Also - context matters. you can read the words "piss off" and not know whether it was in jest or serious based on context, right? I was trying to provide context about this person: the professor went the entire semester without knowing if his emails were reaching us, which suggests irresponsibility. Another student was compelled to complain before the end of the semester. This is not a put together person, like many of you may be. I understand professors sympathy toward their own but there are bad apples, you know.

@Jazzie3 Okay, how is it possible your whole class went the entire semester not knowing what the assignments were because you weren't getting email?  No one went to your instructor's office hours and said, "I don't understand this assignment", and the instructor didn't ask if they'd read the email and wasn't told they hadn't seen any email?  You make it sound like it's all the instructor's fault but there are too many loose ends in your story.

Easy answer:  Go talk to your professor at office hours.  You should escalate to your department chair or the dean only after you've tried in good faith and failed to resolve the problem directly with your instructor.  Don't escalate unless it's genuinely serious.
Try to be open-minded toward the possibility that there were deficiencies in your work that you may not have spotted that explain why your grade was lower than you think it should be.  Your fellow students' opinions are not reliable indicators of anything nor is it helpful to cite their complaints or opinions as justification for yours.  Go with the expectation you will learn something, not with the sole goal of getting more points.

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text:
Should I get informal with a professor if they didn't explicitly invite me to do so but the situation seems to suggest it's appropriate?
Some years ago I completed my B.Sc. in a university. I was very young and the default behaviour for all the students (especially the young ones) was to formally address the professors. PhD students were more likely to get informal with them.
After my degree I spent some years working in a research institute and during this period I had some distant collaborations with some of the former professors and I got more familiar with some of them. Also some of my fellow students during the B.Sc. in the same period enrolled in a PhD and some of them became researchers in the same university.
Eventually I decided to enrol again in the same university to pursue a M.Sc. This put me in a weird situation. I was in a very informal relationship with my former fellow students and they were in a quite informal relationship with my professors but still when talking with my professors I was supposed (by these unwritten rules) to address them formally, even when we were all in the same room. Some of my professors were also very casual with me, in some cases one even gave me his personal phone number to have casual chats about technology and similar stuff and meet at an event and have dinner together, another one hugged me and kissed me when I won a competition, and another one invited me to spend a weekend with me (and other people) for a short holiday.
I want to stress that all this behaviours were in general not uncommon in this university and by my personal standard not at all invasive or "bad". They were all done in a very friendly manner and not hidden from other students or other professor. It was all fairly normal among professors, researchers and PhD students.
Said that, I still felt that I was not authorised to get too informal with them because of the relationship professor-student and they never told me to get more informal with them.
I'm not sure if I came across as too cold, but I was not really sure what my behaviour should have been in a situation like that. Should I have been more informal with them by my own initiative?

This would vary by location. What country is this in?

Southern europe.

Have you considered discussing the matter with one of them?

I would suggest that you handle interactions more on the informal side when you are just around the professors and your former fellow students.
But when around the professors and your current fellow students I would stay on the formal side because otherwise you imply to the other students that every student can adress the professors like that (which the professors may not want).

Indeed, they need to walk a fine line at least for a while to see how things go.

I once had a professor who had been a childhood friend. I handled the situation exactly this way and it worked out very well.

In the staff room ie away from students then informal, any "public" place then formal. Works out just fine.


text:
How hard is it to re-enter academia as a postdoc in mathematics?
I'm currently in my first postdoctoral research position at a European university, in pure maths. I'm considering changing to software development. In case I would rather like to return to academia, how hard is it, as compared to trying to stay in academia right away?
The two scenarios I'd like to compare are:

Finishing my current postdoc and apply for new postdocs (let's assume that all relevant application deadlines are still in the future).
Finishing my current postdoc, working n years in software development and then apply for new postdocs.

How big does n have to become such that the chances of application success in the second scenario are significantly lower?

This question was definitely asked by a mathematician.

The possibility of getting a postdoc starts to drop rapidly as you become farther away from your PhD, regardless of what you are doing in the meantime. This goes double (or triple) if some of that time is spent without having publications.
What is your end goal? Certainly not to hop from postdoc to postdoc for the rest of your life. Answering this question will probably help you decide what to do. Take another postdoc if you are hoping to become a professor or academic researcher. Take a software development position if you are wanting to leave academia. Don't hold on to too much hope of being able to go back to academia in pure math after leaving for more than a year.

Yes, the point is not so much that you'd become incompetent, but that other people would probably have better-looking track records to compete for (the too-few-for-qualified-applicants) post-doc positions. As with other of these things, it's not about "being sufficiently qualified", because there are far too many sufficiently qualified people for all the spots. It's "being more qualified than the other people who are already well-qualified..."

"What is your end goal?" FWIW, I want to try software development in order to find out whether it suits me better. But since I have no experience in working as a software developer (only developed academically and as a hobby), I can't say for sure that I'll prefer it, and might want to switch back.

I think this would be effectively impossible with n>1. Many postdoc positions in math have a formal requirement that applicants have completed their PhDs within the last k years, with k usually equal to 3 or 4. Even when this is not a formal condition, the culture in math postdoc hiring makes it very unlikely that you will be seen as a competitive candidate for another postdoc after 2 or more years away from academia, unless perhaps your record is so strong already that you can be considered seriously for tenure track positions even now (in which case you should apply for those positions and not postdoc positions anyway).
With n=1 I think you may have a realistic chance, especially if you can offer a convincing explanation of what you were trying to achieve with the software development “gap year”, and especially if you take care to maintain visibility in your research community during your year in industry by continuing to publish and/or going to conferences.
Disclaimer: the above represents my opinion only and I cannot vouch for its accuracy. You should seek opinions from multiple sources before reaching a decision, including trustworthy senior people who are more familiar with your personal situation and goals. Anyway, good luck!

So, you basically want to leave the academia for N years and then to return back. While this is possible, mind that you would have a publication gap of N years that might affect your standing greatly.


text:
Is Australian Business Deans Council Journal Quality List 2013 a good metric to ascertain journal quality?
I found some discussion on how one should avoid journals on Beall's list.
Related: How do you judge the quality of a journal?
I wish to know about other such lists to ascertain good journals.
Specifically, is ABDC 2013 a good list to assess journal quality ?
Thanks.

It depends what you mean by 'quality'.
I would argue the very notion of ranking journals as this list does is deeply unsound [see Brembs, Button, Munafò (2013)]. The quality of content in most academic journals is variable. Great articles can be found amongst the mediocre, and likewise mediocre articles can hide in issues full of high-quality articles.
Journals are a lazy proxy for the evaluation of 'quality' of content.


text:
Do I need in text citations for an article on a historical event if I have links?
I am writing an article on a historical event chronicled by Plutarch and translated by the Harvard University Press and have used certain ideas and facts from his writings in my own article by summarizing some of his statements and combining it with my own ideas. I have a link to the writings that I have referred to at the end of the article, but I was wondering if I needed to add in any in text citations to give proper credit to him and translators of his work.

This is a pretty clear-cut case where you need in-text citations, especially given the multiplicity of possible translations and editions available. Not doing so could definitely get you into trouble with plagiarism accusations if discovered after submission.


text:
In a 3-year PhD programme, what are the tasks of the first year?
As a supervisor, how should I reasonably set the task timeline for a new (Engineering) PhD student, given there is a candidature confirmation at the 9-month mark?
In other words, how long is reasonable for settling down to a new country, literature review, defining a research topic, data collection, drafting a publication ...etc?
The programme is 3 years, and the student has a scholarship from the university without a defined research project. We agreed on a field of research, though.

Not an answer, but I found this link from Imperial College London. I hope it helps: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/electrical-engineering/study/phd/timeline/

Look at what the requirements for the confirmation review are. Ask others in the department who will be assessing the report what it is they look for. Ask to see some examples of previous reports that passed, and ideally, some that didn't.
In our place student must demonstrate:
1) They have defined a project with well articulated aims and at least an idea of how to meet these aims. The student is not just pottering around the area. Nor are they acting as a technician on various things going on in their supervisors lab.
2) They can explain what the importance of their project is and where it fits in to the larger field (that is their project has not just been dictated by their supervisor without them having any idea about its purpose).
3) Have have a working knowlegde of the general background in the field, and of recent literature directly relevant to their project. They know if others have worked on the same question and what they have found.
4) They can demonstrate an understanding of what the key techniques in their project are, how they work, and what are likely to be the bottlenecks.
5) Usually students have SOMETHING in the way of experimental results, but often not very much. They might have a graph or two on optimizing their system, they may have shown that the system works with some positive controls or have reproduced some of the key results from the literature. We don't usually expect concrete progress on new knowledge at this point.

There are too many variables in the equation. Each research project is different and publication requirements are different and so on. I would suggest making a clear plan for the whole 3-year program outlining what needs done and in what order. As the student starts working on the research project, a lot of things will change and certain things will get pushed back while others will be completed earlier. With that being said, it should all be in line with the requirements of the university and the scholarship. It is great if the supervisor can keep an eye on those administrative requirements and how the research progress complies with them. Then the student can have a clear horizon to exercise his creativity.

Downvoted.  I don't have an answer myself, but for me, your answer states the obvious.

@anucex I think anything much more specific would turn out wrong in many situations. Planning is one of the hardest tasks in research, where by definition every successful outcome must be new and unique

Despite that, planning is necessary  and there must be a plan that is highly likely to succeed in managing PhD projects. A general framework for the project, steps leading to success...etc

like Arthur Tarasov said, there are many variables. For example: Are you his professor? Are you involved in the final of this PhD student? Also the requirements for a PhD in each field are different. In the same field, different universities, departments or countries have different requirements to finish a PhD. You should know are the requirements for him to graduate are and develop a plan according to that. For me it is a requirement (that my professor wants) to publish only at top conferences in my field. I need 3 to 6 of those publications, depending on how good or how much work it was. Then I can write down my thesis, more or less summarizing those papers.
Sadly no one had a plan for me. But by looking at other succesful supervisors, you should give him some ideas like which conferences are important, which papers are must reads, how to work towards the first publication. Aim at conference X and Y, read every publication they made in your field(the last 2 years or so) and try to find gaps or ideas that weren't tried. Depending on how much publications he/she needs to graduate, the first year you could aim for maximum 1 publication..then each year 2 as an example.


text:
Is it a good idea to include my professor who left academia as a reference in my PhD application?
I contacted my professor to ask for a recommendation letter and I knew from him that he left my institution and asked me to use another e-mail address for him in the recommendation which is a Gmail. Will this affect the credibility of his recommendation in my application?

Why did he leave?

I don't know but I think for personal reasons. I didn't really have the chance to ask him about the reason.

It seems unlikely that it would have any effect. I assume that he knows how to write a letter and explain things appropriately. The fact that he isn't an academic any more is less important than the relationship you once had and what he can still say about your prospects.
Of course, it is best if he has left a trail of accomplishments behind in his own work that will reflect on you. But he will likely know to point to that in his letter.
Don't depend too much on a single letter, however. You will want several if the institution will accept them.
People also retire, of course, and sometimes get asked for letters.

It is better to include , for honesty and reputation.


text:
Advisor and co-advisor of PhD with different areas of research
I did my graduate studies in Mathematics at two completely different universities, A and B, from my country. During my studies from university A, I had a very good professor X in theoretical statistics. In my studies from university B, I had a very good professor Y in stochastic calculus. Professors X and Y do not know each other and have not worked together before. Moreover, although both belong to a statistics department, their areas of research are not exactly the same. University A is good and is near my home. University B is top ranked and far from my home.
In my country, opportunities of job at university for young researchers are little, so doing a PhD at two different universities would certainly enlarge my possiblities for a job in the future. My question is whether it would be acceptable to pursue a PhD at university A with advisor Y and co-advisor X. I mean, is it acceptable to do most of the part of the thesis with professor Y and some research with professor X, although both areas of research are not exactly the same, but both are from a statistics department?

It is hard or impossible to answer such a question directly, not knowing the culture of both universities and the personalities of the two potential advisors. However, I can give advice about how to maximize your potential for a good outcome.
Pick one of these advisors and universities and approach the person personally with your request to be a student. Either one will likely do. But pick the one you'd most like to work with if the overall plan doesn't succeed. First try to get accepted. Then broach the possibility of working also with the other professor and give reasons why you think it would be helpful to you and that you already know the person. If you get push-back on the idea, yield graciously. If the first person thinks it would be fine, approach the other, giving the current state of affairs and saying why you'd like to also work with him/her. You may wind up in the desired outcome.
If the first seems hesitant to work with you at all, it is then time to approach the other as if it is a first request.
Don't make it seem unnecessarily complicated at the very beginning. And don't worry about the (slight) difference in fields. It seems likely, in fact, that the two people already know one another. Distance is less of a barrier than it once was.
Even better if you have any research ideas that might appeal to both of them. It might work out less well if you are depending on your advisor(s) to supply a problem.
If you are working for one of these people then it might be possible for you to occasionally get advice from the other on a less formal basis, provided the person is interested in you and/or your research problem.


text:
google scholar has not listed me as coauthor
After finally getting an article listed on google scholar via preprints, Google Scholar has not listed me as an author on my paper on either preprint it has indexed. I was the one who uploaded them to the preprint sites and I am the second author but they have only listed the first and third author and have not listed me.  How do I change or have this edited. And how does something like this even happen in the first place

cause it took me three years to get this article on google scholar now I am omitted. how does that happen.

It is a bit difficult to speak on behalf of Google here. The best idea is probably to contact them directly [1].
Before you do that, however, I would encourage you to double check if the details on the websites where your paper is published are correct. Much of what Google Scholar does is just indexing those websites and taking their data from there. Google explicitly recommends to ask for corrections there and not on Google Scholar. They also say state that an update to any details might take quite a bit of time, in the order of months [2]. So any recent correction to details on the publisher's side might not be updated yet.
[1] https://support.google.com/scholar/contact/general
[2] https://scholar.google.com/intl/de/scholar/help.html#corrections

thanks. I was told by everyone it was impossible to contact google scholar as they had no support. I searched and searched and couldn't find any contact info myself. I was even told in a google forum by a google moderator they had no support. I don't know where you found the link to contact them but many thanks.

Contact the first or third author. I think (but am not certain) that if Scholar has put them on it, they will then be able to edit the listing.
As to how it happens... ask Google? They won't tell you, though.

I am the only one listed as administrator on the preprint and I cannot edit indexed articles on google scholar where I am  the first author so highly doubtful, that my coauthors  would be able to do anything about it. Is there a way to contact Google Scholar directly?


text:
Is it possible for MPP students to apply for an econ PhD position?
I'm an admitted master of public policy student at Harris School of Public Policy, U Chicago. I'm an international student from China and graduated from Peking University. My interested area is economic policy, and the reason I choose Harris School is the strong quantitative background and academic atmosphere.
After being admitted, I start to think about the future career plan and what I really want. Not like the majority of MPP students who wants to work in the private or public sectors after graduation, I prefer applying for a Ph.D. in the econ or econ policy area. Less than 10 students will choose to continue a PhD at Harris every year. I know it's difficult because Harris is a professional rather than an academic school. But I still want to try and make some preparation before.
So could anyone guide me or give me some advice, please? Thanks a lot.

Do you mean apply to an Econ PhD program, or apply for a job that wants an Econ PhD (i.e. a graduate)?

Is the question about the possibility or how to prepare? Also, I don’t understand the sentence about the ten students.

Also what specifically do you mean when you use the phrase Econ Policy. This is a super Broad field.

I mean that only very few students (maybe 7 or 8 students) will choose to apply for a PhD after graduation. And  most MPP students will find a job after getting the master degree.

Yes, econ policy is a very broad field. My focus maybe the inclusive finance or development economics. But I'm not sure right now. Maybe I could get more detailed information and confirm my interest after I taking some courses at U Chicago.

I mean apply an Econ PhD program after graduating from the public policy school.

As you might guess, it is more common for a MPP student to apply to a Public Policy PhD vs a Econ PhD. However, you may be a candidate for the Econ PhD if you work the opportunities at Harris.
Like other PhD programs, Econ programs are looking for students who will be successful Economics researchers. You should try to get research experience at Harris and take the most quantitative classes possible. You may also need to take some advanced Math or Econ courses.
The best way to prepare is to talk to faculty at Harris. You will especially want to discuss the situation with faculty who have PhDs in Economics.

So maybe I should spend most of my time on RA works and economics courses instead of internships? Most MPP students will get rich intern experience during the two years. As for me, should I devote more to academic experience? Thank you.

Yes, but I would say internships with a strong quantitative research component would work. Once again, you should develop a couple of faculty mentors to ask for specific advice about which specific opportunities to pursue.


text:
Is it appropriate to include a talk one has given into an application to show familiarity with a certain topic?
Is it appropriate to include a talk one has given into an application to show familiarity with a certain topic?
For example, if a possible future employer demands some knowledge about a certain topic, would it be appropriate to include a seminar talk I once  gave about that topic into the application? Or would that be considered inappropriate or unnecessary?
Assume that I don't have published any papers about that topic yet or taken any graded courses.

I think that it is perfectly fine to include something like "Prepared and presented a lecture/talk regarding {subject}" in either your motivation letter or your cv or in both.


text:
How should I deal with a colleague talking on my behalf?
Our Chair is writing a major proposal and me and my colleague are on-board (both non-tenured)... Chair has asked for a meeting next week to work on the bid for a centre and this colleague of mine has replied back to both of us accepting the meeting and on our behalf and has suggested working two-three full days for the Chair.
I replied to the Chair saying "sure lets meet" and didn't acknowledge anything else that was said.
I am tempted to write to the my colleague and say I know they had the right intention but please never ever talk on my behalf again as its not professional. Is this the right thing to do?
I am worried if I don't react this will continue as I am new in my current job. On the other hand I am worried if I react by sending an email or verbal communication and asking them not do it they might just forward/talk with the Chair with some lame excuse like suggesting that I am really busy and unhappy and they will do it themselves to make me look bad or with the genuine intention of correcting their mistake which in both cases will make me look poor!
What should I do?

Sheesh.  Take a walk, go see a movie, get a good night's rest.  Then, when you've calmed down, talk to him.  Note: Not at him.

@JeffE advice taken on sleeping over it. Given the negative consequences that are hypothetically possible if the guy has ill intentions (no way of knowing and this behavior was a complete surprise). You do recommend talking with him over letting it slip this time? what should I say and how should I say it?

What he did was definitely presumptuous and inappropriate, but you seem surprisingly angry over it, which suggests that there's some backstory (e.g., maybe someone has caused trouble for you or a friend in similar ways in the past).  The main thing is to talk calmly and straightforwardly, so he doesn't dismiss it as an overreaction.  A key variable is how the chair has responded.  It's possible that your colleague is known for talking without thinking first, and the chair probably understands the situation and doesn't actually expect you to follow through with your colleague's plan.

That does sound annoying.  Cbeleites's answer seems like a reasonable approach.  One variant might be to send an e-mail along the lines of "It will be great to be able to contribute to the proposal for the new centre, and I hope our meetings will be really productive.  I have to say, though, that I found it a bit awkward when you signed me up without checking about my constraints or availability.  Going forwards let's make sure to coordinate and confirm plans with each other before announcing them."  It's pretty clearly critical, but hopefully not in a way that will make him defensive.

I'd suggest putting in those days - they may or may not be lost, but losses occur*. No use crying over spilt milk. Writing the time down as lost means, you can be happy if something good comes out of them at the end. OTOH, aking a fuss creates a serious risk of a trench war that would cost much more time.
However, I'd also talk to him in a calm minute. I may be taking a line saying that he luckily foresaw the way my opinion went, yet I'd wish him to quickly ask me beforehand in the future.
Talkin calmly may need that you know exactly why you are so angry that you have to post in a public Q&A site.
* partiuclarly in writing proposals. There's a rumour here in Germany that the Bundesrechnungshof once estimated that for different kinds of public grants from a national economic point of view (i.e. including all proposals that are written: accepted as well as rejected) about as much money/effort goes into writing grants as is distributed by the different grant programs (estimates ranging from 1 : 2 to 2 : 1 are mentioned).

Unless you have reason to assume it was malicious, just request that any such promise on your behalf needs to be first checked with you as you have a tight schedule - dispassionately; no anger, just with clear calmness. If you suspect maliciousness, and/or you are drowning in work, you could send a mail to the chair saying that there was a misunderstanding on the side of your colleague and actually you wouldn't be able to contribute. That being said, if you possibly can afford it, try to go with the flow.


text:
What do I do with my exam tomorrow given that I supplied medical certificates
I missed 3-4 weeks of class this semester due to a medical condition. This was around 3 weeks before exams which meant I had to catch up with other subjects  as well as doing assignments and tests.
I have to sit an exam tomorrow even though I missed a chunk load of the material and was too ill to be able to study at home during those weeks. I sent the university all of my medical certificates as I missed a couple of tests and had to resit the exams.  I also sent  my medical certificates to the special consideration committee telling them that I want my exam deferred, but this was denied. I sent the lecturer my certificates and told him about the situation but he told me the matter was out of his hand.The thing is I really studied hard during this swotvac period even though they only gave us a week before our first exam,  and I had to study for the other subjects that I missed as well.
I want to get a good GPA to transfer universities but I know if I sit that exam tomorrow I will probably fail because it's a hard subject and I'm just lost.
Should I fake sickness and get a medical certificate like food poisoning? What do you suggest? Any other suggestions on what I can do in this situation?

I'm sympathetic, but unfortunately I don't think this question is answerable without a lot of information specific to your situation.  We don't know what your university's policies and procedures are, we don't know the medical details or how the special consideration committee evaluated them, we don't know whether you can appeal the decision or how, etc.  I certainly wouldn't recommend faking anything (and the fact that you think you could get away with it might explain why the university is not taking these medical certificates as seriously as you would like).

If there's a standard appeals process, you should try using it.  Otherwise, there might not be anything you can do, but you could see whether there's anyone you could talk with who might be able to help you navigate the bureaucracy (an ombudsman, advisor, advocate, or the like).

Recovering from a one-month illness in the middle of the semester is nearly impossible.  You may be better off withdrawing entirely and retaking everything next semester.

I disagree with the off-topic votes; I see a situation similar to this at my university at least once a semester.

I wouldn't call it off topic, but I still think this question is too localized.  A question about how to handle a serious illness during the semester could certainly be reasonable, but this question is far more specific.  To give a useful answer to this particular question, one would have to have a detailed knowledge of the university in question.  (For example, can one withdraw the day before the exam without simply failing the course?  I doubt it, but I don't know.  What sort of appeals are possible?)  The best course of action one day before the exam would probably depend on the university.

This isn't an answer, just some points you can consider and some 2 cents:
Given the short time, if I were in your shoes, I'd:

Comb through the student academic handbook about sick leave and how should the makeup examination be scheduled. Look for keywords like "... upon mutual agreement." or "... student and department will decide." etc. and quote that in a written document to urge the committee to honor the wording in student academic handbook.
Identify the chair of the grievance committee. Every department/school should have one, and inform him/her about your situation. Ask for guidance and potential on filing a grievance.
Objectively figure out what are the number of quality days available for a non-sick student to prepare for the tests, and then come up with how many quality days you have been given, minus the ones that you have spent. Ask for the exam to be rescheduled to a reasonable time that would provide a fairground to you. Down play the fact that you "want more time," emphasize on the desire "to be judged fairly." Should the number of days are actually comparable, chance is you really have no ground to delay.
Chat with the admission people and discuss the possibilities on the followings: i) retrospectively request a medical leave (this is more viable if you are on a trimester system or this is a half-credit course, missing 4 weeks might as well mean you have not taken it at all) for this semester, and retake the whole thing again. ii) Negotiate for fee reduction or fee waiving so that you don't have to pay again. iii) Also make sure the half-done course will not end up as F or even appear on your transcript.
If you think you're not being fairly judged, never take the exam. Once a grade is given it's next to impossible to revoke. Inform the school as soon as possible with your reasons (preferably sound and focusing on the lack of fairness), give them a summary of your arguments and what you have talked about with different representatives in the department.

I think, in a sad way, that you only decide to decline one day before the rescheduled date is an extremely bad move. If indeed everyone also had one week to prepare, then it is pretty much done for. When the decision was just made, you can still negotiate for 2-4 more days to collect lecture slides, notes, and meet with the lecturers. Now, it's a bit too late to do that.
In a nut shell, set your worst scenario and figure out what are the things that you cannot afford to mess up. If your first thing is GPA, then strive to make this trimester/semester not counted. The cons: you may need to retake, but given your circumstance, retaking seems a lot more viable than taking an exam. Also, don't position yourself as a victim. It's unfortunate but you're not asking for leniency or special treatment. Show them that you're very conscious about the grade situation and your determination to work through this glitch with the department, and hopefully they will reopen the case.
I wish you best of luck, and if you have time, come back to update us by revising your question.

Thanks for the comment guys, i didn't end up going to the exam and found out that their is another committee in charge of checking or reviewing denied applications. Also i emailed them 9 days prior to the exam and only got a reply from them the day before the exam. Im still new a first year student so i don't quiet know how the procedures work.

@josh, thanks for the update! I hope once this is settled it'd be a smooth sailing.


text:
Plagiarism of a co-author?
I am PhD student. My PhD advisor wrote a research paper literally copy pasting several paragraphs from a already published paper, which was written by me as main author and he is just second author. Copy-pasted paragraphs where without any citation to this paper written by me.
QUESTION:
1) Is the accuse of plagiarism still standing, when the main author of a paper copy-pastes from a paper where he/she was only second author?
2) What is your opinion about addressing the issue directly to the funding scheme which has financed the project and of course the scientific output?
3) Furthermore he copy-pasted a full methodology from a un-published document written by me, of course without citing. Unfortunatly this document has no specified authorship although through email traffic I can proof that I am the main developer of this document. Do you consider that also plagiarism?
thanks for answer provided.
Alfred

Are you over with your PhD or still in it? (This is crucial missing information).

Also, here's a related question

Will you ever need a recommendation letter from this person? Will you ever have to collaborate with them again? Also, you can even plagiarize yourself, so any text that is copied without citation is plagiarism.

Of course I do not need a recommandation letter from such a person, if I make such type of accuses. The plagiarized part of the paper are original text written by me.

Obviously, I will not take any official action before I do not finish my PhD.

You are planning to take action some time in the future, retrospectively?

This paper is published already and unfortunatly I cannot take action while I am in my PhD., this would trigger everything.

This is a question for @JeffE.

"Unfortunately I cannot take action while I am in my PhD" How do you expect to get a PHD if your supervisor steals your work and publishes it without you as a co-author?

The question seems to be missing the part about where you discussed this with your supervisor and what the resolution was.  To contemplate "addressing the issue directly to the funding scheme which has financed the project and of course the scientific output?" is so much more extreme than that that it looks like an overreaction without this missing information.  Even continuing to do a PhD with someone whom you plan on reporting to the authorities for academic misconduct against you seems very strange to me.

Hi Clark, I would agree with you on this, but I feel I do not want to go to deep on this issue at least not here on this website, essential in this case was for me to get some external comment. I am up to defend my PhD and I cannot put such an issue on the table right now. Its not the best solution, but the lower pain for the moment. After finalizing the PhD I will evaluate what to do exactly, therefore I was looking for some comments from you guys in here.

This is a question for JeffE — I agree with @PeteL.Clark.  You should have already discussed this situation openly and directly with your advisor, as if they were an actual adult human being.  Waiting until you get your PhD and only then reporting them for academic misconduct, without talking to them directly, is likely to have much more serious long-term repercussions.

Re-using text from a previous paper on which one was an author is known as self plagiarism. Opinions vary on the gravity of this sin, but it is pretty clearly not best practice. In my opinion, re-use should be allowed for descriptions of methods or presentations of proofs, provided that they are adequately flagged as such with citation to the original paper. "Following our previous analysis (Smith et al 2013), our methods are as follows..." If no citation is provided, this seems to me to be a transgression.
Authorship order is not relevant. Self-plagiarizing from a second author paper is no better or worse than doing so from a first author paper. Overall, you seem to have a misunderstanding of how collaboration works. Once two people collaborate on a paper, the output belongs to them jointly. One author does not have greater ownership over a particular paragraph what for having written the initial text of that paragraph.
I would hope you would directly discuss this with the PI before going to a funding body.
Depending on the circumstances, using your text may or may not be plagiarism. If I am paying an RA to work on a paper but she does not rise to the level of authorship, I see no obvious reason why I cannot ask the RA to help draft portions of the text. Similarly, PIs routinely ask graduate students and postdocs to help prepare grant proposals on which the PI is the sole author. I've never heard this considered to be plagiarism.

Thanks Corvus. I would like to stress that the copy pasted parts are not flagged with any citation.

+1"Overall, you seem to have a misunderstanding of how collaboration works. Once two people collaborate on a paper, the output belongs to them jointly."

Ethically, it is unwise to use large portions of a document written by a subordinate in one's group without giving appropriate credit (which in this case would be co-authorship). However, it is not the same as saying that the PI has plagiarized the earlier document, as it has not been entered anywhere into the record.
Quoting a paper that has been published is a problem, as Corvus points out, because it's self-plagiarism. This is true for any author who quotes a paper in which she was an author, regardless of being the first, second, or n-th author on the quoted paper.

thanks aeismail. Regarding your first paragraph. The document has not been published, but is a project internal document which I developed as far as my adviser had no clue. In the paper he wrote, he copy pasted the methodology and by reading the paper it clearly looks like that he developed this methods, because there is no reference on anything. I developed several versions of this document and I presented the overall concept in a workshop of the project.

The issue is that without a formal publication, you can't really allege plagiarism. There has to be something to refer to in a publication; right now, otherwise, it can only be cited as the dreaded "personal communication."

I disagree with this. Plagiarism is "passing off someone else's work as your own." Whether that work is published or not is irrelevant. Even if the work is unpublished, there are ways to credit it appropriately (acknowledgements?). This idea of "you can't cite this because it isn't published, better just use it without citation" is really dangerous...

The issue is that without a formal publication, you can't really allege plagiarism — I strongly disagree.  Writing belongs to its author, even if it is never published.


text:
How to acknowledge copyright for figure reproduced from arXiv preprint?
I am coauthor of a review article, in which we reuse a figure from another article that is, so far, available only on the arXiv. In such a case, one would usually obtain the copyright from the publisher and acknowledge the copyright holder with a statement similar to

Reproduced with permission [reference]. Copyright [year], [publisher].

What is an appropriate analogous phrase for an article published on the arXiv?
From what I understand of arXiv's help on licenses, the default option only grants arXiv the right to distribute the article, while the copyright remains with the authors.
However, including all authors of an article in the copyright statement can make the statement very long. Perhaps one should restrict it to the author that submitted the article to the arXiv?

Reproduced with permission [reference]. Copyright [year], [submitting author].

P.S. In this particular case, the arXiv article was authored within our group as well, i.e. we are free to choose the copyright statement. In general I assume it would be up to the authors to choose how they would like to be acknowledged.

In such cases, I add "(Adapted from [reference])" in the caption of the figure. This way you cite that paper and everything is clear.

Contact the author, and ask for some direct reference. They might tell you it is to be published somewhere, that they got it from somewhere else, whatnot.

@vonbrand: Sure, in general one should ask the authors. In this case, though, we are the authors (see P.S.).

@MojtabaEbrahimi: Yes, no copyright statement would actually seem to be the easiest solution!

Then you have the rights on the image. Presumably any permissions needed you got beforehand.

As Dan mentioned, you have both an ethical, academic obligation to cite your source, and a legal duty to comply with whatever licence the image was made available under.
However, in general, the possibilities of that licence are somewhat broader than the CC-BY licence explained in Dan's answer.
In general, a paper found on the arXiv can be licensed in five different ways, which are explained in the arXiv License Information page. Authors can do the following:

grant arXiv.org a non-exclusive and irrevocable license to distribute the article, and certify that he/she has the right to grant this license;
certify that the work is available under one of the following Creative Commons licenses and that he/she has the right to assign this license:

Creative Commons Attribution license (CC BY 4.0)
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike license (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0);

or dedicate the work to the public domain by associating the Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication (CC0 1.0) with the submission.

In addition to this is the question of whether the authors have retained copyright for the material after the arXiv posting. If the paper has since been published, chances are that they have ceded copyright to the publisher and you will need to go through the proper channels to get it. Since the question is specifically about the preprint, I will assume that the copyright of the material remains with the author. (Nevertheless, you still need to check that this is the case.)
The easiest case is if the arXiv posting has been put in the public domain (CC0 licence), in which case you do not need to acknowledge any copyright, much as if you were reproducing, say, a passage of Alice in Wonderland. (You still need to attribute it, though, the same as if you were reproducing Alice in Wonderland.)
If the paper has been shared via any of the Creative Commons licences, then you can simply reproduce it, with the proper attribution and a link to the relevant licence. If the licence is CC BY-SA or CC BY-NC-SA, then you also need to make sure that you abide by the terms of the licence: that you're publishing under a compatible licence, in both cases, and that your use is non-commercial in the latter.
The most common case, however, in many fields, is the first one: the authors granted arXiv.org (not you) a license to distribute the article, and that's that. This means that, barring any fair-use arguments you wish to make, you do not have permission to redistribute the work either in part or in its entirety. In this case, what you need to do is contact the authors and ask for permission to republish the image.
In your specific case, however, your group is itself the owner of the copyright, and you do not need to do anything. It is not even a question of you having the freedom of choosing how the initial work is licensed: you're simply publishing the same material in different venues, which is perfectly fine. Of course, if you want to go further and license that material under a CC licence, then all the better! (Just be aware, of course, that doing so could impair your ability to publish it in some venues down the line.)

The crucial points to remember here are that you have an

ethical duty to cite your source, and a
legal duty to comply with the terms of the license under which the article was uploaded to arXiv.

Those are your obligations, nothing less or (in my opinion) more. Considering this, after looking at the arXiv license information you linked to, it seems to me that the following language would be appropriate for at least one of the license options (I didn't look at all the options, the answer may vary slightly for the others):

Figure 1. This is a very interesting figure. (Image source: [ABC15]; use permitted under the Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY 4.0.)

where "Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY 4.0" is hyperlinked to this page, and where [ABC15] refers to the bibliographic entry for the article in the references section of your paper.
Note that (as far as I'm aware) there is no need in this case to refer specifically to copyright. I also disagree with your assertion that "In general I assume it would be up to the authors to choose how they would like to be acknowledged." As I said, you have a duty to acknowledge the source of the work and its authors, and satisfy whatever legal requirements may exist pertaining to copyright or other licensing restrictions, but no other obligations that I'm aware of to use specific language that the authors or anyone else wants you to use. See here for a somewhat related discussion.

Thank you for this suggestion for the CC license! Yet, at least in my field, the default license seems to be used predominantly. As of now, 29 of the 30 most recent uploads in cond.mat-mtrl.sci use the default option of "Non-exclusive license to distribute".

OP gave arXiv a non exclusive license, they did not transfer all rights to them.

@vonbrand not sure what you're trying to say here. Are you saying my answer is wrong? If so, did you read what the license says? Which part of what I wrote do you disagree with.