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Reputation of university versus quality of work for research assistantship
I have a couple of offers for my bachelors thesis in computer science (machine learning, to be precise). The options are such that one is interesting work at a not-so-well-known institute (in my home country), while the other is at a better institute (foreign university) with less interesting work. What is more important given that I want to pursue research in future in terms of masters / PhD?
Please note that I have only provided the information below to give context, so that if someone is interested in having more information before answering he/she can do so by reading below. This is NOT meant to be a "shopping" question where one asks others to make the choice. The information exists only to provide context for those interested.
Some context in this regard (optional details):
In my final year, my university allows me to pursue my undergrad thesis at any university / research institute where I can find a professor willing to advise me.
I have a couple of offers for my thesis in this regard. One is at a not-so-well-respected institute in my home country (India) with a great professor. I call him "great" based on his publications – most of them are in top notch conferences, and his projects also seem very interesting to me.
The second is in Germany, at a slightly better known institute (again, not very well known). The professor and my potential supervisor seem to do good research, but their publication record is not as good as the first professor mentioned above. And while their project is interesting, I don't find it as interesting as the project above.
So I seem to be faced with the question of choosing between quality of work and the reputation of the university. On the one hand, option India provides me with interesting work and the recommendation from a professor who has a strong publication record. On the other hand, option Germany provides me with foreign experience on my resume and a potentially bigger name to throw around, along with a recommendation from the same.
What should the relative importance of reputation versus quality of work be?

I appreciate your comment, and see what you're getting at. But I am not really concerned about moving abroad right now. As I mentioned in the question, I was more concerned about the trade-off between quality of work and reputation of the institute.

All other things being equal I'd take the Germany option. Reasons:

You can't be sure if you want to do research yet. I know you said you do, but if your undergraduate was anything like mine then this thesis work is your first real contact with research. Research is nothing like coursework, and it's possible you decide afterwards that you don't actually want to do a Masters / PhD. I would therefore try to hedge a little, and in my experience with job searches, the institute's brand name is more significant a factor than the identity of your supervisor or the topic of your thesis (this assumes you'll complete regardless). Exception: if it's likely you'll work in India and the Indian professor is well-known in the country, then consider staying.
You can't be sure which project is more interesting. Yes, you can say that the ultimate aim of one project is more interesting than the other, but the actual research work is different. For example you might start the project and then find that the best way to proceed is to make your code more efficient. If you dislike figuring out how to vectorize code, then the ultimate aim matters less than the fact that you still have to do something you dislike to get there. Taken together with #1, this means I would not place much importance on first impressions of which project is more interesting.
Exposure. Assuming you did your undergraduate studies in India, then going to a different country gives you experience you cannot get by staying. You'll see a different culture, different way of life, different people, different currency, and so on. This can't be quantified, but it's valuable.
Networking. You will reach a different group of machine learning specialists by going to Germany. The wider your personal network is, the better.

Other things to think about:

Timezone. Going to Germany puts you in a very different timezone from India. You'll also be able to visit home less often. Will you still be able to socialize with your friends / family / significant other?
Finances. Germany is more expensive than India. Can you afford it?
Personal happiness. Will you be happy in Germany? For example my mother, if she went to India, would probably be eating at McDonald's every day because she can't stand Indian food. If something similar may happen to you - stay in India.

Very comprehensive answer. I am accepting this answer because you have discussed all the relevant points (and more) I had in mind. I can connect with points 1 & 2, and 3 & 4 make sense too. Regarding the concerns you pointed out – it's a funded position, time difference is just 4 hours and I guess I'll find out about personal happiness only after going there!


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Are course evaluation forms REALLY confidential?
Someone I know has recently submitted a course evaluation form in which he complained about how poorly the unit was organized and that the lecturer didn't seem to be well prepared for the class. Following the day this course evaluation form was submitted, the lecturer decided to revise the mark he has received for his final project and marked him down. Is this an odd coincidence or are course evaluations not really confidential?

Short answer? No. But it's unlikely that this lecturer was retaliating. Evaluations take more than a day to process and it doesn't make sense to retaliate anyway.

Actually, evaluations in many schools don't take any time to "process", because they are collected immediately by the lecturer himself or herself. So it is very reasonable that the lecturer reads them immediately after collection, and "retaliates", so to speak. The lesson is that evaluations should not be a place where students freely rant and humiliate the lecturer.

Different universities have different standards and rules. My view is that allowing students to write anonymous hand-written comments is an unethical norm that should be abolished. The numeric parts of the questionnaire are fine. But forcing lecturers to read scathing, humiliating, personal remarks against themselves has no ethical or moral basis.

@Dilworth Do you actually have first-hand knowledge of a school which tells students that evaluations are confidential but then the instructor collects them?

I have first-hand knowledge of schools in which the lecturer collects the evaluations, and the evaluations are anonymous in the sense that students obviously don't write their names on scripts. This is not something exceptional, since evaluations have in many schools no formal role. They are their just to help the lecturer to improve the class. Not to impose measures against professors.

Indeed, even StrongBad below confirms to be well aware of departments in which the lecturer is responsible for collecting the evaluations.

@QPaysTaxes I didn't say he trash talked. As soon as it's written in an appropriate manner every student has to right to express their opinions, which can be good or bad.

@QPaysTaxes I totatlly agree on that.

The student who wrote the negative evaluation should report this to a department administrator.

@aparente001, report what? That he/she has a negative opinion about the lecturer? In many cases (I don't know about this case though) this is just an opinion entangled with negative emotions and enjoyment of bashing other people (of authority in particular) while being covered by anonymity. There's nothing concrete to report, for most such cases. I don't suggest disallowing bashing of lecturers. It's completely fine. Just don't expect to get any responses for this, and don't do it on the course evaluation feedback.

@Dilworth - Sorry I wasn't clear.  The grade change (down), coming on the heels of the scathing evaluation.  None of us knows if that was a coincidence -- only the instructor does -- but the department can certainly ask some questions.

There is a difference between anonymous and confidential. I have never heard that course evaluations are confidential and I have seen faculty share evaluations. As for being anonymous, I have never seen an evaluation with a space for a name or student number, and the online systems I am familiar with do not make that information available. That said, the feedback, and sometimes writing, often makes it seem like you know who wrote the evaluation.
While you may be able to identify students, many departments try and keep the evaluations sealed until after the grades. Even in departments in which you collect the forms directly from the students, everyone I have talked to recommended not looking at the evaluations until after the grades were submitted.
While there is no benefit for marking a student down for their evaulation, if a faculty member wished to do this, in some cases they could. It would not be unreasonable to go talk to the director of teaching about your perceptions.

It really depends on your institution. Mine handled it pretty well: all evaluations had to be submitted electronically  in a centralized system before the final exams to avoid retaliation from students, and were made available to the teachers after the final course grades were submitted to the registrar, to avoid retaliation by the teachers. We received printed results, where all numerical/rating answers were shown as total counts, and verbal answers were anonymized and put in random order. Except for answers citing specific personal interactions, it was impossible for me to make any inference about my students' responses. So at least where I worked, the evaluations were indeed as anonymous as it gets.

The short answer is that most probably they are not strictly confidential nor anonymous. It is in many times easy to spot who wrote what.
Since evaluations in many schools don't take any time to "process", because they are collected immediately by the lecturer himself or herself, it is reasonable that the lecturer reads them immediately after collection, and "retaliates", so to speak.
I would suggest not to write long scathing and hostile rants about the lecturer then.

As I answered above, different universities have different standards, let alone different countries.

The comment from @MorganRodgers agrees with how teaching evaluations used to be done in my university, except that I would distribute the blank forms myself and then leave the room while the students filled them out. Nowadays, the evaluations are done on the web, not in the classroom, and I have nothing to do with the process of filling them out or collecting them. In both systems, the evaluation results were made available to me only after I turned in grades.  In the old system, I could sometimes identify students by their handwriting; not so any more.

Of course, I understand the system is different in different universities. In my case I collect them myself.

@AndreasBlass Interesting. I was about to ask about whether this was really still done on paper rather than online. Interestingly, where I am (Aarhus), they have recently started having the evaluation just before the course ends, including giving the lecturer access to the results, with the purpose of the lecturer spending 10-15 minutes discussing the results of the evaluation in class with a view towards what sort of changes might be made based on it.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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If I change my research group, can my former supervisor restrict my access to my codes that are written by myself?
Recently, I quitted my current research group and I will start to work with someone else. I was in my former research group for almost three years and during these three years I wrote more 200,000 lines of codes by myself alone. These codes rest in my former advisor group repository in Github, but I have copies of them locally in my computer. I know and I understand totally that I'm not allowed to use those codes without my former adviser agreement and also he is not allowed to do so without my agreement. Recently, he removed and revoked my access to the codes that are written by myself during these three years. As I said, I don't want to use them without his agreement, but I'm wondering why he restricted my access to something that completely is written by me and from scratch. I have the local backups but it just makes me upset and I'm wondering if he is allowed to remove my access or not?

"I know and I understand totally that I'm not allowed to use those codes without my former adviser agreement and also he is not allowed to do so without my agreement" - the first part is true, the second part likely is not. How do you "know" this? Also obviously yes he can restrict your access to his lab's repository.

@BryanKrause Clear mention in university policy

If the github repositiry is for that advisor group and you have left it. Then it seems reasonable that you no longer have access, otherwise you get access to new work they do which is not correct.

@AloneProgrammer What's the wording? Any exceptions? Especially regarding ex-students.

Who owns the copyright on the code you wrote? It depends on any contracts between you and the school, and whether you were paid to write it.

By not revoking the access, you would still have access to the code of others working on the same repos. In a research environment, probably you have access to your work, but not to the work of others. It is a serious thing, it is about a lot of work of many people, not a shared homework task. In a corporate environment, you would be obligated to delete all copies of the repos on your systems. More clearly, you would not ever get a permission to clone any company work to any non-corporate machines; even asking for that would be risky. Violating this would be a criminal offense.

Any supervisor (including the OP's former supervisor) is free to block access to their resources, even when those resources include code written by the person being block (including former students).

Although the question is answered, I would like to add something more.
The fact that you are being blocked from the github may be more than just the former supervisors right, but also your access to ongoing development.  They may be simply removing you from a repository that they plan to continue to work on and develop, in which case you should not have access to ongoing work in a lab you are no longer part of.

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


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Would Making My Literature Review Open Source Be Beneficial to Others in Academia?
I am currently working on a comprehensive literature review for a paper in my field of study. As I delve deeper into this project, I am considering the possibility of making the literature review open source. My primary motivation is to potentially aid other researchers and students who are exploring similar topics.
Given the extensive effort of compiling a literature review, including the analysis and summarization of numerous sources, I am curious about the academic community's perspective on the value of open-source literature reviews. Would such a resource be considered beneficial and utilized by others in academia?
Furthermore, I am interested in understanding any potential drawbacks or challenges associated with making a literature review open source. Are there copyright or intellectual property concerns I should be aware of? Also, what would be the best platforms or methods to share an open-source literature review to ensure it reaches the intended audience effectively?

What do you mean by "open source?" A literature review is not code.

Similarly, what do you mean by a 'literature review'? Obviously there are many thousands of review articles which review the literature in a particular (sub-)field, are you simply proposing something like that, or something else?

I think public-domain is what is intended, @MichaelGreinecker.

Not to be mean, but I voted to close this question unless it is thoroughly revised. As @MichaelGreinecker commented, "open source" does not apply to literature reviews, yet that is the whole point of the question. So, the question is nonsensical and cannot be answered in its present form. I sincerely have no idea what you are asking. I know that Buffy thinks you mean public domain, but that is not the same thing as open source. Please completely revise the question using appropriate terminology so that we can try to help you.

I agree with @Tripartio and voted to close it. It needs more clarity, I don't understand what open source means in this context.

I think that making a literature review "open source" (or rather "public domain") has no effect at all, and does nothing to help others. Sorry.
First, there is the question of whether a literature review is a creative work or not. In many cases it isn't making not subject to copyright in the first place. Certainly there are exceptions to that. Normally, though, collections of citations have little creative content.
However, someone who need to reuse what you have done still need to cite properly everything from your lit review that you have included.
You may be confusing plagiarism and copyright. Open source involves only the latter. People still need to cite sources to avoid plagiarism and misattribution of ideas.
And if someone else wants to use your lit review verbatim, they still need to cite you to avoid plagiarism, though there would be no copyright violation if it is open source.

Plagiarism and copyright are orthogonal in some sense. You can have either, both, or neither. Transgressions of both need to be avoided.

It has no substantial effect compared to any other open access way of publishing. It certainly has an effect compared to putting the paper behind a paywall.

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


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Does a recommendation letter from a professor at the university I'm applying to enhance my application?
I'm currently preparing my application for a graduate program and have the opportunity to include a recommendation letter from a professor who is part of the faculty at the university I'm applying to.
I am curious about how much weight such a letter carries in the admissions process. Does a recommendation from an insider significantly strengthen my application?

Have you worked with the professor, or does she know you well academically? As you see from the answers, this will essentially determine whether the letter helps or not.

Yes, I have. She knows me perfectly. @Legendre17

Just wondering if professor is still there. If yes, it would help. If no, research little bit why professor isn’t there anymore.

It might increase your chances, but assume that it won't. The writer would, perhaps, ethically need to otherwise stand aside in decisions. And such a letter isn't going to be determinative in itself. You still need to compete with many other candidates.
But, rather, assume that the letter has weight proportional to what they say. If they know you well and can confidently and honestly predict your success then it is a good letter - like any other.
The risk is that you are seen as gaming the system. If you would ask them for a letter independent of where they are employed then it seems fine. But get the best letters from people who know you.

There are places, of course, where informal contacts have a lot of weight. Such things can, possibly, outweigh merit.

I get asked periodically for such letters particularly from middle eastern students applying to our department. I understand there are cultural differences and certain processes may appear to be the right thing in other parts of the world. Getting meaningless letters of reference to game the system doesn't really help. Unless that faculty is saying "I need this person in my lab or I have to give back this (three letter agency) grant because they are the only ones who can do it", it won't make a meaningful difference. From my time spent on admissions committees, the letters from people who have clearly had genuine interaction with the student have the most value and can end up swaying a decision.
What are you hoping for "I have read student X's CV and application and I think they are going to be suitable for our department". The admissions committee can determine that as well. The letters should provide more insight.
Unless the letter writer has some genuine interaction with you professionally, please do not engage in this process to try and game admissions. It is very easy to see through.
This is from my perspective in the US. The way we always did admissions in my department was really fair, and very holistic. Can't say what it's like elsewhere.

Hi. This answer appears to assume that the professor who would write the recommendation letter doesn't know the OP and that the recommendation letter itself is "meaningless". This seems like an unfair assumption. That's not what I understand when I read the OP's question. Personally I have never met a professor who would write a recommendation letter for a student with whom they have no experience (either as a student or intern or TA or w/ever), so if a professor did write a recommendation letter for the OP, I would assume that they know the OP and are not lying in their recommendation letter.

@Stef .. you might consider deleting your comments and revising the same material as an answer.

@CrimsonDark Why should Stef delete the comment? It is a valid criticism of this answer, regardless of what other answers may exist.

I was only suggesting that instead of a mere comment, he could post it as a more substantial answer and, if he wished thereby gain reputation. I'm not disparaging the comment at all! Quite the opposite.

Both of the other answers seem to be making certain assumptions about you and the programs you are applying for. The effect largely depends on your relationship with the potential letter writer, what sort of program you are applying to, the individual institution and their policies, and the professor in question.
First, if the letter is a garbage letter (ie: not from a professor that knows you well), then it will not help you regardless of what I say below. It needs to be a professor you have a real professional relationship with. Similarly, it will generally need to be from a professor that is in your area. Recommendations from a professor from a different department probably won't have much weight.
If you are applying to a masters program, law school, or to medical school the answer is "probably not particularly." Usually these programs' admissions are handled by admissions staff, who are far removed from caring about the professor in particular, and will usually be following strict formalized rules, with maybe a little leeway in how they score your application. The institution could have a system that recognizes internal recommendations and gives them a slight preference, but maybe not. It will vary from institution to institution.
If you are applying to a PhD program, then it depends on the individual institution, and the professor's relationship with the department. Most universities will not have the decisions made primarily by staff, beyond perhaps some pruning to the "good" candidates. So, at some point, if your submission is good enough, it will eventually go to the hands of PhD students and/or professors. At this point, if the letter is actually a good one that can vouch for your research potential, and said professor is respected at the institution and is both known and not disliked by the person reviewing it, there is usually a pretty high likelihood of acceptance, barring anything particularly strange. In the event that the committee doesn't accept the application, some universities allow professors to also individually go and request admittance for individual students. And even if there is no official policy, a professor throwing a hissy fit could probably get it to happen. So, if this professor really wants you as a PhD student, then for most institutions they could probably get this to happen.
So in short, if its not a "real" letter, then no. If its not a PhD program, probably not, but maybe a slight benefit. If you are applying to a PhD program, and the professor is in your field, and again, its a real research-related letter, then so long as the professor isn't a pariah at the institution or something, it is probably the single best single thing you could have in your application.

Recommendation from an insider can be advantageous, particularly in PhD programs. The authenticity of the letter, along with your overall profile, will ultimately determine its impact on your application...
The significance of a recommendation letter from a faculty member at the university you're applying to can indeed vary based on several factors. Firstly, it's important to emphasize that the strength of any recommendation letter primarily hinges on the depth of your relationship with the recommender. Since you've confirmed that the professor knows you well, we can assume that their letter will offer meaningful insights into your academic abilities and potential.
In the context of graduate admissions, especially for PhD programs, such letters can carry considerable weight. Admissions committees often value insights from their colleagues, as these recommendations can provide a unique perspective on an applicant's fit for the program and the institution. However, this is not to say that the letter will be the sole deciding factor. Your overall application, including your academic record, research experience, and other recommendation letters, will still play a crucial role in the evaluation process.
Regarding the concerns raised about gaming the system, it's crucial to approach this ethically. If your interaction with the professor was genuine and their letter will sincerely vouch for your qualifications and potential, then it's a legitimate component of your application. It’s important to maintain transparency and ensure that the recommendation is a true reflection of your academic relationship with the professor.

If the professor you're thinking of, who works in the department you're applying to, knows you well academically, beyond what can be seen in your CV (e.g., they've worked with you before), then having a letter from them is likely going to help a lot.
It's not so much the place where they work that matters, but the fact that they are known by the hiring committee.
You see, one of the biggest difficulties when reviewing applications is finding a way to compare credentials from very different places. People just write differently. Some people will be very effusive in their praise and make everyone sound like superstars; others will be more restrained and factual. To some extent, this can be a cultural issue: recommendations from the US, for instance, are more likely to be written in superlative terms, and mentioning a weakness is tantamount to yelling "DO NOT HIRE THIS PERSON". (Exaggerating a bit, but not a lot.)
The one thing that really helps when trying to gauge how good a recommendation letter really is is knowing the person who wrote it. That's why a letter from someone at the institution you're applying to can be so useful.


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How to Find a Professor for a Summer Internship in My Field?
I'm an undergraduate student looking to gain practical experience in my field of study through a summer internship. I understand that working under the guidance of a professor can be incredibly beneficial. However, I'm unsure about the best approach to finding a professor willing to take on an intern for the summer.
Could someone advise me on identifying and reaching out to professors for such opportunities?
I also saw a kinda same question, but it was mostly about summer internship programs and not professors. That's why I've asked this question.

Look around your institution and talk to people.

where are you? for people in the US, see https://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/ I bet Europe has similar programs. not sure about other countries.

In my field you don't want a summer internship with a professor, you want to do a longer term research project; ideally more than a year but a year is fine. You may be able to work more summer hours.

You can start looking at relevant papers, and see the authors.
Perhaps early-career professors will benefit the most from being supervisors (looks good on the CV). It is important that you stress that you (your school/government) provides the funding needed.
Make sure you do as much administrative work as possible (finding a place to live, etc.) and not rely on the supervisor for this.


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Key considerations when applying for a Ph.D. abroad
I'm in the process of applying for a Ph.D. in a foreign country, and I'm trying to determine the most crucial factors to consider.
How should I prioritize aspects like the reputation or expertise of the professor, the city's living conditions, the country's academic environment, and the specific field of study? I'm seeking insights or experiences to guide me in making a well-informed decision.

Will you be going alone or taking your family?

I'll be alone. @Buffy

I honestly think that the most important factor to consider when applying for a Ph.D. abroad is being wanted or needed by the program and your potential supervisor. If you do your part, this alignment will lead to fruitful collaboration, publications, grants, etc. It's crucial to find a program where you're not just another student as is usually the case in a prestigious university but one where you're genuinely needed. A program that values you will typically assist with practical issues like visa processes, migration challenges, and housing. To me, this is the primary factor for consideration.
On a secondary note, the direction of the research is also vital. It's essential to find a place where your research interests align with the program, but more importantly, where your strengths and potential new contributions to the program are recognized/needed. The goal is to avoid internal competition and to carve out your little niche in a research field.


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Finding last minute funding for a PhD
Currently an undergraduate in computer science, I am pursuing an Ms+PhD program in oceanography at some top US universities.
I recently got feedback from a PI that I had an interview with before applying, who told me that my "application was ranked highly" and "[they] are currently figuring out funding situations", and that "If [I] find out about [my] own funding at a later date, [I should] please be in touch as this changes opportunities".
Unfortunately I only found out about the effect fellowships and scholarships have on admission late into the game, and as such was only able to apply to the NSF GRSP and one other small fellowship.
What can I do, one week before admission results drop, to improve my funding situation last minute?
I am not a women or minority. I would be able to self-fund part of my PhD but was advised against doing so (and the departments won't allow it anyway).

What are the reasons for a department to not allow candidates to self-fund their PhD program? Seems unusual to me.

This seems pretty hard. Can you TA in the department or a related department?

@DmitrySavostyanov it favours rich people.

@Buffy TAship is included in their existing funding options I believe.

If a TA includes tuition forgiveness is is normally sufficient for a person to live on, if modestly. Even with a family. You don't need to self fund, but you won't be drinking fine champagne.

I read this as saying that other funding like TAs are more limited and you have more chance of admission if you have other funding. It may not be possible. I would effectively treat this as a likely rejection at this point, they're just leaving a door a crack open for you. It's not necessarily a crack that can be squeezed through in the time you have.

@DmitrySavostyanov See answers here: https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29504/is-it-worth-self-funding-a-phd-to-attend-a-top-10-university?noredirect=1&lq=1

What can I do, one week before admission results drop, to improve my funding situation last minute?

Nothing.  If you do not like the results, try again next year.
Successful application to doctoral programs at US universities requires many months of advance planning.

It seems to me as if you will be offered a TA, possibly an RA, position. This will be sufficient and will cover costs and give you a stipend. I think the note about external funding is a "what if" so that if you do come up with something then you should tell them so that  the funding you would otherwise get can go to another person.
I wouldn't take it at all as something that requires action on your part at this time. If you were "ranked highly" then you should be fine.
The message from them just seems to be informational and asking you to keep them informed as well. No additional action is needed or expected. Given the timing of grant proposals, nothing you could do now could affect a decision to admit you or not.

I was waitlisted, so it seems that I will need to come up with some funding myself.

I doubt that it means that. You are waiting for someone else to turn down an offer. If that happens the funds that are being reserved for them become free again.


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What are the legal obligations of "Editorial Board Membership Agreement"?
Basically, I have two questions.
First question: Anyone knows EnPress publisher is just a scam/predatory publisher or not? Cause they sent an email to me to invite me to join editorial board of a journal, which is related to my field. But I'm wondering is this a predatory journal, which is called OA-Coating Journal, cause their website looks unprofessional to me besides that there is no any published article in their journal!
Second question: They (EnPress publisher) sent an "Editorial Board Membership Agreement" to me and somewhere in this document they mentioned: "By this agreement, you acknowledge and agree that all ideas and improvements conceived by you in performance of your service shall be the property of the publisher". I don't understand what they're pointing to exactly! Can any describe what's the meaning of this sentence? Which service that would be provided by me will be their property?
Any idea or suggestion is appreciated.

Note that we're not lawyers and we are likely not going to be able to help you interpret the proposed contract or its legal consequences. As to whether it would generally be a good idea to become an editor of this journal, see https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/101763/an-invitation-to-join-the-editorial-board-of-a-newly-launched-journal?rq=1.

On whether EnPress is predatory: See also How to identify predatory publishers/journals. I looked briefly around the publisher's website and didn't see anything glaring. The website doesn't look terrible to me, and the fact that the journal hasn't published anything isn't necessarily bad either since it just means it's a new journal (which is not the same as predatory journal). The publisher has also published some papers before - see the bottom of its home page - and the ones I looked at seem legitimate. Further, the fact that they reached you in a field you're an expert in is a good sign.
What is somewhat unusual to me is that the publisher is inviting you to join the editorial board. With new journals, more common is for the publisher to find an editor-in-chief, who then invites you to join the editorial board. I would ask for clarification on how the editorial board is going to be structured. Are you going to be the editor-in-chief? If not, who is? If there is no editor-in-chief, how is each submission going to be handled?
PS: If they are asking you to be editor-in-chief, be sure to ask them for an honorarium.
On the membership agreement: I interpret this that any ideas you might have regarding the journal are the property of the publisher. For example if you come up with the idea of having a special issue on ___ topic, that becomes the property of the publisher, and you can't decide that you'll resign from the board, start a competing journal, and host the special issue in the competing journal. Similarly, if you rewrite the aims & scope of the journal, you can't claim copyright on it because it's now the property of the publisher.


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Authorship dispute on a paper that came out of a final report of a course?
Background: I had a course about 1 year and half ago that is required to do a simulation for its final report. I developed my idea about simulation based on some papers I read and wrote a proposal based on that idea and submitted to instructors. Instructors send back my proposal and said it's good but the course requirement is to have a group mate on this final project for sure. I was reluctant to it but because it was course requirement, I just randomly searched for someone that did not have any group mate yet and I found someone that she did not have any idea about my proposal at all. I wanted her name to be on my proposal and final report just because of course requirement and nothing else. Because I even did my preliminary test simulations on my idea based on the codes that I wrote by myself and it turns out my idea is gonna work. It was not the greatest idea out there but it was something for a graduate course and I really liked my idea and wanted to do this. So, I just matched with this group mate and gave her all the code that I wrote and all the resources in terms of papers and other softwares and asked her just like an operator run these codes and simulations and store the results and I will post-process them by myself. That was all the story about this final report and I wrote the report and submitted it and successfully got A grade and done.
Problem: Sometimes after this course, I just decided to publish this idea even in a not so great journal with IF ~ 1 or even less. Because, I thought the idea is nice and new and even the results that I got because of this course project is good enough to warrant a junior publication as something that I did in my spare time. So, I decided to convert the final report into a paper. Initially, I was thinking it might be fair if I put my group mate on this paper because I'm not a native English speaking and she is an american and maybe she could at least help to polish the English of the paper. So, I sent a draft paper to her for her review about a year ago, but she promised to read and send her points back to me, which never did and I did not hear back from her. I think it was stupid but I wanted to just be nice and that's it. So, I decided to remove her name and publish it just in my own name. As a result, to completely even eliminate her contribution to just running my codes as an operator, I rerun all the codes again by myself and post-processed them again (it was good to make sure at least results are reproducible...) and added some other idea that I read newly in some papers and I submitted my draft to arXiv and it's online now. I also submitted this preprint to a journal that is not that great but it's not that bad for publishing a paper based on a course work and at least the journal is not predatory.
Question: Recently, my adviser found my preprint in arXiv and he's arguing with me that you should put the name of group mate in that article because her name is on the final report. Furthermore, you should withdraw the preprint because it's low quality. OK, the low quality is not something we want to talk about cause it's really relative and by the way my adviser does not have any experience on this specific topic. My question is only because the name of my group mate is on the final report of that course, does it warrant her an authorship?! I mean, why I can't write an even very very very low quality paper based on the codes and idea that I developed initially? Probably, you might know that I'm really angry and it makes me mad that I can't publish something based on my own work because I just put the name of someone on a piece of paper without contribution from her? By the way, it's not her that arguing and it's only my adviser that wants to fight with me. Any idea or suggestion is appreciated.

Listen to your advisor. They give good advice here. "the low quality is not something we want to talk about cause it's really relative" - this sounds like "Because there is something worse out there my work is fine." That's an awfully low standard to judge by and not one you want to commit to.

"why I can't write an even very very very low quality paper" - You can, and you can put it on arXiv for everybody else to read. The only problem is that anybody who reads it will label you as "a guy who writes very very low quality papers" and ignore everything else you write, however good it is.

Have you explained to your advisor that you failed the implicit course requirements by not working together with a group mate? He probably believes that you did work together (as suggested by handing in the course work together), and therefore he thinks she should be on the paper.

You have exactly two reasonable options here:

Withdraw the article, or
offer to your group mate to add her name to the paper. (She may decline of course - that is her decision to make, not yours and not your adviser’s).

I can’t say which of those two options are better for you, but in the absence of other information I would tend to assume that the adviser knows what they’re talking about when they say you should withdraw the paper.
In any case, your group mate participated in the creation of the results, so it is indisputable that she has a right to be a named author on the paper. The fact that you reproduced her results after the fact is irrelevant. The fact that you feel that you were coerced to work with her is also irrelevant, and remains irrelevant even if we all agree that you could have done everything just as well (or even better) without her. The only thing that would be relevant is if she is asked her opinion, given an offer free of any pressure to have her name added to the paper, and decides that she’s not interested and gives her approval for you to remain the sole author.
Finally, the one thing I find a bit puzzling in this story is that your professor’s requests are a bit self-contradictory: if they really thought the paper was so bad that leaving it online would hurt your reputation, I don’t quite understand why they think it would serve the interests of your group mate to have her name added to such a low quality paper. But that is neither here nor there, and doesn’t change the gist of what I wrote above about your options for handling the situation.

I suspect the advisor may not be self-contradictory, but simply noting that there are multiple problems in this situation.

@jakebeal they are very clearly being self-contradictory. Imagine if I said “your paper is a piece of junk! And can you make me a coauthor?” - see the problem? Here the advisor is requesting that OP make someone else a coauthor, but it’s the same principle (unless the advisor wishes the group mate ill, which I guess would resolve the inconsistency). It’s similar to the joke about two women dining in a restaurant and having the dialogue: “-The food here is awful! -I know, right? And the portions are so small!”

I see as more like: "You did two things wrong here: you put up a paper that reflects badly on you, and you also removed a co-author without their permission."

The OP did three things wrong, not just two. The root cause of the problem is the decision to pretend to do a group project while really trying to do an individual project. If the OP had intended real collaboration they would have looked for a group mate who either could contribute to the OP's idea or had a better one of their own the OP could work on. Any resulting papers would have reflected genuinely group work, and there would have been no doubt about co-authorship.

While it's impossible to judge contribution from outside, I generally recommend erring on the side of inclusion when it comes to authorship.  If there's a reasonable argument that somebody contributed, it doesn't really cost you anything to have them on the paper.
Furthermore, there are many ways to contribute to a paper (see, for example, the CRediT taxonomy), and many journals even require a contributions section in which you can explain who exactly did what. In this case, it sounds like you wrote the paper, designed the system, built the system, and both of you ran experiments. You can't ethically "undo" somebody's experimental work by redoing it yourself.
What you should never do is to drop somebody from authorship without consulting them. You had a draft with this person on it as an author, and even if they never got back to you, for all they know they're still a co-author. Probably it doesn't matter to them very much (or else they'd likely have gotten back to you), but it's still unethical to remove somebody from authorship without their consent. It is also unethical to submit a paper without the consent of all of the authors, so that's also a potential problem in this situation, where you're just kinda doing what you feel like without consulting with anybody else.
In fact, the basic problem I see here is that you seem to be operating without any advice from somebody who can help you navigate these questions (as well as the issue of quality, which I won't touch otherwise). Your advisor is likely a good source of such advice, and even if you don't like/trust your advisor, you should be able to find somebody who knows the scientific world well who can be a mentor for you.

"You can't ethically "undo" somebody's experimental by redoing it yourself." why?! Because I was forced to work with someone at some point in my life, I should be locked with him/her because of that situation for ever and even If redo everything from scratch, I can't publish?! "What you should never do is to drop somebody from authorship without consulting them." I should not drop someone's name that even did not care to help about English writing of the paper? I think I was just generous and a bit stupid honestly that even I put her name on that draft paper initially...

Because I was forced to work with someone at some point in my life, I should be locked with him/her because of that situation for ever — Well, not forever, but for that paper, yes.

@AloneProgrammer Yes, you can't work with someone, and then redo what they did and say they did nothing. The whole point is that doing something first is more work than doing it second: you have a template to follow. Now, perhaps in this case the other person didn't contribute much, but you have to work that out with them.

It may or may not be possible to redo the experiment and remove the other author. It depends on the details. Certainly it seems fishy if they just retrace some steps to the same output. But it's a different story if there are different results. Perhaps even conflicting results. Co-authorship isn't a gift; the co-author is expected to stake their reputation on the paper too.

To answer your question shortly, if you have made a manuscript with her name on it and send it to her. Then yes you can't delete her name without giving her a deadline to come back with suggestions/corrections.
And as jakebeal mentions, just because you do something again, does not equal that she never did anything.
I can easy see that you are very angry in this matter, so I'll give you my suggestion.
She should be given a "chance" with a deadline to return with a contribution to the manuscript. In any case, she should be mentioned in the contribution for performing experiments.
And lastly, stating that the advice given from your advisor is not interesting to you, is foolish as people (usually) get professorship for a reason and advice should be cherished and not thrown. IMO


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Is it okay to ask your research paper co-author (first place) to write a letter of recommendation for your PhD admission?
I finished my school almost 10 years ago. Now, I have planned to go back to academics to pursue my Ph.D. Graduate schools usually ask Ph.D. candidates to get the recommendation letter from either your teacher or someone who supervised you in any past research project. In my case, I have no contact with any of my past professors. Also, my last highest degree (MS) was based on coursework (not research based) which means I never worked under any supervisor before. However, I have published some peer-reviewed research papers (as co-author) in collaboration with other researchers (working at different institutions). I would like to know if it is a good idea to ask one of my co-authors (first author) to write a letter of recommendation to support my Ph.D. application. Please suggest!

Yes, this is completely ok, even recommendable. You want your letter writers to know how you function in a research context. It does not matter if this was as part of a university research project (such as a thesis) or some other project that you worked in for some reason.
The main reason why most applicants use their former research advisors is because this is the primary way how undergrads get in touch with professors in a research (as opposed to a classroom) context.

Thank you so much for your response. It has cleared some of my doubts. One more concern if you could help me to answer. What if your co-author is not a Ph.D.? Is he still qualify to talk about your research capabilities? In other words, at what extent his recommendation could impress the admission committee?

@PSS Generally a recommender who does not have a PhD themselves is not a good idea. Exceptions exist, of course. In my field there are some very established industrial researchers who don't hold a PhD themselves, but if your advisor was just a more or less random person at a company with no real connections to academia, they would not be suitable.


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Unfinished Paper Undergraduate Admission
I am currently in high school and I have written a research paper about a topic in mathematics. The paper however is incomplete and there is still quite a lot of research left.
I am also writing my university admission essays right now and I have a strong desire that universities see whatever progress that I have made so far.
What do you think should I do? Do you think it is wise to send in unfinished unpublished paper or should I first publish whatever I have done so far and then publish the remaining paper later on?

Do you have an academic mentor helping you prepare this manuscript? Any amount of academic writing from a high schooler is impressive. A recommendation letter from your mentor detailing your contributions to the in-preparation manuscript would likely serve you best in the application process.

Unfortunately, I do not have a mentor. But it is certainly possible for me to summarise my contributions in my essays. Do you think it is a better idea to submit the summary rather than the actual manuscript?

What is the nature of this research? Unfortunately, I worry that promoting yourself with an unmentored manuscript may be more detrimental than helpful unless you're already established in the field with reputable co-authors on other papers. Otherwise, your research lacks the context it needs to be relevant/credible. I would reach out to a local mathematician (perhaps at a community college or university) and see if they can lend credence to your work with a letter of evaluation.


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Scholarship/funding based on publications/research work
I am an undergraduate senior Mechatronics engineering student looking for a scholarship to pursue a Masters degree next year in Europe (Germany specifically) or US. My current accumulative GPA equates to a C+, however i worked on many research projects, 3 of which were accepted by high impact journals and still working on more to come.
I was wondering if universities would accept my work so far when evaluating my scholarship application? If not, is there a relative number of publications i should achieve in order to apply for a scholarship?

In general, while universities will look for publications, they won't entirely compensate for poor transcripts. Also, there is no "ideal" number of publications here: the more, the better.
With a C+ average, though, you are unlikely to get a scholarship in the US. I should also point out that in central Europe, master's studies don't normally have tuition, and so scholarships aren't normally awarded: you instead need to get funds to support your living expenses.

With a C+ average, though, you may not be eligible for admission to many graduate programs in the US.  Many US graduate schools require a minimum undergraduate GPA of 3.0, and applications below that threshold are often administratively rejected before the admissions committee sees them.

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


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Before interviewing at a grad school, how much background research should I do into its research groups?
I was recently invited for on-campus Interviews at Austria‘s top graduate school. I picked 5 Group Leaders, of which 3 will eventually conduct the interview.
Naturally, I’ll be prepared for any and all questions regarding my previous thesis, internships and classes.
Questions:

How much reading should I do about the research of the groups I’m interested in?
Can I expect detailed questions regarding their latest publications, etc.?

My experience interviewing was in the US, so it might or might not apply to you in Austria.
None of the schools where I interviewed expected me to know the details of their latest work. I read a few of their recent papers so I had some idea what the groups did and I could have an intelligent conversation with professors and other students. It seemed to go well.
Good luck!


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How to apply for teaching jobs with no formal teaching experience?
I'd like to make a career change and go into teaching; for financial reasons (I had to care for my elderly parents, etc.) I've been in marketing for 15 years but my true talents lie in writing and teaching.
I've taught several seminars and worked as a college tutor and teaching assistant, run many volunteer writing workshops, and have many publications in literary journals, and a new book coming out this June by a reputable publisher.  I received my MFA in honors and all of my seminar reviews are extremely positive.
I'm just not sure how to apply when every teaching job posting I find lists "at least two years" of college teaching experience as a prerequisite.  At this point I'd even teach a semester free of charge if someone would give me a chance!

You said that your true interest is writing and teaching. If this is the case, then it is justified to join a teaching job.
For this, you already have fair amount of experience such as teaching in seminars and workshops. You might have received some amount of formal appreciation such as a certificate or any written document. This could be added as an experience certificate. You also mentioned that you were TAing for few times. That is a nice experience, which adds to your profile.
When the criterion says "at least 2 years", just mention the above points as follows (or something similar to it):
Teaching experiences:

Talk on "Title 1" in the International Conference on ABCD
Taught "Title 2" in the International Workshop on DCBA
Teaching Assistant (From -- To) at the University of Alphabets


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Why subscribe to printed versions of math journals?
This question follows from a MathOverflow question, "Why should one subscribe to print Journals".
It seems obvious to me that having print journals in a library is beneficial. Yes, Arxiv, MathSciNet, Blogs and lecture notes by Mathematicians, Math Overflow, Wikipedia and Scholarpedia all of these have been extremely helpful in dissemination of research mathematics. Amongst other things electronic copies of articles helped immensely in increasing accessibility.
Most journals these days have an online version. Which probably only a few would argue is not beneficial.
What I can't get myself agree is the opinion that one should stop subscribing to print copies of journals altogether. The arguments against subscribing both print and online I have come across are cost, space constraint, and redundancy.
The difference between online and print+online versions of journals are often marginal. If space constraint is an issue then one can argue against having a library as well. Why subscribe to the journals at all as most of the articles are available in the internet free.
What I can't fathom is the argument that print version of journals have become redundant.
I am asking this as in a discussion regarding journal subscription many faculty members expressed the opinion that we should stop subscribing to print version of the journals. How does one defend the case for need of print journals?
Am I overly emotional and just nostalgic for old times? So many times I chanced upon a result while browsing through the pages of a journal; sometimes relevant to my own area, and sometimes totally unrelated but so exciting that it got me interested in that area.
I am sure this issue or debate is not limited to my university and I am asking this question here hoping to benefit from the comments and thoughts you may share.
My question is what are the benefits of subscribing print version of journals, even if online versions are available. How it helps the research of faculty and graduate students.

This article may be relevant to your point : http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-43106436

@Najib Idrissi Yes. But how did you figure out !?

@Najib Idrissi Fixed

Your question assumes that print versions of journals should exist, and it's just a question of whether you get the paper version in addition to the online version. But I, and I believe many others, see the process of getting an article ready for printing as a waste of time (at significant cost, and often introducing errors), as the online-ready version already did all we wanted it to.

Ok, as a paper fetichist, OA activist and former scientific advisor for a mathematical library, I cannot not answer this. But I must distinguish several perspectives.
What I like about paper journals
I like to hold them, and let the paper smell and nice typography sink in in the background of my mathematical immersion.
Unfortunately, most large commercial publisher are doing such an awful job that this emotion is barely possible anymore with many otherwise great journals. Come on: GAFA allows an article to start on a left page, in Advances you see both recto and verso superimposed because of the low-quality paper, even Inventiones has too light or too bold printing making papers sometimes difficult to read. Thank goodness there are still Acta with large yellow pages, the Annals, the journals of MSP and a few others that stand out, but unfortunately I lost my library when I got my current position.
I like that I get to know about what is done outside my fields
When I still had a great library with many paper subscriptions, I would look at all abstracts in certain journals, and when an abstract seemed interesting I would read the introduction. It would very rarely result in a direct connection to my own works, but I think I got several research ideas that way and more importantly, it would enlarge my mathematical culture constantly.
This point could be emulated in an electronic format (and is partially, through e.g. arXiv email alerts), but it is not the same at least for me, and in the current state of affairs.
I like the calm and solemnity of a library
I enjoyed very much to go from volume to volume following citations and knowing that I would get in a few minutes almost all I needed, while benefiting with the almost monastic atmosphere of a library. Being out of my office, this also meant no interruptions.
This was only possible because the library I had was really great.
What are reasons to keep paper subscriptions outside of my own experience
To hold what we buy
For some time, electronic subscriptions gave permanent access to the period that was subscribed, but this seems to become the exception rather than the rule, and in any case might turn difficult to enforce (if you need a trial to get access, that is an issue). Once you buy a volume of journal, the publisher will not get in your library and take it back. There is a great safety in this, that electronic subscription cannot provide completely.
In France, we are devising a plan to have every significant mathematical journal identified and subscribed to by at least two libraries, in paper version, with a pledge to take good care of them (have them binded, indexed, etc.), mainly as a safety net.
Not much more
Honestly, the use of paper versions have declined so much that it is often difficult to argue in favor of paper versions, and I totally understand the choice to transform libraries into learning centers and concentrate on electronic subscription. It makes me a bit sad, but I get it.
One thing that has not been considered enough until now, is how to get electronic version better. They are still too close from scanned papers, which makes the situation far from optimal. My bet currently is that the energy needed to defend paper would be more useful in pushing for better public scholarly communication infrastructures (hat tip to Björn Brembs).

I am not sure that electronic articles would stay easily readable in 50 or 100 years (while paper journals will be readable).

@BasileStarynkevitch the low quality of most large commercial publisher's print makes it quite dubious that paper articles will still be readable in 50 to 100 years. The ink might not stick to the page, for all we know.

Here are a few arguments for print journals, some I’ve heard, and some I’d make personally.

Accessibility. Print journals can make journal articles accessible through the mail. This may seem an anachronism, but it still matters. There are locations in the world (including in developed countries) where the most convenient means of receipt is by post; rural areas with limited Internet access and no central library come to mind.
Interactivity. Print journals are still generally more interactive than their digital counterparts. You can hold them, make notes on them, record your impressions, clearly index them, and even cut out sections.
Curation of linked content. Each journal issue may provide multiple linked articles, which together tackle a question from multiple angles. This can facilitate better comprehension of a topic or encourage the reader to explore multiple facets of an idea. In the physical form, these relationships are made very clear.
Disconnecting. You don’t need to get on the Internet to read the journal; physical journals encourage you to break away from your computer and allow for a productive use of time in the physical world. You can keep it analog, if you will — somewhat of a luxury these days.
Anticipation. You can look forward to receiving a nice package of great articles with each issue. Rather than an article or two a day, you can get a nice meaty hit of intellectually stimulating goodness. It’s a great excuse to set aside a reading day, if your schedule is amenable.
Health. This may seem silly at first glance, but humor me here. Reading print is easier on the eyes for many people and can reduce eye strain. Further, you don’t continually stare at artificial blue light (a frequency in the visible light spectrum that is involved in the modulation of the hormone melatonin). If you plan on reading after sun down, a journal is probably a healthier option than a screen over the long term. There’s a lot of literature on PubMed, but here’s a nice overview.

Of course, those 6 reasons may not be particularly relevant to a faculty department — maybe 3 - 5, but probably not to the degree that they would make a print subscription worth it.
Specific to a faculty department? I’ve seen journals by water coolers and in reception areas, perhaps in the hope that they can encourage conversation or, simply, give visitors the opportunity to read about research that is relevant to the department domain(s) — not so dissimilar from academic posters that find their home in the departments halls.

For accessibility, another important aspect is that it can be carried around wherever you go, even in areas without electric sockets, internet connections or just somewhere where you would not wish to bring a laptop/similar device.

I’d argue that some of those characteristics could also provide flexibility, in addition to accessibility. In a way, you’re stripping a dependency (electricity), which allows you more flexibility in where and when you read articles.


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How to manage work permit stress along with research work?
Since academia especially in postdoctoral contracts requires researchers to move around, I suppose being in academia in the long-term would make most people think about the work permit/visa situation with/without family.
How to keep up the quality of research while awaiting and managing work permit/visa applications for work? I am wrapping up my PhD now and writing manuscripts and leading the simulations for these research projects. I need to focus on my papers and take care of the preprints to the state that they are ready to be submitted to the journals.
My supervisor and department provide no support whatsoever in this situation, i.e., they provide the documents in time but do not provide any support to me to plan my employment in such a way that the transition in work permit is smooth.

What kind of answer are you looking for? You are a person and you have legitimate concerns other than just research, and you need to find a way to balance those. How to do that depends on your needs and the possibilities in your situation. We don't know either.

OP: can you provide at least the continent in which you are located?
@MaartenBuis although I generally agree, "you need to find a way to balance [...]" it's like saying "you are a sailorman on the Titanic, the ship just hit an iceberg, you need to find a way to balance your duties with your physical and mental wellbeing". Not easy, and really not too much depending on the specific OP situation.

@EarlGrey the location is in northern Europe (EU).

@Wandering_Alice  I would go as far to say that it is fully responsibility of the State, your faculty cannot influence in the future visa process (they already contribute enough by showing they employed you in the past). Just fill in the necessary paperwork, do not visit questionable websites (where questionable can be either far-right pro-indigeneous sites or far-left)?) pro-immigration sites, it depends on the current government), avoid political activities and you are all set.
Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer or a pious man, there is no legal or moral value or binding in what I write.

Don't worry: to have a safe visa renewal process, you need a long-term contract. No one in the academia will provide you a long term contract.
So don't stress out in the sense that "the academia" will never help you and you are just in need of luck.
As long as you have a PhD defended and you are a "doctor", and as long as your criminal record is short or null, and you have no visits to Iran (applies for the US), you can be reasonably sure you will get a visa.


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What can be done about an unintentionally disruptive classmate?
I have a classmate who frequently disrupts class by asking nonsensical or unrelated questions, or by making nonsensical or unrelated interjections to the professor. He is autistic, and all the professors I have shared with this classmate (he and I are the same year in the same field of study) have followed the same pattern of humoring him to an extent by attempting to answer his questions, or by thanking him for his interjections, but eventually just ignoring him. I'm sure he has good intent (thinks his questions and comments are relevant or useful) but he doesn't seem to catch on when the professors no longer reply to him (and all of his classmates are rolling their eyes and shaking their heads).
Today in lecture, he sat at the far back of the auditorium (there were tens of empty rows in front of him) and then asked the professor to speak louder. The professor responded by asking my classmate to move closer, as he could not be loud enough to be heard in the very back. My classmate replied by stating that he was comfortable, and then asked a series of questions about whether the lecture material was available online, in the textbook, etc., all of which had been covered in previous lectures anyway, and were on the class website and syllabus.
It has become apparent (after three years of being with this classmate) that the department and/or professors do not have any intent of trying to encourage acceptable class behavior with my classmate. Is it safe to assume that they are aware of his disruptive behavior, and are simply not addressing it due to his mental condition, or should I bring it up with the professors or the department? Would such a report be frowned upon as insensitive due to the classmate's mental condition?
Edit 14 January 2017
In regards to the linked question, the student is not actually being offensive, just disruptive. Being offensive (specifically in regards to racial slurs) would merit additional discipline.

The code of many modern universities will likely expect a high degree of efforts towards full inclusion; depending on legislation, it is possible that the lecturers are not allowed to be enforcing compliance to specific rules of a lecture hall. If the student is disruptive to a large class, there may be procedures of recourse offered by your department, but that may likely require action from the the students' rather than the lecturer's side - ensure, though, that a legitimate request for a productive lecture time may not be be misconstrued as the attempt to bully a disadvantaged co-student.

What makes you so certain that "professors do not have any intent of trying to encourage acceptable class behavior"? It's possible that they have been working on this outside of your view. What is it that you believe they should be doing but are not? It's possible that what you as (apparently) a layman believe to be the right way to deal with this situation is known to be ineffective and is against some policy for good reason.

Related: http://academia.stackexchange.com/q/68113/40589

I'm not autistic, but I was one of those students who loved asking questions in undergrad to the annoyance of my peers (whoops). Eventually, I learned to write my questions down on the side of my notes and go pick the professor's mind after class/during office hours. I wonder if a similar approach would work well here for that student. Note: this does not mean I advocate saying this to the student.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe children with Asperger's and higher functioning autism often go through a sort of therapeutic "training" to pick up on nuances that non-autistic people would just automatically "get." I almost feel like if a professor or school counselor were to kindly express to the student ideas about better question-asking behavior it may help the student. I feel that not doing so robs the student of future opportunities given that his behavior is out of line (and it's likely, given his autism, that he may not be aware that he is being disruptive.) Just my two cents.

@CapeCode - Although the two questions have some aspects in common, the other one gave me a distinct Tourette feel, whereas this one doesn't.  (There is a significant incidence of overlap between the two disorders.)

Close vote retracted. As your edit points out the disruption is not of the same level.

Are you paying for your education? Is the disruption diminishing your education to the degree that you could seek some form of compensation from the school for not having supplied an adequate learning environment?

@CapeCode - I found your comment entirely by accident.  Could you direct your comment to me next time?  It's always nice to read that an edit was well received. // By the way -- for me, the key difference between the posts is that the disruptions seem to be coming from a different neurological difference.  I find it helpful to understand the source of a behavior pattern in order to find a management strategy.

Pointer: In college it's simply not the faculty's primary responsibility to address or treat mental or social disorders. If something seems outrageous or dangerous then we can refer it to a specialty office. But if ignoring the student makes the class passably workable, then it's not the professor's job to pursue further treatment.

@aparente001  I changed my mind because of OP's edit. In general I think you should refrain from making diagnoses based on questions asked on this site. I already told you my opinion on this subject.

@CapeCode - I'm sorry, I seem to have written total nonsense in my comment ("It's always nice to read that an edit was well received").  I just discovered that I played no role in the edit in question, and I was apparently confusing this question with something else entirely! // Rest assured, my earlier comment ("the other one gave me a distinct Tourette feel, whereas this one doesn't") was not remotely intended as a diagnosis.

It sounds like everyone who's dealt with it decided the student's behavior was a minor annoyance at most, or even that their questions were valid and worth answering. Repeating material that was covered in previous lectures, in the syllabus, or on the website is...well, part of the job, and many professors explicitly welcome questions about past material or any general course questions of that nature. It is generally assumed that students aren't tape recorders with perfect memory, and if a professor is really bothered by it they are free to answer with "that's covered in the syllabus". Off-topic questions are typically easily handled with "that's beyond the scope of this course, so questions like that would need to be asked in office hours/email/someone else." If the professor goes off on 30-minute tangents about meatballs because a student asked a question about them that has nothing to do with the course, well then you'd have a valid issue to raise with the professor.
Based on your descriptions, all the past professors found minimally disruptive ways of handling less-than-perfect questions - such as limited answering, ignoring comments that did not need a response, etc - and found a way to move past it. If there is regular behavior by another student that rises to the level of such a disruption that you feel you are materially harmed in your education by being subject to it, by all means bring it up to the appropriate faculty/administrative contact.
However, I must point out that there is a baseline reality that standard deviation in the human population is greater than 0; people are not all the same.  This means that your standard of behavior will not be followed by everyone, and others will have different standards of behavior than you do. It often pays to first ask yourself: "is this so far out of line that it I really need it to be dealt with?" If it's just an annoyance, or something that really isn't really that big of a deal, empathy and patience might be a more useful strategy than complaint.
As to how a potential complaint would be received, that rather depends on what you are complaining about. If you complain that a fellow student asks questions about the class that are already covered in the course materials, some professors will agree (they wish students read the syllabus too), and some will think "that's a weird complaint, I wish more students asked, because it sure isn't like the ones that don't ask actually read it all". If you complain that the student is a bit odd, well, yes, they probably got that idea by now. If you complained that a student was, as an example, yelling racial slurs in the middle of class, then that would certainly be seen as a valid complaint, while another complaint about a student with tremors shaking and you find that distracting...not so much.
So in the end, I would advise you to consider the seriousness of your complaint. If you feel that what you've witnessed/experienced is materially harmful and wish to make a complaint, make sure you specifically address exactly what is the issue and what you would like done about it, such as: "a student regularly asks questions that are not pertinent to the course, and the professor allows the distractions to cut into class timer, or ignores continued talking and comments instead of telling the student to stop."

I definitely can understand and relate.  While I was reading it my first thought was this student must be autistic and thought maybe you didn't know.  Saw the following line that you stated he was, so at least you know!  That is very important.  I have also been in a class that had an autistic student.  No one was made aware, nor was the teacher informed due to this student apparently being the son of someone who had to maintain a political image.  Unfortunate that parents care about their career over the right help for the child.  Anyways, he too would randomly outburst in this class.  Usually quoting a star trek episode right down to saying the name of the episode and which episode number it was.  He meant it in good form trying to provide the class lecture to something he can relate to as a way for him to learn.  Some times though he would go completely off topic with talking about BBQ foods.  I think the class enjoyed the break to discuss food because hey who doesn't like a good BBQ?
Was it annoying and disruptive?  yes very.  Did he slow down the class? yes. I felt bad because some days our class mates would be laughing AT him due to his tendencies.  One time he hit his knee on his desk and ran out crying and everyone kind of just sat there not knowing what to do.
It honestly is a sensitive subject.  But sometimes, there are things that even teachers cannot do.  If he isn't listed as having a disability, it really handcuffs the school on what they can do.  At the same time, they don't want to deny him his right to education just like everyone else.  Usually handicap and or students with disabilities get extra test time or will take the tests on another day in a supervised testing hall but that doesn't mean they cannot be a part of the lecture.  It sucks being in class with this situation, but ultimately all you can do is go to the deans or someone higher up and explain how you are not getting the proper level of education and see if they can either transfer you to a different class time for the same subject or  at the extreme drop it for a new semester.  But like I said, there isn't much the school can do because everyone has equal right to education regardless of their mental health.

Today in lecture, he sat at the far back of the auditorium (there were tens of empty rows in front of him) and then asked the professor to speak louder. The professor responded by asking my classmate to move closer, as he could not be loud enough to be heard in the very back. My classmate replied by stating that he was comfortable.

There's no guarantee of success for what I'm going to suggest, but here goes.  Have you tried making some friendly overtures?  It would be much easier to model desired behavior and guide this young man if you and he had an established rapport.  You are probably modeling desired behavior already, but if he's not tuned into you yet, then your modeling is probably not making as much of an impact as it might.
If you two get in the habit of arriving a little early and having a brief greeting and chat, maybe he will be comfortable sitting near you (not in the back!).
(In the long run, what would help him would be to jot down his questions.  But it might be difficult to teach him to do that.)
It might be helpful for you to think a little bit about what sorts of relationships and connections make inclusion work in a classroom.
Here is a series of videos about inclusion that I have found helpful in my own learning: http://worldofinclusion.com/videos/
Maybe it's time to invite him for to have a cup of coffee with you after class?  Or go for a little walk and talk around campus?
I hope you will keep us posted.

I didn't downvote, but the OP never mentioned the classmate saying he was uncomfortable, but rather that he was "comfortable". I took this to mean that the professor asked him to move closer to hear better, and the student basically said he was comfortable where he is, then moved on.

@BrianDHall - Ha ha - I completely misread that sentence!  I will re-think my answer.  Hmm.  I wonder if can delete it for now, and then edit it and undelete it later?

I do appreciate your empathy. I have tried connecting with this other student, but he has made it explicitly clear in the past that he has no interest in forming friendships or even carrying on conversations with other students. He talks to the professors (during class) as if they were his friends, but neither I nor anyone else in my major have had success actually being friends with him. The best I have seen is a casual greeting between him and one other classmate, but that was the extent of it.

@MichaelBrandonMorris - That makes it tough.  It may be that none of your cohort will be able to form an actual friendship with him.  But maybe the Student Disability office at your university could help make some connections.  (You could make an appointment to ask for guidance about ways to reach out to him, and in the conversation with the person, you could describe your motivation.)  Where I live, there is a support group for people with autism and their families.  It was started by a young man with high functioning autism.  Such a group can function kind of like a gay-straight alliance.

There is a teen with autism in my town, I guess I could say he's medium functioning.  He is verbal but one doesn't always understand what he says, and he has rather low cognition.  He is included in a couple of classes at his high school, but with quite a bit of assistance.  I used to run into him at places like the library and the grocery store, where he would come up to me and make intrusive, repetitive questions that I couldn't understand.  But later, when I was collaborating with a parent of his on a project, I made an effort, and took the initiative to have a couple of short but...

... reasonably meaningful conversations with him, and what do you know, when I run into him now, he doesn't always remember who I am, but there's a more relaxed feel, less insistence and urgency.  (Maybe it's just a coincidence.)  I wonder if you could invent an errand that would cause you to walk in the same direction as your classmate, on leaving class sometimes?  It might take some patience.  I saw a video about training wild birds to come into an apartment for food.  With remarkable results. // Have you read any books, watched any videos to develop some understanding an intuition yet?


text:
How much mathematics are electrical engineering graduate students expected to know?
In most Australian universities, the engineering degrees contain three explicit MATH courses which they cover one and two variable calculus, linear algebra, complex numbers, statistics (probability, random variables, etc), Fourier series, differential equations and Laplace transform. For electrical engineering students, they will obviously learn more mathematics but it is usually a part of the electrical engineering subjects and not explicit mathematics subjects. I believe an Australian electrical engineering student does not study topology, group theory, real and functional analysis and other advanced mathematics simply because those topics are not a part of an electrical engineering degree in Australia.
I think (but unsure) that the undergraduate electrical engineering programs in US require students to take much more math subjects.
Let's suppose that someone completes his electrical engineering degree in Australia and he applies for a mathematical research area of electrical engineering (signal processing, control theory) in graduate school in USA. Suppose that he is a good candidate overall; will graduate admission committee be concerned about Australian students mathematical ability? How do electrical engineering graduate school make sure that the Australian applicants have the required mathematical skills to complete the graduate program successfully?

This would  seem to be very dependent on the actual school and specific situation...  so probably the question is too vague to be answered with authority.

Small anecdotal evidence: one student of ours went to Stanford, and another to MIT.   Both did a double degree: EE+Maths :)

@ProfSantaClaus: what was the exact title of their degrees? what math subjects did they do?

@KarenCumrun just search for electrical and maths double degree offered by Australian universities.    You'll find a few and you can peruse their course handbook.

I think it really depends. I've seen EE majors do much of the math someone majoring in math. At the junior-senior level, some EE students will take a semester of advanced calculus, matrix theory, and numerical analysis. It really depends on the university and their degree requirements.
For students outside of the US, admissions committees do try to review the student's background as carefully as possible, comparing it to their requirements. Certainly it will help to have as much math as possible if you want to stand out. In particular, try taking some "applied" courses - partial differential equations, numerical analysis, optimization, stuff like that. Some "pure" topics like real analysis (perhaps up to introductory measure theory, this is really not a big thing in my opinion) and complex analysis will help too.
If you plan to apply to a US university, I suggest talking to someone in graduate admissions in the department that you are interested in.

In the U.S., electrical engineering programs (as well as those in "applied and natural science, computing, engineering and engineering technology") are accredited by ABET, formerly known as the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology.
ABET publishes its program eligibility requirements as well as an annual update of the criteria by which it judges programs.
For the 2021-2022 school year, the ABET criteria for baccalaureate programs related to electronic, electrical, computer engineering state:

The curriculum must include probability and statistics, including applications appropriate to the program name; mathematics through differential and integral calculus; sciences (defined as biological, chemical, or physical science); and engineering topics (including computing science) necessary to analyze and design complex electrical and electronic devices, software, and systems containing hardware and software components.
The curriculum for programs containing the modifier “electrical,” “electronic(s),” “communication(s),” or “telecommunication(s)” in the title must include advanced mathematics, such as differential equations, linear algebra, complex variables, and discrete mathematics.
The curriculum for programs containing the modifier “computer” in the title must include discrete mathematics.
The curriculum for programs containing the modifier “communication(s)” or “telecommunication(s)” in the title must include topics in communication theory and systems.
The curriculum for programs containing the modifier “telecommunication(s)” must include design and operation of telecommunication networks for services such as voice, data, image, and video transport.

Electrical engineering graduate students who received their bachelor's degrees from an ABET-accredited institution can be assumed to have studied the above topics.


text:
Can publisher alter or invent writing and attribute that to the author without consultation?
Is it legal to publish a document under an authors name without the author seeing the manuscript?
What if the author's manuscript is radically altered to the extent of say the opposite of the original and is published without authors seeing the manuscript - would that be legal?
The question of course is not if it is unethical but rather not legal.
What does "moral rights" cover?

For legal questions, you will probably get better answers from law.SE.

There's certainly an element of fraud, with also the possibility of defamation (depending on what's said or written), so there's definitely grounds for a lawsuit. Law.SE would probably be a better home for this. Would you like us to see if we can migrate this question for you?

It's not legal to publish anything by an author without some kind of contract. (This is copyright violation.) So presumably how much you can change it depends on what the contract says.

@PeterShor I think the premise of the question is that it's not actually by that author. So there's no copyright infringement issue.

@DavidSchwartz, the situation as described is altering the author's manuscript, which for copyright purposes means creating a derived work. Creating a derived work is a protected right.

Which country? Let's say Kim Jong Un does it, it may not be legal at the very moment, but by the time someone complains he would change the law and make it legal, at least locally.

I'm actually seeing potentially two different parts to this question: (1) whether it's legal to publish a document under an author's name when that author was not involved in the document's creation at all (first paragraph v1, maybe), and (2) whether it's legal to take something that was written by an author, heavily modify it, and publish it under the author's name (second paragraph v1). It would be useful to get clarification about which of these situations, or both, are the subject of the question.

A publisher will typically require authors to sign a contract. That contract dictates what the publisher can do.
Contracts typically stipulate that the publisher can make editorial, formatting, stylistic, ... changes. Thus, a publisher can alter or invent writing. Whether the publisher can do so without consulting the author depends on the contract.
A contract might permit the publisher to derive promotional materials bearing the author's name, without further consultation with the author (i.e., contracts might grant such rights), hence, it might be legal to publish a document under an author's name without consultation.
Since the publisher is typically granted permission to make changes, it is possible that those changes lead to publication of a manuscript that is radically altered to the extent of say the opposite of the original.
Although I have reasoned that it is possible, it really depends upon the contract that was signed.

Still, there is a difference between editorial changes and rewriting the whole thing. The question of where exactly the line runs is one for lawyers to sort out though, so @J.B. I would suggest to try asking one (e.g. from your universities legal department).

Legal departments might be unwilling to look. If the OP believes they have been harmed by a publisher (which is unclear from the question), then perhaps the OP can ask a new question. That question might-well be better answered by their legal department too.


text:
Applying for a lecturership. What should I write in "supporting statement" through the on-line application?
I have already prepared my CV, my cover letter, my research and teaching plans, as well as a document with my previous research overview.
When applying through the university website, there is a mandatory "supporting statement" box to fill (max 2000 characters). "State your reasons for applying and why you meet the specifications".
It seems sort of obvious what I should write there, but that would be duplicating what I said in my cover letter, because it is basically the same.
Should I copy my cover letter there? That would be like redudant info, and also kind of lazy. But just rephrasing my cover letter also is kind of redundant.
What should I write there?
Thanks!

Should I copy my cover letter there? — I strongly suspect that their requested "supporting statement" is precisely what you're thinking of as a "cover letter".  (The actual cover letter doesn't need to be anything more than a brief introduction, a complete list of the materials you've submitted, and the names and contact information for your references.)


text:
Applying to Ph.D. programs in history when my degree is in a science field
I would like to apply for Ph.D. programs in history, but I am a graduate of a science program. Do I need another degree in order to apply to history Ph.D. programs?

Can you provide any more details?

Yes and yes.  It depends on the institution. You must read the doctoral notice (rules).
But, above all, you must think what is your purpose doing that. Be aware that you will have more difficulty doing a PhD in a new issue and if it's worth, if you want a career in this new area.


text:
CV Gap: PhD dropout with no reliable reference
I spent 2 years doing a PhD. Not only did the study fail, my paths parted with my main and only supervisor in the worst possible manner. I don't know how to account for the gap on my CV due to the following reasons:
1.) It was 100% research, I cannot say I completed certain subjects or credits to swing it into a positive light.
2.) I obviously don't have a good (or any) reference to account for the 2 years in the PhD.
3.) I can't lie and say I worked as a research assistant during that time to account for the gap. I tried it, and I failed. The recruitment agency through which I tried to work nailed me on the fact that I could not provide them with the contact details of a supervisory figure for the time I spent working as a "research assistant". It's totally impossible to get away with not having a reference for your most recent "job".
I don't know what to do with my CV.
Any help would be substantially beneficial at this stage!

What country are you in? (also this seems like a question for workplace.SE rather than academia.SE)

How come there is no record of you being enrolled in this PhD program?

@solanacea: There certainly is a record at the university of my enrollment for the PhD. It reads: "PhD. Module: Thesis. Credits 700. Status incomplete". It repeats for every year I was enrolled. Other than the phd thesis "module" there are no other "modules" to complete in the programme.

In which case, this not really a gap in your CV. You were a graduate student for those two years. Your CV should say so. People fail to complete degrees for various reasons all the time. A gap is when you are unemployed, travelling the world, a stay-at-home parent, in prison, etc. where there is nothing on the CV for the 2 years between say 20XX and 20XX+2. Sure, you might be asked why you did not complete the degree in an interview and you should answer that question honestly. However, it does not need to be explained on a CV.

You need to fill that gap. Employers have to allow for the worst case. Currently, they have no evidence that distinguishes your PhD attempt from two years sitting around doing nothing, or even two years in prison.
First contact your former supervisor. Even if they cannot give you a good reference for your research skills etc., they may be willing to say you were a PhD student and roughly what you were doing during those two years.
If that does not work, try the department and the school. You are not looking for a recommendation as a researcher, just a statement that you were registered as a graduate student during that period.
In dealing with potential employers, you can say that you tried being a PhD student but it did not work out, and is not the right path for you.

I agree and you certainly make a good point. It's comforting to know then, that I am not looking for a recommendation as a researcher, but a validaion of the fact that I was there doing a phd. I thought the reference HAS to be a supervisory figure that was in my direct line if reporting. If you put it this way, I will contact another senior researcher that was appointed in the same department who followed the progress closely, even though I did not report to him directly. Thank you.

Might I also ask - what is your opinion about removing the said PhD from the qualifications section, and placing it in the job experience section under the heading "postgraduate researcher"?

Your direct supervisor would be best - that is why I suggested contacting them first.

Try being honest. "I was a PhD student but it ended badly." More people than you might think would understand a bad academic relationship. I have also seen references given from other people in the lab (postdocs, senior grad students).

once again thank you for your advice. As I said in a comment to another person who commented above, I never thought of putting up a person for a reference that is willing to testify that I was a phd student. I thought that it has to be a person in a supervisory role whom I reported to directly in the line of work. thank you.

Might I also ask - what is your opinion about removing the said PhD from the qualifications section, and placing it in the job experience section under the heading "postgraduate researcher"?

@Helpless I have upvoted this answer mainly for the first sentence. I would have a section labeled "Education" that includes your successfully completed degree(s) and also notes that you spent 2 years as a PhD student without receiving a degree. The practical problem with trying to call it something else is that a prospective employer is likely to find out the truth in following up on references, and will discount everything else you say in your CV. Why do you want to hide the fact that you were accepted into a PhD program?

@patricia: Thank you for feedback. I am faced with using standard templates from recruitment agencies. Theire layout starts with qualifications, by date. This is an immediate eyesore, as an incomplete phd will be at the top of the list. If I move the phd to the later section entitled work experience under the heading postgraduate researcher, I am given a chance to list the responsibilities I undertook during the time period. Although postgraduate researcher is definitely the alternative term for phd researcher, I do see your point of view on the complications involved!

The main thing is to make sure that if someone both reads your CV and finds out your complete background, they will not feel they have been deceived. You do seem to be forgetting that admission to a PhD program is a significant achievement in itself.

@patricia: truer words have not been spoken. Well said!