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How to conduct research as a non-Latino in a Latino-studies research institute?
I will be conducting research in a Latino-studies research institute next summer. I will probably be the only non-Latino researcher in the institute that summer. I’m also approaching my research from a computational sociological point of view, which is vastly different from the qualitative orientation of my peers’ research. I do wish to explore the field of Latino studies more and possibly even conduct research in it (of course as a respectful student who is outside the culture).
How can I not only conduct research but move up more into this world of Latino studies research without being disrespectful and giving precedence to those who not only research Latino studies, but are part of the culture?

The same way that non-plants conduct research about plants.

Honestly, if there is a department researching X culture, and all the researchers are X culture, there is something going wrong.

Congratulations on your upcoming research position! I understand why you might be nervous, especially since you expect to have two major differences with all your coworkers (ethnicity and methodology). Quantitative researchers are often treated as if they have higher status than their qualitative counterparts (funding discrepancies, accessibility of their research to colleagues in STEM fields, ability to "dabble" or "consult" in different situations without as much background knowledge, easy transfer of skills to jobs outside academia). So, you have (at least) two areas, central to your job, where it may be hard to communicate with coworkers and where you may have had very different experiences you're working from.
Here are a few things to keep in mind:

Your coworkers will (presumably) all be from different backgrounds. Even setting aside migration-related cultural differences, there are very different cultures across different parts of Latin America and the Caribbean, and the extent to which people identify with indigenous heritage will also add diversity. Afro-Cuban religion, Andean culture, the Chican@ movement, and Brazilian social stratification are in the background of Latino studies, and probably none of your colleagues will have lived cultural experience with all of them.
That said, it is entirely possible that many people will feel comfortable chatting in Spanish or Spanglish, or making cultural references you don't know. It may be valuable to brush up on your Spanish and brush up on whatever Latino culture is local to where you are. (For instance, you might see if there are guest speakers or film nights at a cultural center on campus or arranged by your school's Latino studies program.)
(I am white and non-Hispanic.) I grew up with the idea that there was no longer racism in American society and that most apparent continuing racial differences were attributable to economic factors. In college, I learned from African American friends that yes, racism persists. In graduate school, I learned from the social science literature and colleagues' research that race definitely matters. Stated in the most conservative way, even after accounting for many, many other factors, race and ethnicity still help predict many life outcomes in modern America.

Racism is an active factor in society. Shaun Harper writes in his 2012 paper "Race without Racism: How Higher Education Researchers Minimize Racist Institutional Norms":

I do not believe that every racial disparity or negative experience a minoritized person has is attributable to racism. However, ... most higher education scholars rely on everything but racism in their attempts to explain, theorize about, and discuss findings that emerge in their race-related studies. This trend is consistent with approaches sociologists commonly employ in their research (Bonilla-Silva & Baiocchi, 2001). (pp. 22-23)

There are many barriers that your colleagues have faced to get where they are. In this very readable article, Harper and Charles Davis III present "Eight Actions to Reduce Racism in College Classrooms," and they will probably be good to think about for a scholarly research environment, too.
Let's say that something you say is (mis)perceived as racist. It's hard to talk about race, and your job will involve talking about ethnicity and (likely) race. So you may want to think about what happens if you say the wrong thing and/or someone calls you out. This blog post, "My Fellow White People, Here's One Simple Trick You Can Do About Racism TODAY!" covers this situation. (You did not mention your racial/ethnic background beyond being non-Latino; however, at least some of the advice may apply even if you are often minoritized yourself.)
Show interest in your colleagues' research and methodologies. If any of them study/studied at the same place you do, ask for course recommendations.
If they are interested in your computational sociology, help them understand it, and (if appropriate) recommend resources they might benefit from.
Make sure that your research is written in a way that qualitative sociologists can fully engage with it, and help de-mystify quantitative work.
As in any position like this, remember that you're new but that you have interesting ideas. (If you tend to be more outspoken, use this to hang back more at the start. If you tend to be quiet, use this to speak up.) Talk with your advisor/boss/PI if you have questions about things, including office culture.
For the longer-term goals, your work at this institute is a good start. Be open to mixed-methods collaborations with the colleagues you meet here; many of them will probably work in fascinating settings and may have the opportunity to collect novel quantitative datasets alongside their detailed qualitative work.

Finally, here are some lengthier suggested readings:

Edward Bonilla-Silva's Racism without Racists: Color-blind racism and the persistence of racial inequality in America
Tufuku Zuberi and Bonilla-Silva's White Logic, White Methods: Racism and Methodology
Acquaint yourself with the Culture of Poverty debate and its modern versions.
Acquaint yourself with the work of the top scholars at the institute.

It is often an outsider with a different tool- and mindset that can bring a new perspective on things, keep that in mind. The fact that you're an outsider should only be something positive in my view.

The fact that you are not in the same group as your study subject should not have anything to do with it. Do your job to the best of your ability and that's it.
Real world considerations: Someone may think something along the lines of what you fear. People are terrible. As long as you are academically precise, based on well-known facts, and sensitive, what you are should not be an issue.


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Resumé – how to include grant awarded to my undergraduate project but is part of a bigger grant?
I am aware of similar questions, but they don’t really apply to my situation. I’m applying to graduate schools and I would like to list a grant I received as an undergraduate on my resumé.
The problem is, my grant (in the form of a stipend) is only part of a big NSF grant awarded to my PI and his project, and I’m working on this project. I have the NSF award number and the project name, but since (apparently) I don’t get all the grant (which is a great amount of money) but only a small part of it, how should I list it on my resume?
What I did was list it as “NSF Grant” with the award number, but how do I make it clear so that people won’t misunderstand?

Is what you received a subaward of some type under the PI's grant? Is the PI's grant one of the traditional undergraduate student training grants like an REU?

Were you involved in the writing of the grant proposal?

No I wasn't involved in the proposal writing; but the grant is a subaward of my PI's award. Yes, it's an REU.

My immediate reaction is that if you weren't involved in the writing of the grant, you aren't responsible for the awarding of the grant; rather, you were hired to a position that happened to be funded by that grant. Therefore it would be misleading/unethical to list the grant on your CV/resumé, but you can and should list this position, along with your responsibilities, skills you learned, any results or publications, etc.
(Incidentally, it would be a terrible idea to list the full amount of your PI's grant. Not only is it unethical, but it would look laughable that an undergraduate had been awarded a six- or seven- or eight-figure grant. The result would be that the committee would view your entire application with suspicion.)

Note: I do not have much experience with subawards, so it is possible I have misunderstood the relation between the student's position and this award. I would welcome corrections if so.

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How can I digitally typeset math?
I want to digitally publish a document which includes mathematical equations – including symbols for integration, summation, etc.
This isn’t possible in MS Office or Notepad, which makes things difficult. Is anyone aware of software which would let me typeset math on a computer?

The standard way to write math with a computer is to use LaTeX.  In principle, any text editor can be used to produce LaTeX files, but some editors have optimizations for this purpose, and some TeX distributions come with an editor.

Microsoft Word does have an equation editor and the ability to produce farily complex equations.  Is this just not a workable option for you? Link...

Which "office"?

LibreOffice text editor also has a "formula" editor that supports e.g. integration symbols, but, again, LaTeX is more flexible.

If you use Windows, Mathcad can make documents with equations, and can calculate their results.

This seems like a bad fit for us since it seems like a big list and only peripherally related to academics. The software recs site might be a better fit.

What field are you in?

This is a question about typesetting and not about academia. Moreover, the question is unclear since there are no details about the kind of publication or document.

There is also MathType which I use as equation editor. It can export the equations to various formats, for example to Word and LaTeX

It is LaTeX but Libreoffice supports the basics (don't expect large diagrams)

Why do you say "this isn't possible in MS Office"? Microsoft Word, part of the Office suite, has a pretty OK equation editor if you can bear the hundreds of clicks it takes. Why is that not suitable for you?

@Floris Actually as of at least Word 2007, almost all typesetting with the built-in equation editor can be done entirely with the keyboard.  See this document.  As far as I've seen Word conforms to this spec (the older equation editor, however, does not and is fairly awful anyway).

You should use LaTeX if writing math.
If you don’t want to, there is another option, which is Mathtype. This is commercial software which integrates well with Microsoft Word.
Otherwise, you can also use an online LaTeX equation editor and download the result in .gif to paste into the Word document. This is free to use.
However, learn LaTeX; it is the best option.

Using PNG is a bad idea; it doesn't scale. One should use SVG, (unrastered) PDF or any other vector format.

@Raphael I know! Its just the only option the webpage gives....It is actually gif, I made a typo.

If you really want to type fast, you can use LyX or Scientific Word. These are very easy to use, but in the long term, LaTeX is always better because it is more flexible and you can really see what you are doing when you are writing your equations.

Libreoffice / OpenOffice is also a nice choice. Equation edition is similar to latex (text based) and it fit neatly into a complete WYSIWYG text editor.

MS Office (mentioned in the question) also has an equation editor...

@BlueRaja-DannyPflughoeft, last time I looked at MS-Word's equation editor, it was almost useless for anything a bit more complex than a few subscripts. Has been a while...

@vonbrand it has gone from awful to merely bad over the last few years, though I've seen it demoed with a graphics tablet and handwriting recognition quite impressively.

If you're publishing in HTML or another SGML or XML-based markup language, you might want to look at MathML.
The other HTML-friendly option is one or another of the LaTeX translators (see this StackOverflow question for more); a common problem with those, unfortunately, is that they sometimes output small images that are inaccessible to those with visual disabilities. MathML can be read aloud by suitably-equipped screenreading software.

Look for a program called Scientific Workplace or Scientific Notebook, by MacKichan Software.  It allows you to write math; it can solve equations that you write; and it can produce graphs and charts.

Would you care to add a link/reference to the program you mention? Is it freeware? Does the OP need to pay for a licence?

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Should I avoid mentioning that I am a veteran on PhD Applications?
I am applying to Math PhD programs, and in these applications they ask you what sets you apart from other students. Personally I feel that my status as a veteran and current service in the National Guard makes me pretty unique. For example, I have had to balance several competing obligations for the entire duration of my undergraduate career, such as full-time work, professional military education, active duty periods, annual and monthly military training. In spite of all these obligations I still have a decent GPA (3.5), and I am working on 2 research projects which we are close to publishing.
I feel these things set me apart (like for example I've NEVER met a math prof who was a veteran), and they demonstrate my commitment to continuing education in the face of trials/tribulations.
However, I understand that not everyone will see this side of my life in a positive light. Also I worry that someone on the acceptance committee will look at my resume and say "oh wow this guy could never make it in a math PhD program, hes got too much on his plate!"
What do you guys think? Will this help me or harm me in the long run to emphasize my experience as a student veteran and non-traditional student?
EDIT: This is in the context of the US, both in military service and in graduate schools.

For what it's worth, it's likely illegal to discriminate based on your Guard status.

Will you require funding as a TA for this or do you expect to self fund?

Having read applications for my department's math PhD program, and not remembering any question like this, can I ask where you're being asked this question? (Of course, not all application procedures are the same.)

I find it very unlikely that this will play any role in the admission process.

@academic, its typically included as part of the personal essay / intent / statement of goals part of the application. Nearly all of the applications I'm preparing ask for something like this, and its accompanied by the comment: What are your academic goals? What sets you apart from other students? Why do you want to pursue a math PhD? Some programs also have an (optional) diversity statement / essay.

@BryanKrause thats true, but would be virtually impossible to prove discrimination. I'm just worried it might be more trouble than it's worth to include it.

@RudyJD Got it, thanks. Opinions may differ, but my opinion is that mentioning that you're a veteran is fine and is likely to be perceived positively, or at least neutrally. But I wouldn't focus on this too much, or indeed more generally on "what sets you apart". I would spend most of your personal statement discussing your mathematical achievements, interests, and goals.

@academic Thank you very much for your comments and advice, it has given me a better picture of how to approach the task!

Is this in a US context?

@Anyon Yes it is. I will update my post :)

If you're wondering whether someone may say "Well, gee, he's got a lot on his plate already, how could he possibly do a PhD in addition?" then the place to reply to this hypothetical question is right there, in your essay! In applications, if you can anticipate questions, you've got to answer them then and there!

@RudyJD Yes, that's why I qualified it with "for what it's worth". On the one hand, even if you could possibly prove discrimination it's probably not going to be worth your effort to pursue a claim. But on the other hand, admissions decisions are usually by committee, and people on the committee should be aware of what constitutes illegal discrimination and it's very unlikely that anyone would explicitly call it out as a reason to deny admission (and if they did, they'd likely be chastised by someone else on the committee who realizes it's illegal).

@BryanKrause all good points! I guess I keep forgetting it's not just one person who is reviewing an application.

Like you, I can't recall meeting a math professor who was a veteran. However, I'm also pretty sure I've never met a math professor who would hold negative views about someone solely because that person is a veteran, let alone actively discriminate against such a person in an admissions decision, knowing that such discrimination would be blatantly illegal and unethical. Some professors may hold political opinions that lead them to disapprove of militarism, and/or to disapprove of some of the ways in which the US government uses the armed forces; but do some people disapprove of veterans? Really, is this a thing?
Now, whether it would help you to mention it, I can't say. I suspect it wouldn't be perceived as much of a big deal either way; as @academic said in a comment, admissions committees for graduate math programs are mostly interested in why people want to do a PhD in math and why their background prepares them well for this track. Your status as a veteran and the experiences you've had in the military, as much as they may make you an interesting person, do not necessarily make you a more interesting candidate in the context of a math graduate program application. (But maybe some people would think that it does; I really have no strong opinion about this issue, and no particular insight into how people who aren't me think about it.)
Bottom line:

Should I avoid mentioning that I am a veteran on PhD Applications?

No one can guarantee that any specific thing you say about yourself won't tick someone off for some bizarre reason. However, discriminating against you for your veteran status would be illegal, unethical, and illogical. The idea that this is a serious risk seems a bit outlandish to me personally. (As for thinking you have too much on your plate: it's common to accept people who are parents of young children to graduate programs. Need I say more...?)
At the same time, if you do mention it, try not to make it out to be more important than it really is, considering that you are writing in the specific context of an application to a math graduate program. If you present this background information about yourself (or any other background information) in a grandiose, unreasonable way, that could leave a poor impression.
Best of luck with your applications!

It is true that by now those who served in WW2 and Korea and then got PhDs are out of the system (and, sadly, mostly gone including my late father-in-law). There are just fewer out there now (recall that in WW2 10% of the US population was in the armed services). I've hired several veteran PhDs (not math) over the years and more non-PhD veterans. I can pretty much guarantee that a veteran who is in the ballpark for admittance to a PhD will have a clear focus on getting it done combined with an amazing work ethic - they are true adults and know why they are there. Great catch for any professor.

Just mentioning that you are a veteran is neither here nor there. As you mention, a lot of folks in academia have no military background* so "veteran" by itself is just an empty label.
But mentioning your story should have an impact. Not (just) the label, but what that means - that you "had to balance several competing obligations for the entire duration of my undergraduate career, such as full-time work, professional military education, active duty periods, annual and monthly military training" and how this does "demonstrate [your] commitment to continuing education in the face of trials/tribulations".
Sure, there is always the odd chance that some supervisor doesn’t like you for your background. This happens. But in the end, I would consider this a good thing: you are a unique person and shouldn’t waste your time working with someone who doesn’t like you for who you are.

*This can vary strongly by country and I would expect many people just not to tell unprompted. But academia usually gives an advantage to people who commit to academia, so the straight career path without detours tends to be in the majority.

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Does submitting in PhilArchive affect submission in journals?
I wanted to submit a paper to PhilArchive (an open-access e-print archive in philosophy). If I want to submit this paper to a journal afterwards, does this prior submission to PhilArchive affect the journal's decision?

That is up to the journal to decide. Some won't touch it, but this is also field dependent to some extent. I'd guess that Open Access is a particular problem, though. What incentive does the journal have?

@Buffy, Thanks for your answer. I know it is field-dependent, so I asked this question in philosophy stackchange, but they advised me to ask it here. I did not decide which journal fits best, but I think it is better to check the possible candidates.

@TheDoctor, Thank you. No, it does not answer my question because the situation differs by different fields of study. In mathematics and computer science, publishing its preprints on ArXiv is mostly okay. However, the case can be different in other fields.

Look at the guidelines of the journals you are interested to publish in. As you say, it differs between different fields, but also between different journals within fields. Some journals explicitly say that they will not approve anything that has been previously published anywhere, including places such as PhilArchive.
In my experience, philosophy journals are less likely to have such policies, and I know many philosophy professors who publish their papers there and on other similar places, without publishing them elsewhere first, or elsewhere at all.

Thank you for sharing your experience. I will do as you've suggested.

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What should I expect in a meeting with the Postgraduate student coordinator as an international PhD applicant?
I am a PhD applicant to Australia in STEM. I had preliminary meetings with my potential supervisors and have already submitted my application.
However, today one of them informed me that the postgraduate student co-ordinator wants to meet with me as the next stage of my application process.
The application deadline is not over yet and they don't release offers before November.
So I was curious as to what I should expect in the meeting? What role do they play in admissions and scholarship offers?


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How to deal with collaborators prone to publish in MDPI?
I am the only person in academia doing a certain research, so several colleagues ask me to collaborate. Of course, I am more than happy to take part in multidisciplinary work, as it tends to be more publishable (medicine/medicinal chemistry).
But there's one big drawback!  My colleagues always insist on publishing in MDPI. This is due to the publisher's low acceptance criteria and quick processing of what they consider essential for evaluation purposes.  So my voice is always overruled, and almost all of my collaborative papers are published either there or in something adequate like Frontiers...
Recently, I even managed to convince them to try ACS, but after the rejection in the first picked journal, they decided to switch straight to MDPI.
When I publish alone or in smaller teams of 2-3 people, with me as the only corresponding author, I never, ever send to these predatory journals. Nevertheless, almost half of my list of papers is published in MDPI!

Sorry but this is a rant, not a question. Please edit your post so that it is clear what exactly it is you are asking

@Sursula, isn't the question implicit in the title text?

Related: https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5466

@Buffy kind of - but then again you would not need the "ranty" body at all

"I am the only person in academia doing a certain research"---what??

Does this answer your question? https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/196993/my-boss-insists-on-submitting-to-mdpi

The solution is fairly clear. First, find better collaborators if possible or work on your own.
Second, when you begin a collaboration, since you say it is based on your ideas, set parameters about where things will or won't be published. If others don't agree, then don't work with them.
Third, it is necessary for publishers to obtain permission from all authors to publish their work, since the authors jointly hold copyright. If you don't give permission to a publisher, then they can't publish it. You may misunderstand this last point and have been giving permission, perhaps implicitly in some way. Just. Say. No.


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Are unofficial transcripts required to show a cumulative GPA?
When I requested the transcript from my undergraduate institution, I was provided with a result sheet (semester GPA and credits were included; but no cumulative GPA).
Does this count as an unofficial transcript?

Will they directly send a transcript to the institutions you are applying to? Do they have 'official' transcripts (usually including a nice embossed seal to show it is official)?

Have you completed your undergraduate study? Some institutions do not include a cumulative GPA in year-/semester-wise transcripts but include this in the final transcript.

Where is your undergraduate institution located?

@AzorAhai-him-, that tag indicates US.

@Buffy Occasionally, people use that tag to indicate they want to apply to a U.S. institution, not necessarily that's where they're applying from.

Unless the application says otherwise, an unofficial transcript does not need to have a cumulative GPA.
By "official transcript" I mean one that is sent directly from the school to the recipient - whether digitally or physically - and may incur a cost. And by "unofficial transcript," I mean a free version that a student can request any time. Some programs request unofficial transcripts to save applicants money, and may request a secure official transcript before enrollment.
Graduate schools understand universities differ in their transcript form and GPA is an easy calculation.

Your definition of "unofficial" may differ from that of the OP. The recipient in this case is, in fact, the OP. An "application" can't require a cumulative GPA from another institution.

@Buffy I don't feel like rehashing the conversation we just had. [1] I am assuming that OP requested an "unofficial" transcript in order to send it to someone, and are wondering if it's complete. My answer is that it is: Someone asking for an unofficial transcript will not reject it if it doesn't have a cumulative GPA line. [2] Sure it could? An application could easily have a box that says "Cumulative GPA: ____".

But they can't ask the university to produce it. And, again, you are making assumptions that may not be valid.

@Buffy You are making assumptions, too, and I am not finding much likelihood in an assumption that OP only needs this for their personal use and yet also needs feedback about whether the thing they have "counts" as an unofficial transcript.

@Buffy "But they can't ask the university to produce it." What are you talking about?

University A can't force or require University B to compute a cumulative GPA.

@Buffy I didn't claim they did? In fact, I said that OP's transcript would be accepted as an unofficial transcript even without a cumulative GPA, for the very point you raise.


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Should I comment on a cited paper in the paper-review part of my master's thesis?
I'm writing my master's thesis and began to wonder if it is acceptable to comment on some of the publications I cite in my 'State of the art' part.
I have several papers where the results and/or methods are obfuscated. This is sadly not uncommon given the source of the author(s) are industry vendors who want to show their capabilities and domain expertise without actually revealing anything competitively substantial. The papers are all written by the engineering / research departments of various manufacturers and are published in scientific or engineering journals.
Some of the 'errors' in their publications are surely due to out-dated methods and/or models. However some others are just plain misleading, most certainly as a way to obscure competitive information. I don't have hard facts that they are entirely erroneous due to the omission of their data, but deriving from my research I am pretty confident that some of their results don't add up.
So I don't want to just write down what they found out and how, but also comment on how correct/incorrect their results seem based on my research.
How should I best comment on these opaque industry publications?

I'm not entirely sure about what kind of publications you are talking about when you say 'published by vendors' (white papers, brochures, user manuals?). But if you are referring to scientific literature, my answer is: by all means.
I don't se why you would refrain yourself from commenting the possible limitations or drawbacks of published methods. Just stay modest and consider the possibility that these publications came out a while ago and that the general knowledge in the field improved since then.
Being critical, if done properly (give objective reasons), is certainly something to be encouraged at the Master's level, and yes the appropriate section for this is the "State of the art" section.

Almost all of the papers are published in scientific or engineering journals. I was asking because I wondered whether such comments belong in the "state of the art part", an not somewhere else. But I couldn't write the summery down without point out some shortcomings ;).

@Alex I see, I edited my answer to address this point. What did you mean exactly by 'published by vendors' in this case?

Maybe vendor was somekind missleading. Manufacturer would hit the point better. Most of the papers come from the engineering or research departments.

I updated the question. Thanks for your help.


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Is it acceptable to include footnotes in mathematical proofs?
When writing a technical article that includes mathematical proofs: Is it acceptable to have footnotes within the body of a formal proof (to elaborate/clarify non-essential points) or is the use of footnotes in proofs considered bad practice?

Footnotes should not be used to explain part of the proof, but are sometimes acceptable for asides.  Many authors don't seem to like using footnotes, however.

Bear in mind that footnote markers might be confused with exponentiation or other mathematical operators, in particular if somebody just wants to look up a part of your proof and doesn't look all that closely at the surroundings, so keep your footnotes well away from equations.

I've seen it, but largely in older works. It's not as common these days, I think. I used a brief one in a paper of mine, but not as a way to clarify, just as an aside which was too long to mention in the proof as it would have derailed it.

Like almost anything else in writing, style should follow function. In other words, if you think that a footnote makes it easier for your reader to follow a text (for example, because it explains an aside that is too long for a parenthetical remark), then it is appropriate to use one. There is no general guideline whether footnotes are acceptable or not. It all depends on what you want to say and how you want to say it -- choose whatever means you think are appropriate to tell the story of the proof.

I personally find footnotes exactly as acceptable or unacceptable in a proof as in other parts of a paper.  A well-written proof often contains quite a lot of explanatory prose, and there is nothing special or magical about a proof that prevents one from having an "aside" comment within it.
I would, however, find it very strange to have a footnote in the statement of a theorem, just as I would find it strange to have a footnote in an equation.

A footnote in an equation --- as normally written, with a superscripted number, asterisk, or similar symbol --- would just be begging to be misunderstood.

If i remember correctly Kunith addressed footnoting equations, But I can't remember his solution from the top of my head.

@MarkMeckes I couldn't resist: https://xkcd.com/1184/

I cannot remember ever having seen a footnote in a proof. My instinct would be to put elaborations or clarifications into a remark after the proof.
In an actual math paper, you could actually have a "Proposition 1", followed by its "Proof", then a "Remark 2". For instance:

Remark 2. Note that $X$ in the preceding proof does not have property $y$, which would have allowed us to use the technique from
  Foo & Bar (2015).

However, this may well depend on your field, on your journal, on the editor and on the referees. Some of these may well frown on footnotes, while others may be fine with them.
I'd say you'd be safest with putting additional material into Remarks.

One thing that comes to mind is that the particular example of a remark you've given here is something that does not add any value to the proof itself. So it makes sense to leave it for afterward. For different kind of remark, which actually clarifies some point in the proof that might otherwise be unclear to a few readers, it makes more sense to reference it directly from the relevant point in the proof, e.g. by footnote.

(Shudder) Numbered remarks make the baby Jesus cry. Just say it.

@JeffE I don't see why you make this remark (no pun intended). I see it the opposite way: If you remark something but don't plan to refer to it later, you don't need the word Remark. at all, you can simply make it part of the article prose.

@yo' My point exactly. Even if you refer to it later, just work the remark into normal prose. ("See our remarks after the proof of Lemma 23.9.")

@JeffE Works in some cases better than in other ones. But I get your point and I agree, this is one of the ways :-)

Footnotes within proofs are fine and to be recommended.
I've read tons of (multipage) proofs (in signal-processing, or machine learning) where the author's train of thought was impossible to follow and obscured by unnecessary steps and diversions. Twenty pages of matrix algebra and higher-order derivatives in order to establish some underwhelming pseudo-result which follows directly from well-known basic theorems familiar to people in the field; or else can be sketched out in one or two paragraph of paraphrase, to articulate the necessary motivation before wading into verbose proofs.
A proof [in most academic domains] should be aggressively made as compact as it can be, without removing anything essential. Shunt all non-essentials, sidebars and footnotes into footnotes or remarks.
One frequent paradigm (common in signal processing): assume an independent normal distribution on multiple variables (where this is known to be a ridiculously invalid assumption), waste 8+ pages deriving a non-result based on that assumption, before instantly discarding and invalidating that result and introducing a new (but much weaker) derivation with the proper assumptions that should have been used in the first place, but render the subsequent result very basic and uninformative. Finally fall back on showing a few graphs or experimental results to discuss how the process behaves in reality .

I don't think they should be recommended. If your writing style is such a disaster that it necessitates footnotes, perhaps you shouldn't be the one writing the paper (instead a colleague should be writing it).

@CameronWilliams it's nothing to do with "disasters". My background is EE not math, but I've often seen authors in both domains do unnecessarily overly long proofs just as a form of showboating.

To be clear, I'm perfectly capable of following 20 pages of matrix arithmetic, just in 95% of published peer-reviewed cases I've read, it was unnecessary indulgence or posturing and added nothing, or even detracted, from clarity, plus wasted the reader's time. It's precisely why we have footnotes and appendices to papers.

One frequent paradigm (common in signal processing): assume an independent normal distribution on multiple variables (where this is known to be a ridiculously invalid assumption), waste 8+ pages deriving a non-result based on that assumption, before instantly discarding and invalidating that result and introducing a new (but much weaker) derivation with the proper assumptions that should have been used in the first place, but render the subsequent result very basic and uninformative. Finally fall back on showing a few graphs or experimental results to discuss how the process behaves in reality

Downvoted for the sentence in bold. Concision per se is not a virtue. What you should aim for is clarity.

Concision without removing anything essential = clarity, @JeffE. A 1-page proof with a 19-page appendix is always more clear than a 20-page proof (as long as nothing essential was removed). If you have any counterexample, then show us.

1-page proof with a 19-page appendix is still a 20 page proof. What's the point?

@scaaahu: No it's not. The 1-page proof is a 95% more concise version of the 20-page proof, without losing any clarity, and the less interesting parts of the derivation shunted into an appendix.

If a 1-page proof requires a 19-page appendix, then the 1-page proof is not clear.

@JeffE: Not so. And you're the guy complaining at me about things being unclear. I invite you to read IEEE transactions on Signal Processing. Sometimes (as I said), the authors take the long way round.

@smci However, it's because the super-cool-sexy policy of IEEE on articles being short. Footnotes are in smaller print so you easier fit into the length restriction. Frankly, it's stupid, but they get what they ask for. This is obviously reflected in your opinion. Proof should be just as long to be understandable. People reading the proof are not computers; they are people and they want to understand it, and this takes some space.

@yo' No it has nothing to do with 'coolness', and appendices are not in a smaller font, although footnotes are. There simply is zero need for the body of the proof to include boilerplate, elementary derivations and algebraic grinding, when by shunting that clutter into an appendix(/or footnote, if you will) we significantly improve clarity, yet keep all the rigor.


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Is it advisable to have many clickable hyperlinks in an academic CV?
I have recently been updating my academic CV. I realise that some items are not as internationally recognised as to that every reader will be aware of their importance without googling them. Hence, I am thinking about inserting hyperlinks to those items lest the reader wish to learn more.
Now, many items on my CV are clickable, and a reader particularly interested in one item may now just click on it to see a webpage with more details to pop up.
However, I rarely see a CV with many hyperlinks behind those words/phrases. Is this a taboo, or I am OK to do so?

Hyperlinks become obsolete over time and are not likely to be sustainable in a fixed, permanent or semi-permanent document.

@Paul I don't know about the OP, but my CV is not at all "permanent."  I update it every couple of months at least. And the links in it (to research group website, download links for publications, websites for awards and honors) are not the type to disappear quickly anyways.

Every time somebody clicks a link in your CV, it breaks the flow of their reading. Do you really want to encourage that? I would explain unfamiliar terms in the text of the CV itself. (A short phrase or spelling out an acronym is probably enough.) And then I only use clickable hyperlinks for text that clearly has link-potential (URLs, email addresses, DOI ref #s), not arbitrary phrases in the text.

@alexwlchan: I would argue that selecting and copying the text from the original CV, then pasting it into a search engine and trying to find some document matching that text breaks the flow of reading much more than a quick right-click-open-in-new-background-tab while reading the document.

I agree: most academic CVs do not have a festival of hyperlinks.  I don't see a problem with it, unless -- as @Taladris says -- the large amount of hyperlinking creates clutter in the document.  For something like a CV, where the spacing on the page is highly adjustable, I would think that you could probably have even a highly hyperlinked CV and take a little care to make sure that it does not look too busy to the eye.
I can tell you though why I don't feel the need to hyperlink my CV (and I imagine the reason holds more generally).  It's simple: I also have a webpage, and anything which appears on my CV which could get linked to also appears on my webpage.  Further, the translation between the two is straightforward: I have a section of my CV listing papers, and I also have an immediately visible link to a subpage containing papers from my main webpage (which, as you can see, is no frills to say the least, but it seems to get the job done).
Although I am certainly no expert on the visual display of information, webpage design (you'll know that immediately if you clicked on the above link) or anything like that, it is my opinion that a webpage is a more natural medium to have clickable content than a CV.
I think every young academic should have a professional webpage.  If they do have one, I'm not sure that a heavily hyperlinked CV is necessary, although again I see no harm in it.

This answer seems to contrast a webpage with a CV, whereas I cannot find any hint in the question that the OP's academic CV is not a webpage in itself.

Thanks for the answer! I do have a professional webpage, but I am uncertain whether the admission committee would even bother to click it open or not. Hence, I feel incorporating the hyperlinks directly into CV may be a better idea. What do you think, please?

@Farticle: Yes, in my experience admissions committees will be interested in the student's webpage.  I'm sorry to say that some admissions processes are so old-fashioned that all the materials are printed out and reviewed in non-electronic form...but this seems to be an argument for putting the address of your webpage on your CV, because then someone on the committee can use their own technology to explore your webpage.

General advise would be, yes, include links but do not rely on them for key information. You do not necessarily know if the recipients read the electronic version or a printout. If it is a printout, it is very unlikely that people will key in URLs to look up information, unless they are interested. In for, example a job application, your application may be one of a large number and there may not be time to spend on looking up information that should have been included directly in the first place. Remember it is you responsibility to yourself to provide everything the reader of the CV may want, not the other way around.
So although, there is no problem with including links, think twice about what information you link to and what you actually put in your CV.

Thanks for the advice! Currently, what I have linked in my CV are mostly descriptions of some of the awards. After reading the award details, the committee may have a better understanding of how important/trivial that award is. Another type of hyperlink, for example, is a media cover on an award ceremony by my university. I feel it good if the committee can see the coverage, but feel not necessary to mention it explicitly in CV.

As long as it does not reduce readability, I don't see any reason for not including hyperlinks.
Readability is of course about format. As a personal preference, I would not like to read a document where all words are in blue and underlined, or equation numbers in a red square. So you have to find a way to make the links discreet (but still easily noticeable by the reader).
Readability is also, and mainly, about the content. Be sure your content is still clear when your CV is printed (or in case links are broken). Also, try to keep links meaningful. In particular, keep all your links high-quality: if links to your publications or to the diploma system of your home country will help for your evaluation, you would ruin all your effect if these links are "drowned" in a sea of meaningless links.
Did you consider about tool-tips instead of some links? It will still provide some information, but with the drawback of having to load a new page.

What's the tooltip of the CV?

@Ooker: I meant a small box that appears when the mouse icon is on a text or a picture. I remember tooltip from my CS class. Is it the wrong name?

I think it's a wrong name, although I can't tell the right one. I would simply say "the box that appears when you hover your mouse on it"

Another option is to keep most (if not all) hyper-links the same font and colour as the rest of the text. Most PDF readers change the cursor icon when hovering over a hyperlink, so if the reader expects something to be a hyper-link (such as an email address or DOI), they should easily discover that it is indeed a link.
It will not be so obvious that some less crucial links exist, but for the eagle-eyed viewer they are there. For those who are just quickly scanning the document, the links won't introduce distracting clutter.

I think dark blue is a better choice. At the same time you hint it is a link (I hate guessing game / point & click adventure for documents) while not disturbing the reader not interested in clicking. See e.g. my CV.

@PiotrMigdal Subtle colours are a given ;). In your CV, you could reduce the amount of colour by linking either the arXiv ID, or (preferably) the journal name and issue to the journal website. Although the links may be useful, IMO the disordered addition of colour clutters the page and many of the links don't need to be so long. I admit, I'm being pedantic!

I agree with this advice. This is how I do it for my CV, too.

@Sverre That is a beautiful CV! What font is that - is it a TeX font?

Glad to hear the effort I put into making it look nice (to me, at least) has not been in vain! The font is Linux Libertine. I have in this specific case used the LaTeX font package libertine, but the font is the same.

@Moriarty Link on title is on purpose! Before I added DOI and linked to it (or arXiv), but it was distractive, as a "technical" information was more visible than the title. But I agree it is matter of taste.

Include hyperlinks for things that can't be Googled, or examples of your actual work.
Links to general information aren't helpful and clutter links to the real meat of your work.  The odds of someone clicking a link on your resume are slim, so make it count if they do.
Unless you are a graphic designer, no competent hiring manager cares about the design or colors of your CV.
After some research on this and having interviewed dozens of candidates, that's what I came up with :-)

You can include hyperlinks. But make sure that it does not affect readability and do not assume that the reader will click on the hyperlinks. The reason is that often some recruitment committee will just print out your CV to discuss about it. Moreover, some persons may just not want to click on hyperlinks if there are many.

I would advise against including any hyperlinks in your CV. There is very good chance that your CV will be printed out for consideration and it is at this point that you need to have your CV shine so you should design your CV to be read on paper rather than on screen. Hyperlinks, by necessity, will want to be formatted differently from the surrounding text but this will look odd in a printout where the links are non-functional and add no benefit.

I agree that coloured links look bad when printed, but do hiring committees still commonly print CVs? The jack-of-all-trades solution is to keep the colour and formatting the same, but leave the hyperlinks in - as in my answer.

But if your hyperlinks look the same, will they be noticed? And if they're not going to be noticed how will they get clicked? And if they're not clicked, why include them?

@Moriarty: I can offer only anecdotal evidence, but every time I've seen one of the academics going through CVs they've been going through piles of printouts.

Fair enough, that's more evidence than I have - all the more incentive to not colour your links. If I see something that should be a hyperlink, like an e-mail address or DOI, I'll hover my mouse over it to check. Knowing that the links are invisible, I can keep an eye out as I read. If you're set on not having visible hyperlinks, it's better to keep them invisible rather than eliminating them.

@Moriarty: yes, it is very common for me to read job candidate CVs in print. Part of this is because, when the hiring committee brings candidates to campus to interview, they often print the materials for those candidates and put the printed materials in a central office for faculty to review.


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Is it possible to write a masters thesis in 10 days?
Was it ever possible for anyone to finish writing a master thesis in 10 days? I've been struggling for a long time now to focus on my writing due to several personal problems and I'm running close to my deadline so I'm starting to freak out. I welcome any suggestions at this point.

Can you push your deadline to next semester?

I think that really depends on your field, how comprehensive the exact subject of your thesis is, how knowledgeable you are and how well skilled you are in academic writing. I wrote mine in a little over 25 hours in total, but this excludes reading literature and the time required for doing experiments.

What @pbond said with the additional question of what the requirements of the actual thesis are.

I hope you are holed up somewhere working hard on your draft, instead of reading this comment.  But if you are reading this comment, go get started!  Promise yourself a little reward after a good day's work.  After a few days, when you are really on a roll, THEN you may contact someone official to ask for an extension.

If by "writing" you mean to do the research/experiments/studying and then write the thesis then no.
If by "writing" you mean transforming your well organized notes into one document, then yes, maybe if you have great discipline.
If by "writing" you mean to start to write-up from not-so well organized notes, then most probably not.
If you want to try to make it, stop hanging around on the internet and start working.

This made me laugh, which was much needed.

Concise yet precise.

Great last sentence.

Yes. You can write it in 10 days though the result won't be good. Make sure you write 1000 to 1500 words a day. So, rather than starting to freak out, you can start writing now

If it's an MFA thesis (average length: 2-3 pages) yes. If it's a science one where you're reporting on results and my impression is that the length isn't too terribly long, maybe. If it's a humanities one that's in the 100-150 page range, it's unlikely (I've written 10-15 pages in a day before, but I doubt I can keep that pace up for ten pages).
You should look into extending into next semester, even if it's just shooting off a quick email while continuing to work. If you have had a large number of personal problems that have negatively affected your ability to complete your school work (and are in the US, not sure how it would apply elsewhere), you should (a) speak with the counseling center on campus and (b) consider a withdrawal under extenuating circumstances (typically called a medical withdrawal, but at least at my school they are allowed for other reasons). If there's no penalty at all for extending into next semester, (b) might not even be necessary — it's super common for both master's and PhD students to miss their expected graduation date by a semester or two because of the thesis/dissertation.
But if you're running up against a hard time limit, the withdrawal would gain you an extra semester. If withdrawal isn't an option, at many schools you can also (c) petition the university to waive the time limit given your circumstances. I don't think I've ever really heard of those petitions being denied if the reason is even halfway reasonable.


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Is it worth applying for PhD in the UK without the requested undergraduate average?
I hold an Italian bachelor in Computer Science with an average of 80% which resulted in a graduation grade of 91/110, equivalent to a 2:2 in the UK system. I am currently attending a MSc in the UK which will terminate in January and until now I am holding an average of 70% even though I am confident I will manage to get a 1st class or a 2:1 at worse from my studies.
I would like to apply for PhDs, but almost every position requires a first class or an upper second, which I do not have for my bachelor. Is it worth applying anyway?
My master is still a branch of Computer Science but is not the field I would like to do research in, therefore I do not think an high grade would help me in anyway way. In addition, I will not receive the final mark before April and the project, which is worth 1/3 of my master, will not be publishable before then.

I don't know about Computer Science, but in Mathematics (which has some similarities) I think it is worth applying, if you can get someone to explain in a letter of reference how a 2:2 in Italy compares to a UK Bachelor's degree. Usually the admissions are read at some point by academics who will exercise judgment

Beware that some funding bodies have very particular requirements about degree results. E.g. some cannot consider applicants with 2:2 or lower degrees, even if they have subsequently done well in a Master's.

There is a government document that translates the grades from other countries to UK, so I do not think I will need to explain. The problem is not that I am not sure of my grade for my bachelor, is that I know is lower than requested.

The short answer is you should apply.
Generally speaking, all your previous degrees and grades count towards your application for a PhD. But if you are having strong marks in your Masters, you should definitely try to submit your provisional scores to give an indication of your upward trajectory. Many PhD applicants would be in your similar situation. In many UK institutions, a provisional acceptance may be offered to somebody in your situation where the profile is strong, conditional on the completion of the Masters at a certain level. In other words, the final acceptance will not be offered until all the grades come in.


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Copying the format of a past journal article as a model
Is it right to copy the format of past journal articles in one's research as an upcoming researcher?
To give an example assuming there is a research article on "the dynamics of informal urbanism in Asia - the case of Indian cities." Can I pick up the same reasoning, albeit slightly, and apply it to, say, "the dynamics of informal urbanism in Africa - the case of Kenya"?
Will that be acceptable?

Is it even remotely likely that a slight reasoning modification would yield any relevant information to such a different case? All researcher take inspiration from what they read in some way, but you sound like you expect to get publishable material without giving the expected input (i.e. study your subject of interest about which you have original ideas). This has little chance to be anything close to research.

@BenoîtKloeckner I would be less pessimistic. I would see this as a replication in a different context. That is how we find out whether the context matters for that particular application.

@EnthusiasticStudent I believe your edit changes the meaning of the question. It's not clear whether the OP is referring specifically to the methodology, or to a lot of other things.

It can  be done in an acceptable way. I would frame such an article as a replication: This is what XX and YY found in India. This is what I know about Kenya. So this is how I expect the findings to be different (or the same) in Kenya. Now lets look.
Beware of plagiarism though. Your article will be close to the original, so make sure you don't (unconciously) copy phrases, and cite every time you use ideas from the original article.

I think "It can be done in an acceptable way" is a more accurate first sentence than "It is acceptable."

@ff524 good point

+1. I like the idea of "this is what they did in India, let's see if it works in Kenya".


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Not being specialist of a precise topic (but having a broader perspective): is it a bad thing for an experienced post-doc
I finished my PhD a few years ago and I just finished my second year of post-doc.
My research has been quite multidisciplinary and I am getting increasingly worried to not have a label of being the expert in field X, but rather as the person that works "in between" fields A, B, C. When I say I work "in between", it is in the sense that I have sometimes papers on field A, B or C exclusively, and sometimes having a paper joining A, B and C.
One advantage in being multidisciplinary is that you get the broader scope of the challenges of the field and it gives the ability to identify good research questions (this is at least what I feel in my daily work). However, the big drawback is (in my opinion) the difficulty to be fully autonomous in actually treating the research questions. This is because I often really need to talk to an expert that complements my own knowledge or redirects me to the good literature: without this I can easily get stuck (or I will be forced to treat a much simpler version of the problem that will be significantly less interesting).
My question is: does this lack of specialist expertise is something I should be worried of and fix (in particular because I can lack autonomy if I want to treat )? When I compare my positioning to the one of I believe are "good postdocs" I sometimes feel a bit bad because they have a clear "label" for their research while I don't really have.

Probably depends on the positions you apply for. Personally, in my technical staff hiring at a US national lab, I value multidisciplinary folks. I know that 10 years from now you will be working something else and having breadth will make it easier for you to contribute to a range of projects. But, some other posted position - who knows? You are where you are, so look for positions that match where you are.

You've had a similar question recently. https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/211030/switching-research-line-at-2years-in-post-doc Seems like you're at cross-roads for life.  You may want to look for answer within yourself rather than internet help pages.

Either way, you need to produce, either original research, teaching, or applications in public or private research or industry. Whether generalist or hyperspecialized, continue growing always.

This is an answer from theoretical mathematics.  I believe it applies to other theoretical disciplines, but much less to experimental or even computational ones; in particular my colleagues doing mathematical modelling don't share this view.
If you're aiming for a research-oriented academic position, one of the main reasons most departments have for having such a position is that you will be advising PhD students.  For their dissertation, a PhD students needs to solve a problem that other researchers have already tried to solve and failed(*).  (If a problem is interesting, other people have almost by definition at least thought about trying to solve it!)  Think back to when you first started working on a research problem.  How capable were you?  Now drop an entire order of magnitude, because you are among the minority of PhDs who managed to obtain a research position afterwards, and your students, just statistically speaking, are not as strong in research as you are.(**)
How in the world is a PhD student supposed to solve a problem when more experienced researchers have failed to?  A PhD student has two advantages.  The first is time.  However, in a theoretical discipline, this is not the decisive advantage that it can be in experimental disciplines, where much worthwhile research hasn't been done only because no one has had the labor (and the lab resources) to do it.  A graduate student needs a second competitive advantage to write a dissertation, and that is access to your advice.  You need to have some kind of expertise so that your students can solve problems other researchers have been interested in solving but not succeeded.
Now this expertise can be but isn't always deep knowledge of a single subfield.  This expertise could also be a strong understanding of how to apply techniques from one field in a particular different context.  It could also be a strong understanding of a particular object of study, that you study from multiple different perspectives.  Given you have published multiple papers, you must have some form of this expertise, but you do need it to be concentrated enough that it remains a competitive advantage filtered through a less capable student.
(*) Actually, this isn't true; many problems turn out to be interesting after they are solved, not before, but then you need the expertise to spot such problems.
(**) In my department, no theoretical mathematics student has ever gone on to a research-oriented position after their PhD in the entire history of the program; many mid-to-low ranked departments have maybe one PhD graduate in a decade going on to a research-oriented position.

Thanks. My current issue is that I think I can have good idea of research projects (I'm somewhat autonomous there). The issue is that I sometimes lack the technical skills to do them alone, as a consequence of having the broad but unspecialized knowledge. Some of these skills are difficult to learn without having an expert around. For instance I can recognize how techniques from field A can help to solve issues in field B, but without collaborating with someone in field A I can really struggle in solving the problem (I might be forced to attack a much simpler version of it).

I don't have enough vision to know if this is "normal" for a multidisciplinary researcher or if I should be worried by this.

It's perfectly normal to have dozens of problems one has thought about but can't solve.

"Good" problems are often too hard for one person to solve. Look at nearly any modern paper, and you'll see more than one author. Often, at least one person contributed an essential skill others didn't have. I think you're struggling somewhat under the old model of "the lone researcher" who locks themselves in a lab/office and comes out years later with a breakthrough. Nearly all science nowadays is done by networks of people, which it sounds like you excel at constructing. Do you want to hit every problem with a hammer, or know which tool you need for a problem and know where to find it?

@Eden: Mathematics is not a science.  A significant number of papers have only one author.  I can't think of a major breakthrough that hasn't been driven by the genius of one or two people, even if a few more are involved in the work.

@Alexander Woo I was responding to the OP who didn't specify their field, not your post per se. My comment probably should have been attached to the OP's. My understanding of mathematics though, is that even if a paper is single-authored, the field is still highly collaborative. The story of Andrew Wiles' proof of Fermat's last theorem is odd for modern math because he worked in isolation and secrecy so long. But I may be wrong.

While also technically being a theorist, let me give a perspective differing from the one in the other answer. Aside of solving well-defined problems, another type of researcher's job is investigating various directions that haven't yet been explored for a variety of reasons: not being viewed as promising, very new and lacking human resources (nobody had time), omission (nobody tried applying A to B because haven't had the knowledge of both), etc. While this type of research ("go see what's out there", with a rough idea of expected outcome) may naturally seem less "noble" than solving some isolated well-defined problem that everyone was aware of for decades, it constitutes a great portion of science as well.
In order to lead this type of work you need some of the following qualities:

Intuition/knowledge for identifying interesting/important/impactful directions.
Being able to adequately estimate success probability and amount of efforts required to achieve results.
Knowing the right sources of extra knowledge (people, literature, SE, etc.) and how to use them.
Ability to manage/guide/motivate people.

Now, while I haven't listed here the particular quality you mentioned (being an expert in smth), having it does help a lot. Good news is that having some solid conceptual high-level understanding may often be enough to direct those capable of investigating all the nuances. And yet my experience is that all the good PIs are capable of brainstorming some kind of specific problems (it's OK if for other types of problems they refer people to somewhere else).
The piece of wisdom I got early on when asking a similar question to my boss in the beginning of my postdoc was in the lines of:
By the end of your postdoc, there should exist a little area of your expertise where you are the world champion. It can be tiny. It can be isolated. It can be unpopular. (All of these problems are solvable with some marketing efforts.) This is what you're going to be hired for.
We may or may not agree with this perspective but so far my experience mostly confirms this vision. I think it is very much worth spending some time and creating such an area for yourself, using various available means (learning from others, studying on your own, etc.). And again, I personally think that conceptual understating of what's going on in this area of yours is the main factor, so do not let the lack of some specific technical skills scare you off. Once you create this "scientific core", all the "softer" qualities and skills will readily magnify it.

I've made my career in multidisciplinary science and working in the interstices of a few fields. It has both advantages and disadvantages.
If you are going to make it work, you need to become known as someone who is good at what you do, a reliable collaborator, and easy to work with. You'll be the person who others want as a co-PI or research project leader because you can make their work relevant to others, pull different disciplines together and do things that they can't do alone. For a multi-disciplinary researcher, it is even more important than it is for disciplinary specialists not to be seen as a prima donna.
At the same time, it is very important to be publishing your own work as first author regularly and proposing collaborations, not just tagging along. When all your work is collaborative, it can be too easy to let this slip and simply be a co-author on other people's papers and grant applications. This is the path to becoming a perpetual postdoc: you'll be seen as useful, but not a leader.
It will also help if you are flexible, open to different opportunities, and have lots of ideas for research you'd like to do rather than being someone who wants to pursue one idea relentlessly. You'll be able to see what different grant agencies are looking for and find funding from a variety of sources. You'll be able to apply for jobs in more than one field and be taken seriously, but you might not be the most obvious pick for any of them.
Advantages:

Variety
Collaboration
Job security in hard times: if your department is cut, you already have collaborators in other departments and can move. If one source of funds dries up, you'll have other options.

Disadvantages:

It will be harder to make a name for yourself. Instead of consistently sending your best work to one or two great journals, you will be scattering your work and you won't easily develop a consistent group of readers who know your name and follow your work. Instead of building your networks in one field by going to the same disciplinary conference every year, you will be going to a different one each time, depending on what you are working on that year.
While there will be more jobs that you can apply for, you'll have to work hard to convince the hiring committees that you are the best fit. You won't have so strong a profile within any given narrow discipline as some of the other applicants. [But there are occasional opportunities for which a multidisciplinary profile will be seen as an advantage].


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I didn't ask permission before including figures in my thesis - now what?
I used a number of figures from journal articles in my master's thesis. I cited the sources in all cases, but didn't ask permission (I didn't know at the time that I was supposed to). Many posts on this site recommend asking permission to be "better safe than sorry". In my case, the thesis is already published - should I ask for permission now, even after the thesis is published and for each of the figures?

Academically, there is no harm. Nobody is going to revoke your degree because you didn't ask for permission to reproduce properly cited figures. If you're concerned about legal ramifications then you should ask a lawyer.

I agree with @David. If you properly cite the work in the thesis it does give original credit to the cited authors. I don't think it would be that much serious that he has to talk with a lawyer. I am not sure though.

Can you redraw them yourself? I think you need permission if you are going to "copy-paste" a figure as is.

Facts are generally not copyrightable, which diminishes the copyright concerns. However, "figures" in this context might mean either numbers or graphs. Graphs are a way of visually presenting data, and this presentation might be copyrightable (if sufficiently non-trivial - a basic bar graph still isn't).

I am not sure that one is supposed to ask permission to reproduce a picture from a book/article in their dissertation. From academic point of view, an citation is necessary and sufficient to properly acknowledge the source - otherwise it would be plagiarism.
IANAL, but I don't think there are any copyright issues here, since your thesis is a non-profit academic publication and a relatively small quote from another academic source should be normally treated as a fair use.

From the Wikipedia article: "Fair use is a doctrine originating in the law of the United States" . So the situation can be very different depending on the jurisdiction.

I agree. If you properly cite the work in the thesis it does give original credit to the cited authors.

@magnetometer I completely agree - please share the examples of such different jurisdictions if you are aware of any.

@magnetometer: "fair use" as a legal concept encompassing academic use and other allowed uses might be American, but academic use is generally allowed. In particular, see Berne Convention Art 10, which refers to "fair practice" and academic use.

I have been told explicitly (but not by a lawyer) that copy-pasting figures does not fall under fair use, since you're not citing but copying, which is why you should always reproduce the figures instead of copy-pasting them. I have no idea whether that is actually true though, and the worst I can imagine a publisher doing is forcing you to change the figures to ones you made yourself.

If it concerns a few figures only, it's not a lot of work to ask for permission post hoc. Why not? As you say, better safe than sorry. In general, when you re-print material, you always have to ask permission (if it does not pertain open access material at least).
To make it easier on yourself, I wouldn't even explain the situation to the publisher(s) you are approaching; just ask permission 'for use in a master's thesis'. Often, especially for use in undergrad theses and academic purposes in general, things are pretty lenient.
Many publishers have online resources to swiftly deal with permissions, for example through the Copyright Clearance center.

This is a good answer. I'll add that technically, a thesis is a published work with your school as the publisher. So, the normal rules apply and you should get permission. But, the publishing police aren't going to come after you.  It's just due diligence.

To be honest, my answer is No need, it is enough that you have specified the source.
I think some aspects of the current legal system, such as copyright, patents, etc, are inhumane and must be corrected. I think the reason you are suffering this weird issue is a reflection of the fact that the existing rules are crazy.

Very, very bad advice in general. Bad enough it's worthy of being downvoted. Even if rules are crazy,  you can get yourself into a lot of trouble if you ignore them. (Although in this particular case, it is very likely that the OP is legally okay, as what he did probably falls into the category of "fair use". See the other answers.)


text:
How to handle rude and distracting fellow graduate student who sits in the same office?
In a nutshell, I hate one of my fellow PhD students. I am sitting in the office with that fellow graduate student who frequently interrupts me when I want to focus on my work. He also often is very insulting to me in front of other fellow graduate students.
I general, I try to be nice and respectful to my fellow students, but I suspect this makes me a perfect target to him. Also he seems very nice to other people, just not to me. I wish I could change the department because its actually a major drawback and affects my whole PhD life, since I currently meet him every day all the time. I frequently miss lunch or some activities of my lab, since I know I couldn't handle his presence. But I don't want that my social life suffers because of him. Do you have any tips on how to overcome this situation successfully?

Any chance you could arrange to sit in a different office?

I know this will sound negative, and I'm not trying to advocate it but can't you treat him the same way he treats you! Maybe he will switch the office or stop being disrespectful!

Hate is a very strong word to use in my opinion, especially in Academia.

sorry I just had to write it that way, felt like a release already @Sathyam

@user2212461 Yes, there are techniques to handle that. They depend on the details of the case. Thus, a few questions: can you be moved from his office? When he insults you in front of others, is this camouflaged or open?  My advice in the meantime: avoid going down to his level unless you enjoy that game. There are other ways - and main point is emphasise and keep distance.

The best way, empirically I would say, to deal with aggressive behavior directed towards you is being aggressive back. Fighting back, and consistently. After a couple of incidents like that the aggressor will most probably retreat altogether or even become friends with you.

@Dilworth Depends. Some people are naturally aggressive, and they have infinite resources of energy. Being aggressive back does not work here, they thrive on it; here, letting every issue taper out will bore them. Some people are aggressive as they want to test your boundaries. Here, a firm, resolved, response is the best. Some people are aggressive because they are scared. Here, a disengagement or non-committal relation helps to indicate you do not intend to compete with or against them. Without more information about the case, it is hard to guess whether it's one of these categories.

Yes, I agree, that the OP should not start an endless war with the aggressive person. But he should be aggressive with him as well. Not as in starting a war, but as in asserting his boundaries and his reluctance to be a victim of the aggressor insults. Ignoring him would not work IMHO.

@Dilworth I agree that "ignoring" as a strategy may not work. However, there is a fine line between aggression and assertion. In fact, some people confuse it, and that again can escalate. When I suggest letting it taper out, I do not mean ignore. I mean bore. If well done, it's devastatingly effective. There are people who can suck energy out of the most enthusiastic/energetic company. Black holes. Strive to become a black hole for that person.

Fighting back, and consistently — [citation needed]  "I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it." — George Bernard Shaw

@JeffE, there should be no citation here, just as there are no citations needed for the appeasement/ignoring approach. It's common sense: an aggressor can be controlled best by fear. If you ignore him/her they will continue to attack, as they get some sort of gratification from it. Of course avoidance/changing room/running away is also an option. But I would say slightly less effective.

@CaptainEmacs, by the way, nobody has infinite resources of energy. Everyone has a limit. I claim that aggressive people at work mostly have even less resources of energy: they just have not been confronted before with a counter attack. Of course, these are speculations, but also other suggested approaches are.

That said, I would reserve my advice: it is not for everyone. Some people cannot become aggressive just like that. For them, avoidance might be a possibility (though, objectively, a less effective one).

@Dilworth "infinite" is a mode of speech, of course. However, you would be surprised how much energy aggressive people have. But I'll take an intuitionist operational view of infinity: as much as you can respond/react, they have always an response to add upon. I have seen very energetic people being pushed out of their position by "infinitely aggressive" types. I disagree that aggression is best controlled by fear. It really depends: for people that test boundaries, they want a reaction, and that satisfies them. For others, see my comment above.

@Dilworth As I teach my students, "obviously" is a synonym for "it's almost certainly not true that". Some people just want to fight.

@JeffE and CaptainEmacs, in fact from the story the OP describes, it is reasonable to assume that the aggressor in this case is not someone who likes to fight on an endless basis, but picks on the OP only and exploits the fact that the OP is being "nice" and "harmless". I thus stand by my claim: being "aggressive" on a low scale, by asserting the boundaries, is likely to take the aggressor off the OP's back.

A friend once told me that people take from you exactly what you choose to give them. In other words, this person manages to distract you because you let them. Similarly they manage to annoy you with their rude behaviour because you let their insults get to you. Therefore, I am going to suggest you a nice change of approach, rather than a change of office.
IMHO the best way to tackle distractions is to ignore them. My experience shows that a large pair of noise-cancelling headphones coupled with a focused look that never leaves whatever it is you are doing, work miracles in this case.
Whenever I need to focus and lock myself in the zone, I gear up and ignore everything that happens around me. If people ask me questions, and I actually manage to hear/see them, I tell them, swiftly and politely, that I'll be with them once I finish whatever it is I am doing. Your body language is extremely important while doing so. You want to make sure that you show that you won't be leaving what you are doing to deal with them, because you deem that what you are doing is more important. For example, I don't remove my headphones to answer, and go back to my task straight away. In addition, once you adopt this technique, be democratic and use it with anyone and not just this particular person who distracts you.
Make sure that you show that you are actually focusing on work rather than on leisure. Human psychology 101 suggests that if someone sees that you appear super-concentrated whilst in reality you are browsing social media they will feel allowed to disturb since they will think that you're not actually working. You have the right to not be disturbed whilst you are on a break, however the fact that you are taking a break implicitly says that you are free and can be disturbed.
Interestingly enough, the ignoring technique also works for rude behaviour and insults. Nothing clips one's wings more than instantly getting the feeling that one's behaviour has little or no effect. For your own sake, I'd suggest you begin by ignoring the rude comments that hurt you. This will not be easy at first, but you'll feel the benefits as you get better at it.
Now, nobody should be forced to feel like you do. What you describe is prototypical bullying. Bullying should have no place in life, let alone academia. The steps I would follow would be to begin by talking to this person telling them you would like them to stop with their rude behaviour. Although they might be joking you can't seem to tell whether that is the case, and think that the problem will be solved if they stop whatever it is they are doing.
After talking to them, wait some time. If the behaviour persists then escalate the complaint to your supervisor, the team/department head, or whomever you think has the authority to deal with this. The important thing is that you remain calm and polite during your interactions with your colleagues. Last thing you want is for others to accuse you of being rude.

Distance, distance, distance. Given the other person is "nice" to others indicates that they are politically savvy. This makes it particularly challenging to respond or to stay calm and polite, because they know what they are doing. Making clear that one keeps one distance from the person reduces the efficacy of their attacks because it indicates that you are not moving in the same sandbox. Downside is, if not done properly, one may come across as aloof, but frankly, when interacting with a bully, one always has to accept some (hopefully temporary) loss of status.

Nice answer, and I especially approve to bullying should not be tolerate and that the complaint should be escalate if there's no change

This is a professional problem, of a type that sadly can floor many students, because they have not been particularly exposed to formal institutional regulatory and political structures.  This can be particularly true of older postgrads (in some senses more experienced), because those are the ones who have been most firmly focused on academic work all along.
For me, the hinge of this problem seems to be, ‘He seems very nice to other people, just not to me.’  That statement stands out especially because it means that the situation therefore involves bullying and harassment (succinctly defined on this UK site).  You are being singled-out for ill-treatment, by someone who is not simply ‘like that’ to everyone.  It seems that that person is quite immature, deriving satisfaction from such behaviour, and is also consciously selective in where to apply it.
The mature, professional solution will not be to fight back.  That would simply resolve into immaturity on your part as well, and will not teach either you or the bully anything useful.  Most likely, the bully would smoothly ridicule your behaviour, and use it as licence to continue his own.  Pointless, and also unprofessional on your own part:  do not go down that route.  You can learn something much more useful for the future, by exploring the resources that I am sure already exist for you.
In a strange way, this situation is not all bad.  Of course it is horrible for you to experience, but it also means that the problem is well defined.  In this day and age, I would bet quite a lot that your university will already have a policy in place concerning bullying and harassment, with established procedures for reporting and controlling such behaviour.
Others here have suggested various ways of more or less taking this conflict on, on its own terms, and trying to win it.  I think that that would be the worst possible thing to do.  That would amount to you approving the bully’s behaviour as acceptable in your culture.  In doing so, you would become as unprofessional and immature as he is.  You would also waste a great deal of time and energy, while achieving absolutely zero.
You need to end the conflict, not take part in it.  As has also been said, the bully has infinite energy:  he likes doing this.  As we say in the UK, he is trying to get the rise out of you.  If you respond on his terms, he will just keep doing it.
What he cannot fight is you being calm and professional.
I would say that your first stop should be talking to your Ph.D supervisor, if you have a confident and trusting relationship.  They should be able to point you at the University’s policy on bullying and harassment, which will clearly tell you how to proceed within the University’s existing framework (politely negotiating, collecting evidence, building a case).  Also, it would be sensible to alert your supervisor to any undue influences that might be negatively affecting your work.  This probably won’t be the first time they have seen some kind of friction, and it definitely won’t be the last.
If you don’t feel that comfortable (yet) with your supervisor, then that is fine.  The University almost certainly has some kind of confidential Counselling service[s] for students and/or staff (you might count as both), which would be able to guide you towards the same formal resources, and discuss how to use them.  If it offers no such dedicated service, then the University must have some kind of health centre, which could set you on the same path.
Another route could involve directly approaching the University’s HR office.  They will probably be the guardians of the institution’s policy on respectful professional conduct, and will have an interest in seeing it applied consistently across the institution.  There is a good chance that this is where you will end up anyway, if you start off with your supervisor or a counsellor... but I would recommend calmly and quietly going through those steps first.  Those people are there for a reason.  Both you and the University can benefit from making full use of their knowledge.
In any case, the likely first suggestion would be politely to make your colleague clearly aware that he is distressing you, telling him why, and asking him to stop.  Of course that is a stressful step to take, in itself.  The up-side of that is that occurs within a framework (the broader policy) that will provide routes for you if he responds unsympathetically or even aggressively.
More likely, the bully (immature as he seems to be) would seek to continue targeting you in ever-more-obscure ways.  The great thing about that would be that by that stage he is on record as the aggressor.  It is up to him to show that he is taking the University and its policies seriously.  He might even argue angrily that you are being oversensitive and thus damaging his work, but by that stage the point is that he still has to be the one to show that he is taking steps to make things better.  He has to grow up a bit and start really being professional, otherwise he will just keep getting warnings, drift into the University’s disciplinary system, and eventually get thrown out.
By the sound of it, he might not last long as a research student anyway.  In the UK, the term ‘tosser’ would quickly be applied to someone who was that concerned to satisfy his own ego problems by spending time and energy picking on someone else, rather than excelling in his own work and collaborating with others.
Basically, keep calm and explore formal routes.  They will exist.

@J.J Certainly not my intention!  I happen to be taking OP's words purely at face value, and recommending in any case that the most appropriate and professional approach would be to address this through channels that undoubtedly already exist.  There are lots of reasons for not taking a personally confrontational approach, including the possibilities of the co-worker actually being as bad as OP suggests... or of him not really being that bad after all

Everything that  @Captain Cranium says applies in the US.  Universities have a lot of administrative overhead  and policies in place (whether is is an ombudsmen office, or human resources, or other offices on campus) that are set up to work with these problems. If in the US, check the university webpages, student bylaws or codes of conduct, etc for names of the offices and procedures.

First and most importantly, if you feel you're in the best department for you, then don't try changing departments.  Something like this will not be the last time you experience it --  I guarantee it.  It's a fact of life.  Learn how to deal with it.
My answer seems to have gotten downvoted and criticized a bit, but honestly, in your best interests, I refuse to sugarcoat the answer for you, and I stand by what I have to say to you.
Here are some things I can think of:
1) Tell your advisor immediately.  "Hate" is a strong word to describe your current feelings.  Your advisor has surely dealt with these types of situations before.
2) You sound passive-aggressive and are suppressing your anger.  Why do that to yourself?  That is harmful to you.  Just tell this person directly what is bothering you, but in the nicest way possible.  It'll be good experience for you to learn how to resolve conflicts, and you'll grow from this experience.  An email would be a good choice to go with.

This answer says "just deal with it" without giving any useful advice on how to actually deal with it: what is the best way to bring up the issue so as to avoid getting confrontational, avoid negative repercussions, avoid being seen as "too sensitive" by peers, etc. Also, there's a difference between "passive aggressive" and "avoids engaging with people who aren't likely to change, because it's pointless."

I suggested for the OP to either tell his advisor immediately or tell this grad student directly what is bothering the OP but in the nicest way possible.  I don't think I can spell it out any further -- even though I could, one cannot always follow a script, in dealing with these life experiences.  He or she does indeed sound passive-aggressive (and that is pretty harmful to the OP), based on what we've been given, since the OP doesn't appear to have even tried resolving the issue, before concluding that "this person insn't likely to change, and it's pointless."  @ff524

I think I am actually active-agressive, and yes I am suppressing my anger at the moment, because I don't want this conflict to get out of my hand. I agree its a conflict I have to resolve, but how? Maybe switching the office will do it already (which I am definitely planning to do after this semester)...

Yes, switching offices would be huge.  Also, if you feel you need to tell this person directly, I'd suggest email, with minimal accusations, but just tell him or her what's bothering you.  Good luck @user2212461 :-)

@User001ff524 is our most active moderator, hence she is bound to make some mistakes. I do not think this is one of them, to begin with because she is not acting as a mod, she is just expressing her disagreement with your answer. And definitely, resorting to name calling is out of place here.

Also, I don't think escalating as a first step is a good idea. Since they are both PhD students, there is no power imbalance, and it may be easier to resolve the less fuzz you make. By keeping it between the people involved you may avoid bruised egos.

Hi @CaptainEmacs, yes, I have removed my comment.  Thanks for the suggestion.

Hi @Davidmh, I think the OP's bottled-up anger, coupled with his or her feelings of hatred means that an escalation is necessary, in order to protect the OP.  The advisor will surely have enough life experience and supervisory experience to help the OP manage the situation.  If his or her feelings were more mild, then perhaps leaving the advisor out of it could be a feasible plan.

@Davidmh Agreed. Generally, it is expected in all but extreme cases to be able to sort this out amongst themselves when the participants are of same rank and equally powerful. Only if the power balance is quite skewed (e.g. if the bully is higher ranked, or if the bully manages to activate a mob against the OP), then a trip to the advisor may be advised. I know that this is not currently preferred policy, but finding the right balance is tricky.

@CaptainEmacs, I would think that this case is considered extreme.  The OP risks flipping out on his officemate and that would seriously harm his status in the Department.  At this point, safety of the OP comes first. The word "hatred" is not to be taken lightly.

@User001 There was some indication in one of the comments that the word "hate" was rhetorical rather than with full implication. If move to a different room will help, that's not "hate".

I will try not to repeat previous answers. As much as I can think of it they are generally two ways of dealing with it: direct/ open approach and other is subtly one. I couldn't say what is better approach it just depends on you.
1) Direct approach (e.g. @User001's answer)
It is usually more for people who are very direct and these people usually don't have issues with saying to others (even to someone who they don't prefer) what is on their mind. They won't wait too much, and one day they will just come to you and say: "Houston, we have a problem".
2) More subtly/ indirect approach
Well, usually we think about how not to make a fuss. We want to make things as smoothly as we can. We don't want to bother our colleagues or supervisors and we think that we need to deal it by ourselves. Sometimes that is not good way of thinking, sometimes it is okay, it just depends. I think in your case you may try to solve the issue by yourself if you prefer like that.
Anyway, firstly, issues in social interaction usually can't be solved in short period (it can be if you want to change your department or something like that but I wouldn't prefer that as my first solution). Generally, you need a time and "strong nerves" and don't forget that this is your way of learning how to deal with this kind of people.

What is the reason of your colleague's behavior? Knowing that part may help you to find the way how to deal with the situation.
You may ignore his inappropriate behavior but in that case you should be aware that you may see a burst in his behavior and then after decrease in the behavior (see this or this. This article is about child's inappropriate behavior but you will see you may apply this in more social interaction than that).
Try to use irony/ sarcasm for everything he says. Do it with a style (e.g. lovely smile on your face). Play with him, try not to show him that he irritates you. Think of it as a spoiled child (and you may even show that a little bit). I sometimes do that, more as a play. E.g. "Oh for sure you are right, luckily I have you" / "What would we all do without you?" / "Of course I don't understand anything" etc. ( Very important- in your nonverbal behavior people need to conclude that you are sarcastic otherwise you may do even worse thing).
When he interrupts you, again do what you would do with boring child. Don't show you are angry, be as much polite (and ironic) as you can be. "My dear fellow can you wait for second?" / "Oh I am sorry to see that you are so bored but I can't help you in this moment" etc. And/ or just pretend that you don't hear him (headset).

Shortly,  I would say you have tough situation. Think carefully if you can manage it or not. If you can't you may change a department. That student makes your life miserable. I had kind of similar situation, I broke up with my partner and seeing him all the time in my Faculty was terrible. In that time it was too much for me so when I had the first opportunity to temporarily go abroad I did that (for a six months). I felt as a new person and now I am glad that I had issue which I had. After I came back, I mostly ignored him and I really tried not to show that I care for anything he do. When I needed I was ironic, I learnt not to take him serious and I was really working on my nonverbal behavior. Two years after, you wouldn't believe but we are fine (okay, we don't see each other very often but I wouldn't mind to even work with him on a project).

Careful: some people do not get sarcasm. They take it for serious and this can backfire (you mention that, but the danger needs emphasising). There is non-inverting sarcasm (i.e. sarcasm that does not, if taken literally, make you look bad). Generally, sarcasm is unadvisable if you are uninterested in escalation. The reason is that bullies will subsequently see themselves put in the situation where they wanted to put you and will be much more vociferous about that than you'd ever be. You may end up on the defensive for looking like you are the bully.