text:
How do PhD students buy equipments in Germany?
What mechanisms do German public universities have for funding research equipment?
E.g., suppose a PhD student at a German public university needs a GPU-enabled computer or laptop for their research work.
How can they fund that? Do universities have any funding mechanism?

There is information missing: In comments below you state that you don't study in Germany. So why ask about Germany?

This question is unclear.
Usually universities have different infrastructures, and students there can book time of the infrastructure. No need for PhDs to know how university funds its infrastructure. For example, a GPU-computer would be a cluster computer (example: https://wiki.uni-jena.de/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=22453005 ) and the student can book time on a similar cluster there (example: https://wiki.uni-jena.de/display/URZ010SD/HPC-Cluster+Draco )

We are trying to help you, but cannot do so without the necessary information. You not being there puts you at a disadvantage, so we must know why that is. If you don't tell us, then we cannot help you. Not because we don't want to, but just because it is impossible.

Another piece of information we need is: are you self-funded, or do you receive a stipend for the university, or are you employed by that university?

Honestly taking the comments by left by the user into account this sounds like "I'd like someone to buy me a gaming laptop". Add to this the Germany tag, even though the user isn't in Germany just makes it more confusing. I'm in the UK, if you need a GPU you'll get access to a centrally managed one, no-one will buy you one for your own personal use only.

That is a bit weird. In order to help you we need to know your real problem not a hypothetical one. If you are doing your PhD in Narnia, then knowing how things are done in Germany does you no good.

The more probable reason is that you did not go through "proper channels". Remember, that universities are big bureaucracies, and escalating like you did is a very serious thing to do. You breaking those rules reflects badly on him, and he does not like it.

Anyhow, the real problem has now become "how do I start communicating again with my supervisor after I goofed up like that". This is completely different from what your original question is, so it is better to start a new question

Inquiries are better done verbally. Whatever is on paper (or email) has a risk of becoming formal.

That is simple: you are not going to get one. Your advisor was very clear about that. Now you need to think outside the box: How can you use other resources that are available to you, to do your research. Various suggestions were already put forward to you in the comments.

That was not one of the suggestions, but hey it is your money after all.

Perhaps if you were asking about the country you are actually in you could get advice about systems in the country that actually affects you.

As pointed out by the second comment, many universities have their own policies on how IT-infrastructure money is to be spent (e.g. no parallel structure building, buy computing hours instead of gpus). This could also include giving out already purchased laptops first, and/or capping the money that can be spent on new laptops. While PhD students are commonly provided with a laptop to use, this isn't a "gift"- it belongs to the department.
tl;dr Talk to your supervisor, adjust your expectations

Funding comes from two possible places the University/department or external funding agencies via grants. Who funds what depends on what's being funded, how much funding is needed, and who the money is benefiting. For (large) equipment purchases it can also be the case that external grants require the University to pay part of the cost while the external grant covers the rest. It may also be the case that there is no existing funding now, but funding can be applied for to support your research needs.
However, as a PhD student, none of this is your concern. You just need to ask your supervisor. If they think you need the equipment, they will then work out in consultation with the department where the money is going to come from.

@user366312 If you need a specific computer for your research it is not personal equipment. This might mean that it formally isn't your property and you have to return it to the lab at the end of your studies.

As a phd student, there should be funding for a PC or laptop. It might be difficult if you already have a computer to get another one. So if you don't have anything then I would contact the person in charge of all phd students in your department to raise a complaint. If you have something already then you may be out of luck. The other option if you just need a GPU is to talk to the local IT technicians on how you can get access to a local computing cluster or would know what you need to do to apply to external computing clusters.

@user366312 Obviously you have to go to your supervisor first. It seems like they do not agree that such a laptop is really needed for the research.

This is quite rare, but if the PhD is funded by a scholarship, there may be some budget for (smallish) equipment like a laptop, books, ....

Yes, in general the mechanism is "ask your professor".

Sorry for bringing reality in your life.

The professor would not pay for it herself/himself/themselves. Either you are part of a project that is externally funded, in which case they (more often, their secretary) manages those funds. Or there are some department level funds they can access. Or ... But none of these options are open to you, they all have to go through the professor.


text:
'Virtual' postdoc (in math)
Assume that a given postdoctoral position does not require teaching/laboratory.
Are there postdoc positions for someone who wishes to stay in his/her country and just be in touch with the post-doc advisor by e-mail or/and Skype?
Perhaps communicating only by e-mail may be slightly annoying for some people, so I also suggested Skype.
In my opinion (but correct me if I am wrong), there should be no difference between live meetings and Skype meetings.
Remark: Truly, I am asking about a post-doc position in mathematics, but I guess that my question is also relevant for other fields.

In mathematics it might work, but I never heard about such positions. A position typically involves funding (and hence you move to where the PA is). What you describe is rather a research partnership.

When you say "own county", do you mean that literally? There are generally visa and tax considerations to this sort of outsourcing when it happens internationally.

Apart from the obvious point that you'll have to exclude all positions that have a teaching load, there might also be insurance problems. For example, your job will most likely have healthcare, however many insurance policies will only pay for costs incurred in their own country.

Your question has been flagged as being unsuited to the site because it's opinion-based. I think this is because of the phrase "Do you think that such a position should be availabe" -- it sounds like you're asking whether it would be proper for a university to offer such a position. I wonder if you really mean "... would be available", i.e., asking whether such positions exist.

@DavidRicherby, thanks for the information. Actually, I wished to ask about both meanings.

Regarding the difference between Skype Meetings and personal meetings: This is partially true. Durign Skype meetings you may share a screen and present materials prepared in advance, but you would have a hard time working in real-time (e.g. getting a piece of paper and drawing a sketch). Also the communication is noisy and sometimes annoying, don't expect to be as well understood via Skype as you are in person. If you are working with mathematics, a thing you might consider is that if you perform computational simulations you may need to simulate and interact personally and together over code.

In my opinion (but correct me if I am wrong), there should be no difference between live meetings and Skype meetings. ... have you ever had a Skype meeting?

Truly, I do not even have Skype (yet)... I tend to agree with your opinion that there should be no difference between the two. Several answers/comments here suggest that there is a difference. Have you ever had a Skype meeting?

Oops, sorry... I now understand Azor Ahai's comment correctly.

There is a BIG difference between in-person and via Skype.  I have seen this before on several occasions in industry and it simply does not work as well.  I doubt it'd be different in academia.  It's much harder to integrate a remote worker into a group, especially if they're in a different timezone.  I suspect there would have to be a very compelling reason for most supervisors to agree to this.  Maybe they'll do it, but you better be pretty special.

Thank you for your answer. Interesting point about integrating a remote worker into a group. (Perhaps if there is no such a group it would be slightly easier).

There is a group by definition: you and the advisor.

I thought that it was meant a group of order > 2, namely, that there exist people other than me and the advisor.

@MishaLavrov, thanks. So you think that it is better to communicate with several people from the post-doc department, not just the advisor (as user 2357 suggested in his/her answer).

@MishaLavrov, thanks for the important elaboration.

@MishaLavrov Doing multiple projects is easier only if you are not responsible for success in all of them. If your goal is to successfully complete one project (for your CV), doing multiple is great. If you need to write reports for all projects (for your funder), less so.

If you are a postdoc for industry, many things are possible. If you are a postdoc in a University or research institution, your institution is subject to rigorous control, which includes financial transparency and  visa compliance. Sure, these problems may be solvable for Prof Famous joining the University of Notmuch. But bending those rules for an average postdoc is extremely unlikely.  Finance won't like paying a guy who is not physically on-site for some work which is basically a couple of telephone calls per months. Such schemes are often used by dishonest PIs for tunnel research funds to their relatives or close friends, and they are always a subject of extra scrutiny and extra attention. Finance and HR will not support you or your PI in this, and this alone is the reason why such scheme — although theoretically possible — will not really happen.

I know anecdotal answers aren't always approved of on Stack Exchange, but I do know of post-docs who have arranged to work remotely as standard within the same country (the UK), with occasional physical visits (on average once a week or less) due to independent instances of the two body problem for the PI and the post doc.
It's just about conceivable that the same kind of arrangement could be made internationally between countries with sufficiently integrated travel and financial systems (I'm thinking specifically of EU-EU here).

I was looking at an answer like this, as it felt silly to add another answer saying "I also have anecdotal evidence...!". I knew of a similar PhD situation, which if I recall correctly was between two EU countries (and it involved a Prof. Bigshot). My assumption is that they managed it successfully due to both the advisor and that particular students being quite hands-off and somewhat solitary researchers, I don't see it working for just anybody. I would assume they met in person much less than once a week, and as I recall it was also due to an instance of the two body problem.

@penelope, thank you. I much agree with "My assumption is that they managed it successfully due to both the advisor and that particular students being quite hands-off and somewhat solitary researchers".

I think that would be entirely up to whoever is funding and or supervising it. I doubt that many would wish to do so as there is little opportunity for direct supervision or keeping track of the activities of the post-doc. It would seem to depend on an inordinate amount of trust.
If you were the funder, you should probably establish some very regular means of communication to see that your resources aren't being wasted.
Such a thing might be more reasonable if the post-doc and the PI had a regular relationship in the past so that trust was already established.
I don't think there is anything wrong with such a thing, I just don't guess anyone would be interested in supervising it. Interesting, but unrealistic.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned in other answers is that the university may have rules that require postdocs to be physically present.  Mine does, so this kind of thing would be out of the question.  I have no idea how common that is.
I also agree with other answers that say working with an advisor long-distance would be a huge disadvantage.  I am a mathematician.

Conversely, universities such as the OU (open.ac.uk) have a history of doing such things because they also have an interest in the technology of distributed learning.

It is possible for a postdoc to be at a different university from the grant-holder (PI), and supervised virtually as a result. It probably requires an unusual source of funding, and entails either frequent visits or else a co-supervisor/collaborator based at the postdoc's institution.

An example

Here is an old job advert from the CGSP/CPSM, a Canadian research project in social policy. One can find by a little googling that one of the appointees is based on another continent, where they are co-supervised by a professor who is not listed as a collaborator or partner in the CGSP/CPSM. So their supervision by the PI would be mostly virtual (apart from one workshop planned as part of the programme).
In the job advert, you can see some very careful wording about supervisors and co-supervisors to permit exactly this to happen.

Something similar in mathematics?

In fact I know the PI in the example above (that's how I heard about it at all). She told me that those postdocs were in some measure based on the Fields Institute postdocs in mathematics. These are not precisely what is being asked for in the question, but show some similarities.
Academics apply to organise "thematic programs" at the Fields Institute in Toronto, and the institute hires postdocs to work on those programs. Unlike the scenario in the question, the postdocs do physically come to Fields. However the organisers could be anywhere in the world, so their supervision of the postdocs may be largely virtual. The postdocs also aim to work with faculty at "sponsor universities" of the Fields Institute and many of these are physically quite distant from Toronto.
The supervision is not entirely virtual as there are workshops and lecture courses every month or two to bring people together physically.

Appendix

Of course it can happen that a PI or postdoc has an extended visit at another university or institute, or that the PI moves and it's not possible for the postdoc to follow. If one wanted to see the different ways a "virtual postdoc" could go in practise then those cases might be the place to start.

I feel like the Fields Institute example is bad because they do have an expectation of being physically present at Fields during the program.  So, I don't see in what sense  this is virtual.

You're correct, Fields postdocs are physically present at fields. But their supervisor generally isn't. I'll edit my answer to make this clearer.

A research group or a PI typically wants a researcher who is more committed to the group and to his/her research projects. In-person presence means you are committing your life for the duration of the post-doc to that:

You're moving to a different city or a different country.
your daily routine will be very different.
your circle of human interaction will be people in your research group, department and university (well, not only them, but for most of the day).
You will be literally, physically, available for your research group members to walk in and bother you with things.
You will (possibly) be eating and drinking together and perhaps even the same food with your research group colleagues.
You will endure the same environmental, technical and political inconveniences as your research group colleagues.

So it is an entirely different experience than a "virtual" post-doc. It is also why most institutions and researchers are skeptical or not willing to consider such arrangements.

I'm not seeing the advantage of points 1, 2 and 6, and point 5 seems somewhat tenuous (not everyone likes eating together). If anything, point 6 seems like a disadvantage of all being in the same place.

@DavidRicherby: Points 1 and 2 are an expression of commitment, and are costly and difficult to reverse. Points 1, 2, and 6 foster commitment through hardship. Point 6 fosters camaraderie and through it, again, commitment.

Oh. I thought the point of a postdoc was to do good research, not to endure suffering.

@DavidRicherby: "By the sweat of thy brow shall you eat bread", -Genesis 3:19. Or, "No pain, no gain" -Jane Fonda, exercise video

Instead of spouting quotes, why don't you give an argument as to why suffering through sh*t actually contributes positively to a postdoc appointment. Note that "You should have just as bad a time as everyone else" is not an argument.

Perhaps the importance or non-importance of those points depend on the personality of the particular postdoc candidate. Maybe some need that 'special environment'/way of life in order to do good research, while others do not need it, or even such an anvironment may hinder them (like me. I prefer to be in my 'natural' environment in order to concentrate on my research).

@user237522: Certainly, +1 on that, but - the set of all these points has significance for most people.

@DavidRicherby: A research group or a PI would typically want a researcher who is more committed to the group and his/her position. I explained why a "physical" rather than a "virtual" post-doc is likely to increase such commitment.

@einpoklum, thanks and perhaps you would like to add your last comment to your answer? I think that it clarifies things.

Since this question has been bumped: with all the changes in society due to the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual/"long distance" postdocs are indeed more common. At least I personally know of a few people working under this kind of arrangement, in mathematics or theoretical computer science.
But, they are doing it from another city in the same country, not another continent. There are some reasons that it is not practical to do it from another country:

In general, it is very difficult to sign an employment contract with someone when they are not resident in the country of the employer, especially when they're not a citizen of that country either. Neither are most payroll systems adapted to paying them. This will just mean legal trouble.

If you are in a very different time zone, naturally meetings are very difficult to schedule.

Usually, a mostly remote postdoc still entails regular visits to the university. This will be very difficult if you live very far from your university, and might cause visa problems as well.

But let me add that AFAIK, this is pretty common in fields like experimental high-energy physics: there are only a few places in the world where you can do this kind of experiments, so out of necessity, people are forced to do remote postdocs where they are physically in Switzerland or Japan, but working with a supervisor far away.

As a research administrator, it feels like everyone today thinks remote is easy to do, forgetting there are legal issues with work remote, to your point.  You must have work visas if in another country; the university also has to be legally allowed to employ you in another location. My institution can hire people from NY and VA but not PA.  We don't have paperwork to be legal in very state. For some reason a small window when governments were lenient has miseducated the masses that this is something any PI can offer--they can't.  In the US, it's a tax issue between states, so a big deal.

I'm a postdoc in computer science, working remotely for a UK university, from a different continent.
However, I've been a postdoc for 2 years and it's just the last 3 months of my contract that I've arranged with my supervisor to do remotely, before that I was in the UK.
I'll add my direct experience to the chorus: being remote is hard, for motivation, for having constructive meetings, for being part of the community... there are conceivably tasks that can be done remotely, but research where you need to discuss hard problems with a supervisor are just not well suited for remote work.
A few weeks at a time are manageable, but longer term is a bad idea. On the other hand, I think being on-site once a week or so, is very manageable.
There are also a few administrative obstacles:

The terms of a fellowship / visa limit how long you're allowed to be away from the UK (it happens I'm not affect by that as I'm an EU citizen, but a friend of mine from Canada is).
There's a university policy that says that all academic staff have travel insurance when they travel: in this case I'm away without "travelling" and when I travel to the UK I'm at my official workplace, so why would they give me a separate insurance?
There could be more that I've avoided from doing the remote thing less than 3 months, and other constraints in other countries... I just mention the UK ones I know as examples.

source: Stack Exchange

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

sort: votes


text:
How to earn a Bachelor or Master without attendance?
This might sound like a strange question, but I was wondering, if you can skip the whole studying part at university and jump right in to the finals and the thesis?
I know, that you have to have a certain amount of credits, but can you get them once and "use" them to get multiple bachelors?
Let's say for example, I want to get Bacherlors Degree in Completely unrelated fields like in Engineering, Orchestration, Computer Science, Aviation and Medicine.
Can I (for example), just study Medicine and use the credits I earnd there to also earn the other ones (so I just have to write the thesis)?
Because a lot of courses don't have minimum attendance.
I don't want to discuss whether something like that (getting degrees without studiing at the university) makes sense or not. (Because it doesn't).
The Idea is more like, go and study something for your self and then go to get the degree without having to attend the full number of years, it would take to study.
Do you get what I'm trying to say?

I'm voting to close this question as a purely hypothetical one (as described in the "What type of questions should I avoid asking?" article).

The return of investment on three bachelor's degrees in three different fields is insignificant when compared to the return of investment on a single bachelor's degree that yields an eventual master's degree.

@Compass - I fully understand this, that's why I asked the question (if there was a shortcut for te following ones)

It is already possible to do that to some extent in many US universities, these are called majors and minors, in your case it would be having multiple majors. Yes you can use the same credits for different degrees but there are only a limited amount of overlapping credits in our related fields. Additionally, I think it will be more complicated to have majors across colleges. Bottom line is that you can only "reuse" a limited amount of credits, so you will still have to take many exams to get the additional credits, regardless of whether attendance is required or not, because you also have distance learning that doesn't require attendance.

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


text:
"Brain doping": Can drugs compensate a lack of concentration while learning?
I am almost at the end of my bachelor degree but I am afraid that I never will be able to finish this mere rest. Not only because the rest of my degree (around 20 credit points) is downright uninteresting but I feel that I am not mentally capable anymore of saving knowledge related to any exam.
I have read about students compensating such issues with drugs like Methylphenidate (you may know it under its trade label "Ritalin"). I really regard this as an option for one semester just to finish the rest of my degree once and for all. I am currently trying to learn for an rather easy exam but I am not able to save the knowledge, like an emotional self-defense I am mentally distracted all the time.
Can drugs like Ritalin be the solution? I am only remotely aware of the side effects however I feel also despaired enough to pay a high price.

While this is not on-topic here, I would strongly encourage you to seek out appropriate, trained, licensed medical advice that is customized to you. Many Universities offer counselling centers for students, and I heavily advise you to to seek out such appropriate help. The effect of drugs heavily vary depending on your actual condition. Taking the wrong drugs out of desperation can lead to death, imprisonment, expulsion, or a worsening of symptoms, many of which can be completely hidden from the person taking them until it is too late.

It is not on topic but I gave you a +1 for this good and reasonable advice. Thank you!

There are a variety of underlying conditions that can result in difficulty concentrating.  ONE of these is ADHD, which is SOMETIMES treated with a stimulant medication such as Ritalin.  It's important to find out what is really at the bottom of your trouble concentrating.  You could start with a general practitioner, who might or might not want you to see a specialist. // Even if the result of all this is a prescription for a stimulant medication, please note that there are multiple options of drug, dosage, delivery (e.g. short-acting, 8-hour, 12-hour, etc.).  There are a number of possible...

...unpleasant side effects, so these are drugs where you definitely want to be working closely with a medical provider with extensive experience with them. // There are behavioral treatments that can help as well -- drugs are not the only option. // Please keep in mind that it is quite common for undergraduates to hit sort of a saturation point in their last semester or their last year.  Maybe it will help you to know that.  However, it is also quite common for young people to find the period immediately post graduation quite challenging too.  Bottom line, this might be a good time to start...

...finding out more about yourself -- what makes you tick, what underlying problems can be worked out so that you can find life easier to navigate, and more satisfying, what strengths you can tap into to help you cope with the current and upcoming challenges you are facing.

Thank you @aparente001 that you invested so much time in providing a really helpful comment. Just one remark concerning "to find the period immediately post graduation quite challenging too". Actually I am already in work life (a bit more than 20 hrs per week) and it is for me a good compensation and backing. Work gave me a lot of confidence in contrast to university because in the work I could prove myself as a creative problem solver and I really could improve my programming skills.

@BruderLustig - I am very glad to hear it!  Someone close to me graduated in May and has been very affected by difficulties finding a job in his field.  However, he recently received an offer.  It is amazing how much this has improved his state of mind. // It can be helpful to get evaluated and try to find a therapist who is a good match prior to any big transition. // The side effect my younger son had trouble tolerating, when he tried a stimulant medication, was that when it wore off he felt an insatiable hunger, right at bedtime, and this caused weight gain and sleep difficulties.

The available evidence certainly supports the view that Methylphenidate/Ritalin boosts cognitive abilities while being somewhat safer than amphetamines. Note that if you are caught in possession of this drug without a prescription you will suffer considerably more than the consequences of the drug itself in most countries.
Personally, I doubt that the boost given by Methylphenidate/Ritalin can be significant enough to make a difference in your grades. Note that it will do absolutely nothing to cure your lack of interest in the topic. If you aren't studying enough hours, you won't make it no matter how hopped up you are.
This probably doesn't help much, but my own strategy as an undergraduate student was to simply neglect studying those topics I was not interested in, and simply take the hit to my grade.

"Personally, I doubt that the boost given by Methylphenidate/Ritalin can be significant enough to make a difference in your grades." - I don't care about grades, a D grade is enough (a 4 or Genügend as it is called in German speaking regions). but I am afraid that I will not be capable of attaining even this D grade without a little helper.

@BruderLustig Why don't you just try some coffee? It's legal and has some stimulating effect, though obviously not much compared to amphetamines.

I drink already a lot of it (4 cups a day) @DepressedDaniel and although my cup of coffee is one of the little joys I have still left it couldn't solve my issues yet.

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


text:
Is it bad practice to use examples from textbooks in your in-class teaching?
When preparing lectures on problem solving related topics for undergraduate, I sometimes wonder if it is a bad practice to use examples from the textbooks. Will students think the instructor is lazy and merely follows steps written in the textbook? If it does create negative impression, does it make it a little better if we go through one or two  problems after explaining an example from the textbook?

Most textbooks started out as someone's notes for teaching a class... Personally I suggest changing it at least enough so students have two worked examples available to study rather than just one.

When I first started teaching, I imagined that my students would have already read all the examples in the textbook, and would be disappointed if the examples I gave in class were too similar. This impression did not survive contact with the academy.

@keshlam - Could you put this in an Answer?  It can be very frustrating when the example problems are very limited.

Students read textbooks? Our students don't even seem to buy textbooks, except under duress.

Personally, I think that the source of an example doesn't matter half so much as the quality of the example.  If you've got a really good example that came from a textbook, then that's just as OK as having a really good example that came from another professor or one that you made up yourself.
The question, to me, is whether you've made the example your own.  If you've taken the time and effort to really understand the example, then when you present it, you will not present it exactly the same way that it was presented in the textbook.  Your own understanding of the material and personal style will color the presentation, marking it with commentary, pacing, and choices of emphasis, all of this together giving your own "voice" to the presentation.  I think that students recognize when somebody is presenting material in this way, even if they don't know how to name it as that.  They may or may not like your style, but they certainly will not think you are merely following steps from the textbook.
Likewise, I think that there is no reason to hide where you've gotten an example, particularly if you give your reasons, e.g., "this example we're going to work is one from the textbook that gives a very nice illustration of the consequences of Kirchhoff's Law." In fact, giving credit to your sources is a good way to inculcate more of the culture of academic honest in students by example, as well as an aid to students who might want to go over the example again with the textbook.

Everything's well said, especially "  Your own understanding of the material and personal style will color the presentation, marking it with commentary, pacing, and choices of emphasis, all of this together giving your own "voice" to the presentation."

As a student I appreciate "aid to students who might want to go over the example again with the textbook". Using a book example just brings everything together nicely in my opinion, the example gets context and (@DaveClarke) from a student's perspective it's also nice to have bought a course book that's actually being used.


text:
If I didn't learn much in my PhD program, should I do a coursework-based masters in the same field?
I am thinking of quitting my PhD program to leave with a master's degree.  I don't think I learned much in my PhD so far, and I would have gained more skills if I got a normal master's and took a bunch of classes instead of spending the past two years doing research.
Is it a good idea to quit my PhD program and then apply for a second, coursework-based master's degree in the same field?  Or is there some way I can accomplish this at my current school?

I would have gained more skills if I got a normal master's and took a bunch of classes instead of spending the past two years doing research. I think you may be doing it wrong. To me, it sounds inconceivable that someone could learn more from coursework than from doing research.

@ff524 As a PhD student I have been hired to solve a small set of specific problems, and I mostly use my existing knowledge to solve these problems instead of learning a lot of new stuff.  But if I took more classes it would expose me to a broader range of material and help me think in new and different ways.

Perhaps you should be looking for ways to expand your research to include some new and different things, then. Have you spoken to your advisor about this?

@ff524 Yeah and he notices the same problem but from the other side of the table.  He thinks I don't really know what I'm doing because I don't really read papers or learn about my field.  He has mostly been holding my hand through the projects we have done together, and every time I send him a result, he tells me exactly what steps I should take next.

It sounds like that is the problem you need to fix. (And I don't think coursework is the answer...) (And why don't you read papers or learn about the field?)

@ff524 Well I kind of have a short attention span so it takes me forever to read papers, because I keep getting distracted.  So if my advisor asks me to read two papers, I will spend the entire week doing that instead of plotting figures for him.  And then he'd wonder why I didn't do what he told me to do, because I guess reading papers is really easy for him.

If it's easier for him, it's because it's a skill that he practiced and practiced until it got easier. It's hard for everyone at first... (See Reading (& understanding) a lot of papers is hard. How to deal with it?)

"Well I kind of have a short attention span so it takes me forever to read papers, because I keep getting distracted. "  I think you may need to consider why you are doing a PhD.  Most people study for a PhD because they want a career in research, but if you have a short attention span and have difficulties reading papers you may not be cut out for research.  For research you need to be able to learn without being taught (and preferably enjoy it), your working life will (hopefully) be long, so you don't want to spend it doing something you dont like, so do give this some thought.  HTH,

@DikranMarsupial Yeah so that brings me back to my original question, of whether I should leave with a master's and then get another real master's.

@ff524 He reads an insane amount of literature.  I don't think I'll ever be as good as him in that sense even if I become a professor

@user40698 it depends on what it is you want to do for a living after full time education.  It seems to me that you have started a PhD without having a good idea of what a PhD is supposed to be about, and hence have a problem of expectations.

@DikranMarsupial Yeah that was dumb of me, I kind of went because I didn't think I could get a very good job, and I thought the PhD would give me an opportunity to solve more challenging and nontrivial problems.  I also enjoyed my undergrad research projects (which didn't involve reading very much literature), and I kind of thought I was signing up for 5+ years of more of the same.

@user40698 if it's any consolation, I don't think I really thought about it either!  The important thing to do at this stage is to work out what it is you want to do in the future; if you really want a job in research (either in academia or industry) then finishing the PhD and giving it your very best effort would be a good thing to do as it will be a test of whether that is a career to which you are well suited.  Finding out that you are not interested in research is a valid finding from a PhD, so there is no shame in stopping early if that really is the case

If you want to try making a few changes, to see if they have a positive effect, before deciding, here are some ideas:

Each semester, take one of the classes you're interested in.
Before reporting the week's results to your advisor, anticipate what he might prescribe as the next step.  Write up your ideas about next steps each week, to show to your advisor for his opinion and/or green light to go ahead as you proposed.
Set aside one or two hours every day for literature research (reading of papers).  In the beginning it might take you more than a week to get through a paper, but it will get easier with practice.

Please note, your distractibility is something you could talk over with a doctor (general practitioner), if this is a significant problem for you.  There are a number of things you and your professors can consider trying that might help.
If your doctor screens you and finds a noticeable difference between you and the general population in this regard, you can get some assistance with management of the distractibility from your university.

The main thing that a student should learn as the result of studying for a PhD is how to be an independent researcher, which means being able to formulate new research questions, generate hypotheses, design experiments to test hypotheses and analyze the results.  Another important aspect of research is being familiar with the work of others in your field (which means reading lots of papers), both as a source of ideas, but also for proper evaluation of your work.  Sure, you will also gain some new technical skills in the progress, but that is not the primary goal.  To be a researcher you need to learn how to gain these technical skills without being taught them, because if you are near the state of the art, there is largely nobody there to teach you anymore (other than by reading their papers).
The important question is why are you studying for a PhD, what to you want to do as a career?  If this is not research based, the need for a PhD is perhaps questionable.


text:
Prepared exam essay matches published example
My son (3rd yr zoology in the UK) has an exam tomorrow, in which the task is to write an essay on the history of a(ny) branch of science. The idea is that the students can research and prepare their essay in advance and in the exam write it down from memory.
Now, my son has prepared his essay (on a subject obvious given his degree) only to find out less than 48h before the exam (tomorrow morning) that his topic is identical to that of an example essay published by the department online (but of which he was unaware) and which is quite similar to his. Obviously, if now writing his essay as intended, it will come across as plagiarised.
Q1: So what can he do?
Q2: What should the lecture do (a) if informed/asked by the student or (b) if not informed by the student, but finding the coincidence upon marking?
Q3: Can the marker simply assume plagiarism or do they have to prove it?

I don't know what is 3rd yr zoology in the UK but doesn't look academia.

@Alchimista You are wrong. Zoology is a BSc in the UK.

@anderbiguri questions solely relating to undergraduate studies are considered off-topic here.

@astronat some of them are, but if its about pedagogy/exams, I believe they are on-topic, no?

@ander yes, if they can be generalised to apply to postgraduate scenarios

I suggest your son email the relevant people and explain what happened, asking for guidance.

@astronat I have edited the post, adding more questions in order to widen the realm of this question and avoid it being off-topic.

I don't have any useful advice beyond what is already written here. Let me just give my opinion that this assignment seems to have been poorly implemented: if there are sample essays floating around on the department website, it is vital to make that information known to all students. Whatever the outcome, I would strongly encourage your son to give this "feedback" to the lecturer.

I assume from your question that he didn't only see the published essay but also read it. Then it will be nearly impossible to write his own essay, because he will always (even if unintentionally) adjust his work to not look like plagiarism. That will, of course, only strengthen the impression that he is plagiarizing.
Thus, I would take what he has up to now, the prepared essay that he wrote before finding the published one online, not change it in any way (even if the urge to avoid plagiarism might be strong) and talk to the one responsible about it right now; showing the current essay to try to prove his story.
What happens then depends on the regulations in that class. But there should be a possibility to rewrite the exam, e.g. for sick students or for students that failed the first try; maybe he can get in there with a new topic.
I would not try to get a new topic done today, that would only result in a really bad grade.


text:
Getting back into academics after an industry stint: what can I do while still in industry to improve my research profile?
I am a computer science engineer with around 3 years of experience designing and implementing large scale software systems. I chose to join a job right after my masters, to get a feel of what the industry holds. Having spent my bit here, I now want to get back to academics, especially back into my areas of specialisation. I hold a masters in computer science with a specialisation in Information Security, but no publications. I have a decent (mediocre?) GPA of 8.8 in my masters. I also managed to publish a thesis during my stay in college. However, there is no publication associated with the subject matter of the thesis itself.
What should I do to build upon my profile? Here's a list of things I'm already trying -

Contributing to Open Source Software in Security.
Changing my job to fit a more "security" based profile. However, as I have not worked directly in this area for the past three years, this is proving to be a tad difficult.
Trying to learn the ropes of ethical hacking (think bugcrowd for instance).

What I have NOT done (yet)-

Directly contacting professors/post-grads (or even peers who got into research) working in the areas I'm interested in.

I'm not sure if all this, even though time consuming, would lead to any concrete results. Can my industry experience lead to anything? Am I on the right track? What are other things I could do?
To be more specific, I'm looking for pointers to things that can be done while in the industry to construct a research profile.

Possible duplicate of How does the admissions process work for US Ph.D. programs, particularly for weak or borderline students?

Where are you applying?

Also, what percentile is GPA 8.8 in your program?

@Davidmh : Like all students, I'm hopful of making it to the top tier universities in security, like Berkeley, UIUC and Duke. However, I'm still researching the lesser known universities with strong labs in my areas of interest.
I'm in the top 5 in my batch.

Thanks.. Yes I did. Edited the question to reflect that.

@jakebeal I don't see anything in the answer to that question that addresses this particular situation.

I also took roughly 2-3 years "off" from academia to work in industry before starting my PhD (not computer science related). I actually think such stints are useful if you frame them in a certain way. You could talk in your statement of purpose about your journey to applying to the PhD, including why you went into industry after the Master's degree instead of continuing to the PhD. Many students struggle in their statements to convey why they wish to obtain the PhD and/or why they feel that they can ultimately finish the degree. In your case, you can talk about going into industry to figure out whether you truly want to go back into academia (the "if you love it, let it go" approach), and then talk about how what you're doing in industry directly applies to what you wish to study. I think many programs would welcome such an application.
I'm less familiar with what 8.8 means, so I cannot comment on whether this is a detriment or not. Having no publications after completing a Master's degree and 3 years post-Master's degree may be a weak spot that you should address in your application. At least in the U.S., graduate admissions can be influenced--sometimes heavily--by personal connections. To that end, I would recommend contacting potential PhD supervisors very soon to introduce yourself and inquire about any openings s/he may have for PhD students. It does take a non-trivial amount of time, but I do think it's worth it.

Good answer, I also was in industry for awhile after/during my Masters but before PhD, and I was admitted to a top optical science program. However, I had a publication in a good journal and I had worked with a Professor at the University prior to my matriculation...

My masters was mostly a industry related masters, and not research oriented. It was only for a span of two years. I agree with the personal connections bit. Infact, I'm already jotting down a list of potential professors to contact. However, I guess its important to show some relevant work in the professor's area before actually contacting them, and that's why I've not yet done that.

Several things I would recommend to begin doing as you are gearing up for applying to PhD programs:

Read the research of the professors at the top 5-10 schools you are interested in. Nothing interests the professor as much as those who are interested in their research -- and the only way to convey genuine interest is to have genuine knowledge of their projects. You can typically find their publications in their CVs and research lab websites, as current projects. Note that often (for unknown reasons) faculty CVs that are online may be 3-5 years out of date, as might be the websites of their research labs. For this reason, it's a good idea to directly query academic research databases (IEEE etc.) for most recent conference proceedings or journal pubs with their names. Read their publications and check out any open-source tools they have made available online. Also, check out the names and research centers of any other faculty (at same or other institutions) affiliated (co-publishing, co-leading grants, etc.) with these professors. This can be a good way to narrow down the list of "backup" programs to apply to (see point #2).
It is not uncommon to apply to about a dozen PhD programs to get an admission. Rather than putting all eggs in one (or three) baskets of top 3 programs, plan on applying to at least 5 "backup" programs that might not be top tier, but that are also strong and are situated in places you would not mind living for a good chunk of your life.
Think broadly and deeply about your research interests. You mention narrowing down to "security", but in the academia I imagine there are 100 different flavors and sub-fields within that broad area, depending on different technologies, theoretical and analytic frameworks, etc. (As one strategy, Wikipedia can be a great way to deepen/broaden perspective and gain general familiarity with some of the key concepts and players in the various sub-domains of a broader domain.)

One key aspect that should be communicated in letters of application to a department/program is one's research interests, and how they tie in with the research directions of the department's faculty. Having a clear sense of a handful things you would like to study will help you tailor your application letters to various departments.
This will provide you with the flexibility but also the focus and self-reflection needed to craft strong applications to top programs as well as an overall well-rounded application strategy across all programs to which you might apply. Good luck!


text:
On re-instating a suspended scientist
My female friend works in a US government research lab.
Recently, a very senior scientist in her lab (white male, extremely decorated, serious person) was rude to her, telling her that her presentation did not make sense, etc. He is 80 and perhaps lacks a little empathy, but my friend is certain that he was not being malicious. She got caught up in the moment and started crying. Many people overheard their conversation and later told her that he had a history of being rude to women, etc. She decided to not file any complaint.
Shockingly, today she found out that the senior scientist was let go from his job. Understandably, my friend and I both feel terrible. Mostly because he's made many serious contributions to science, and does not deserve this undignified exit from the lab he gave his life to.
Is there anything we can do? She wants to go talk to her supervisors to perhaps reinstate him, but how will something like that be received?
Edit: Technically, he was emeritus, and was probably not drawing a salary. But he used to still come every day to pursue his research. He was just told that he is no longer welcome on campus. He still has his part-time job at a nearby university.

How do you know he even wants to come back?

Comments have been moved to chat; please do not continue the discussion here. Before posting a comment below this one, please review the purposes of comments. Comments that do not request clarification or suggest improvements usually belong as an answer, on [meta], or in [chat]. Comments continuing discussion may be removed.

There is a lot missing from your question, but:
If a staff member is suspended, fired, or laid off, that is between them, their managers, and HR.  You and your friend should only be involved if the staff member requests it.  Even then, approach with caution.
You have no way to verify why the staff member has left.  The organization may have had a very good reason to get rid of the staff member that you do not know about, and it is very likely the organization will keep it a secret.
In this situation, I would simply send the person who left a message "I was sorry to see you go.  I really appreciated your contribution to ...  Is there anything I can do to help?" if that was true.  If I didn't appreciate them and didn't want to help, I would do nothing.
"Contributions to science" do not have much relevance to firing decisions.

Comments have been moved to chat; please do not continue the discussion here. Before posting a comment below this one, please review the purposes of comments. Comments that do not request clarification or suggest improvements usually belong as an answer, on [meta], or in [chat]. Comments continuing discussion may be removed.

Maybe a cultural thing, but in my opinion a message like that, even if sincere, sounds horrible. It would probably be better to say nothing. (PS. I think that for many of those who've been using SE for a while, "sorry to see you go" is a very unfortunate turn of phrase.)

Employment decisions of this nature are best made by people who are aware of the history of the employee.  For all your friend and you know, HR or the relevant chair had this emeritus on probation and this was a last straw.  Maybe the separation even had nothing to do with the situation your friend went through.
Your friend should take solace in the fact that by opting not to file a complaint, she was not a direct contributor to the situation (though there are some solid arguments to be made that filing a complaint was the thing to do).
Perhaps the separation actually spared the faculty member future embarrassment, allowing an exit in which his wonderful academic history will be the thing people remember him for, instead of a potentially worse next incident.

Or more likely he just decided that this particular environment was unpleasant and that he'd rather be elsewhere

I pretty much agree with the "leave it alone, there's probably more to it than you are aware of" camp here.
I would advise your friend to not "make it about herself".
And I mean it literally - if she inserts herself into this, it may generate the false impression that she "got him fired booted" and stories like that can spread like wildfire both in space and time - they can follow you around forever, especially if no other public reason has been given.
Insert the appropriate version of "nature abhors a vacuum" for gossip.
In fact, consider the possibility of a probation + a last straw scenario and her situation is being used as cover. Don't feed into the narrative by inserting herself visibly and publicly.
I would also recommend against send(ing) the person who left a message unless there is a preexisting strong personal friendship - the motive could be totally misinterpreted, and emails can be forwarded forever...

I don't think there's any harm in having a conversation with her supervisor(s) about it and making her own position known, though I would not go to such a meeting with a specific goal or request like reinstatement. It's not really your friend's decision to make, and that's okay: it also means she's not responsible and doesn't need to feel responsibility for the situation, especially because she did not even file a formal complaint to start any disciplinary process.
As she has heard from others, there is a pattern of behavior beyond this incident that contributed. It may be that the specific incident involving her had hardly any impact, and this was going to happen anyways (sometimes things move slowly). It may also be that a lot of things are "not making sense" to him: only the luckiest of us even reach 80 years old let alone have sufficient mental acuity to contribute to research; many others are losing a lot of their faculties, and at some point that will become more of a drain on others than a benefit, even with all the expertise and wisdom they've accumulated. Ideally, we all choose the best time for us to "retire", but in some cases that doesn't come as easy.
Additionally, the level of concern to nudge an emeritus professor out of a somewhat symbolic role is likely less than that which would apply to someone's full job. It may be that he did not even have any official position to be dismissed or reinstated from.

Given that others indicated that this individual has a history of being rude to women in particular, I agree with what some of the other answerers have said: it sounds more like that particular incident was the last straw rather than someone being fired specifically due to that particular incident. While it may be tempting to write this incident off as "not that bad" and not worthy of being fired over, the termination may make a lot more sense if it's the result of a long-standing pattern (especially if the individual has been warned about this in the past).
As far as feeling guilty over the incident, just remember that you're both innocent bystanders here. He was rude to her. Their superiors (not you or your friend) subsequently decided to terminate him. All your friend did is be the recipient of his rudeness, and you did absolutely nothing at all.
Keep in mind the effect that his behavior has on others, too. While your friend was the target of his rudeness, apparently numerous other people witnessed it too and were made uncomfortable by his behavior. No matter how talented an individual is, permitting blatantly toxic behavior can be demoralizing and end up spreading toxicity to other team members. I personally recall an incident where one person getting away with being lazy and incompetent resulted in two other team members becoming so demoralized that they quit. While it may sound harsh, it would've been far better for management to have just fired the underperforming individual before things got to that point.

all_licenses: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/