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Can I transfer my PhD to a Masters
I am pursuing my PhD and am in the first year of my program in Automotive Engineering. I completed my Masters in the same field, at the same school. I am having a tough time with my adviser and go into depression all time. I cannot take it any more. He threatens to take away my funding each day something I cannot afford. I am an international student and if I let go I will have to go back to my country and will be left with nothing. I wanted to know whether I will be able to transfer to a masters program from a PhD program. We have a Mechanical Engg. Dept in our college and the courses are common. They have a no thesis option and I can pursue my CPT and OPT. I don't know whom to pursue or call in the college regarding this. Hence I came here.
Any help is highly appreciated.

Yes, in almost all cases, a PhD student can transfer to a Masters program.  The person to contact is your department head, or dean.  This is surprisingly common, and I've personally know several people who went on to very happy careers after switching to an MS.


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How can writing a Review Paper possibly help in the CV of a undergraduate student?
I'm  a student of computer science amd I've written a reseaech review article on Fibonacci Sequence which will be published next month in a math journal. All I wanted to know is how will it help in my academic profile and what affects will it make in my CV?

Positive effects, as long as it's a well-written review in a decent journal.

Just a small point about the specifics of the question: as a mathematician, I'd very strongly anticipate that any journal that would publish presumably-well-known (whether or not interesting) facts about Fibonacci numbers would not be what mathematicians would call a "research" journal, but more "expository" or "teaching". As you say, "review". Probably not really "research review". Still, a pleasant accomplishment for an undergrad, and more than many/most accomplish. But do be careful not to err by imagining that this will help much down the road.

Thanks @paul . I'm well aware about my review paper.  And the objective of writing it was to provide overall history, findings and implications in the field of math and computer science. I'm also convinced for atleast being able to accomplish a review, which I will take as synergy for further independent research. Thanks

Any work of quality adds value to your profile. If I refer to your question, even the act of writing a review paper, if performed by the rules of the art, is something that you can show and discuss about.
Addtionnaly, if the work has received some sound academic validation (published in a reputed journal) of course this adds to your resume. It adds sometimes more if the topic of your work is close to your background, which seems to be the case here.
Beware though: it is not common for an undergraduate to be able to write correctly a review paper, esp. on a well-paved topic such as Fibonacci numbers. So, to be blunt, if your paper was accepted almost without review in a local university journal, it might weight less. Or even negatively.
This really depends on who reads your CV: some will be impressed by the: "published in the Mathematical Journal of Mathematics". Some others may have a look at your paper precisely. If they find that the content is of low level, they might have a more negative opinion than if they were not aware of your paper.

Thank you @Laurent . It is actually written under the supervision of my course instructor who is a Professor of Mathematics. So I'm quite confident that the contents are precisely reffered from core research papers on Fibonacci Sequences.

Excellent. Do not hesitate to post it when published, I love the topic

l. Ofcourse I will...

ANYTHING you do as an undergrad helps your professional trajectory. Even if it's just running subjects in experiences or gathering articles for a professor. You get to add that project to your CV, you get the experience, and you get a letter of recommendation (if you do a good job of course). Any writing you do is seen as as a super plus and writing independently would be super super plus. At your level, people are looking to see that you can work and get things done, not that you have the most original ideas (those help, too, but aren't as essential as they are for your profs).
So if the question is "write a review paper v. some other kind of paper" I'd assert that you get a main effect of either and the difference between the two types isn't much. However, writing a review paper will greatly expand your knowledge of the field, which helps you in a lot of ways, and will show that you have pretty sophisticated understanding of a topic for a UG.
Computer science isn't my field (statistics and social science), but at your level people want to see you can do academic work (at least with an advisor, even better independently).
Good luck! :)

Thank you so much for such a kind advice. I'll always keep your words in my mind

Good luck with it. Stick with it. Publishing academic papers takes a lot of time (both getting it out and waiting while it's out). You may even end up publishing other things while waiting for this one :)

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How to conduct IT based research in developing countries where we don't even have enough datasets for reference and analysis?
Today in developed countries technology and innovation  has reached its optimum level. But in least developed countries like Nepal, Bangladesh, etc, the scenario for research is different. Here the education syatem is also in learning phase. Few university exists and barely research oriented activities goes through academic.
We neither have any research grants to follow or enough datasets and technologies for analysis and comparision. Even the governmemt is still functioning on paper. So in such absurd situation what kinds of researches are suggested and how to do it?

What does "technology and innovation has reached its optimum level" mean? What is the optimum level of innovation? What bad things will happen if America becomes more innovative?  Why wouldn't universities be in learning phase? What other phases are there?

Apparently he means that they have reached the point of mass accessibility, not the best possible point.

As far as equipment is concerned, in computer oriented fields I can assure you that the only thing equipment can affect is time and performance. I have done most of my personal work on an 8 year old laptop, and since half that work was on game development you can understand that lack of processing power has very visible results, but that doesn't mean you can't make anything, it will just run slow! Just mentioning it because one may argue that in developing countries equipment is scarce.
As far as datasets are concerned, I propose four options:
-You use public datasets already out there. That's not the best because you have to pick one of a few options rather than gather data fitting your needs. Also having original data is considered a pretty good thing in research, though I personally don't consider it that crucial.
-You collect your own data either within the country (it always makes an impression when you get out of the lab and get your hands dirty collecting data) or online, with the help of other institutions that may make it easier for people to complete answer forms etc.
-You collaborate with an institution in another country, or even form a network of institutions within your or similar countries, and use collective data. Forming an official research network will also have a nice ring to it and may attract some publicity.
-The final option is to contact other departments that are not working exactly on what you are working on, but may be interested in collaborating, if you can offer them some common goal. An example would be creating a database with advanced search capabilities on ancient literature, where the department of philosophy (or equivalent) would provide datasets and you would provide the framework. Note that you may have to develop software that will be easy for them to use before they can start building a dataset, but this will pay off eventually.
I personally would go for option 4, as it would also broaden the scope of interest in the project. 3 will give you some recognition outside the country, and 2 doesn't really have any specific bonuses, but it may establish the institution as self-relying and productive, especially if you do this again in the future. There are probably a couple more options I haven't thought of, but there are probably the most notable, best of luck.

Your answer is absolutely helpful. Thank you so much.

Glad to be of use.

if  you could vote up the question.

You're quite right, once I start writing I forget the world around me, done

There are ways to get research done on publicly available data.
However, I would be silly to not mention that I left the UK for Germany to conduct my research, because the UK, as optimum as it is, wasn't the best in the world for the specific type of science I wanted to do. More importantly, it wasn't nearly as well funded for my particular area of science (its much better now though). Transferring to greener pastures is not only recommended, it's extremely normal in Science.
What did it take to get into a top German institute? Knowledge and determination. And I know for a fact that Nepal, Bangladesh, etc have plenty of knowledge and determination, because students from these countries are working side-by-side with me.

I'm from Nepal and yes South Asian do have plenty od determination. Actually I belong from Computer Science field and I wanted to some Natural Language Processing  project which could lead as a research but the absurd situation that we IT students  face is regarding the datasets. While we need huge datasets for project we don't have them available, so we should first prepare dataset which is itself a  huge project and timu consuming. Thanks for your view point

Hm. That's really interesting TechJhola. What specifically is the biggest problem? Downloading the data? Hard drives to store the data? Or getting authorization to access the data? I'm asking because i'm curious if there's any way I could help

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Are there many countries in which a postdoc has a student status?
I didn't know that in some countries a postdoc has a student status. I discovered this in this question, with somebody mentioning that apparently this is the norm in Israel. I'm surprised and I'm wondering:

Is this status common, are there other countries doing this?
How does it work: is the postdoc registered for a diploma? If not, what is the purpose of their "studies"?
Does the stipend cover any health or unemployment insurance? What about pension contribution?

I don’t think it’s correct to say that in Israel a postdoc is considered a student. It may be (and I believe it is the case) that a postdoc is covered by some of the same rules as a student with regards to visas and/or taxation of the postdoc stipend. But anyone you ask will tell you that postdocs are not students, and they are not treated as students by any university. In other words, your question is based on a false premise.

Your second question reminds me of Do postdoctoral studies have official certificate?. For the main question, the comments to these questions mention some locations where postdocs may be considered students in some respects. The comment mentioning Quebec is supported by what's on McGill's website. Perhaps we have some user familiar with the Quebecois arrangements.

@DanRomik to me this is confusing: if they are not considered students, why would they be considered as such for official purposes? It's especially strange for visa applications: wouldn't that imply that people are lying on their visa applications?

@Erwan I don’t know, it’s possible that they are considered as students for visa purposes. But I’m not aware of any other context in which they are considered as students.

@DanRomik sure, but I find it strange that they are considered as students even only for these purposes. From a European point of view, the PhD is what validates the ability to do research, so to me it's professionally degrading not to recognize that postdocs are professional researchers, even only for official purposes.

@DanRomik I was a postdoc at two different universities in Israel, and in each case I was given a student card.  For all bureaucratic purposes, postdocs in Israel are considered students.

is this status common

It depends as it varies from place to place. In some countries, for instance South Africa, postdocs are technically students 'studying' towards academic 'competencies' without a terminal degree.

Register for degree/diploma

They are a distinct category within the academic workforce. They are not registered for a terminal qualification. They are a special hybrid who are meant to be trained on academic processes even as they, postdocs, 'strive' towards independence

stipends, pensions ...

In places like South Africa, their stipends/fellowship is non-taxable. It's a package that comes without tax, pension or medical.
In some other places, like some in Europe, they have a 'job'. For instance, Germany places them on TV-L 13.
In UK, they take up positions as PDRA (postdoctoral research associate) or Research Fellow with salaries and pensions, which are not tax-exempt.
In the States as you've alluded, postdocs received fellowship that are not IRS tax-exempt. Those on Visa, will have withholding tax deduction based on their visa category.
postdocs in Australia, (postdocs fellow), are renumerated and subject to superannuation (pension). They work towards independence supported by training, development and mentorship.
Argentina, AFAIK, tilt towards classification as a student. Their fellowship are seen as scholarship.

A common thread across postdocs is: mentored, guided professional, internship, apprenticeship.
By and large, postdocs are not standardised across board. It varies from country to country or region to region.
[Edit]

India apparently follow the 'employee' categorisation and tax-deductible.
US (revisited). Stanford seems to consider postdocs as 'non-degree seeking students'. NorthEastern on the other hand is not clearcut, kindda pointing to students
In Canada, postdocs generally pay tax and contribute to pension. They, PD fellow, can be employee or non-employee. Hence there are exemption where postdocs are students. Even with the 'exemption', places like McGill required non-Canadian postdocs to have work permit!
University of British Columbia consider postdocs as employee or award recipient depending on how they are recruited.
Postdocs in Chinese universities are regarded as third-party academia with temporary work. They are tax-deductible.

Some postdocs in the US are straight up employees, such as at national labs or companies.

@JonCuster why are they then considered “postdocs” rather than employees with a term-limited contract?

Well, my institution has a specific job category for postdocs. It is limited term, but is not the only limited term classification. They are employees with benefits, not a fellowship.

In some places postdocs can get some student priviledges like a student ID (which grants reduced entry fees for some things), a student ticket for public transport or access to student housing.

From this list it seems that only a few few countries consider postdocs as students: so far we have South Africa, Argentina and Israel.

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Etiquette: asking for postdoc position to seminar speaker
A really cool professor is invited to give a seminar in my department, and I would like to ask him/apply for a postdoc position in his lab. I do not know, if he has any openings, but I do have a meeting/lunch scheduled with him, since my project is related to his research interests. I want to know the best way to handle this. Do I send a short email with my CV/cover letter before he arrives on campus or do I ask him in person? Thanks!

Talk to him at lunch. Create contact. Probe whether you get along. After the event, drop him an email for contact, and mention that you are looking for positions, perhaps he knows some? Nice and relaxed (I know, easier said than done).

Do people in your field not normally advertise postdoc positions when they have them?  Anyway, I would just ask in person if there are any postdoc opportunities to work with him, unless for timing reasons it would put you at a disadvantage to wait that long.

Ask: I'm looking for a post-doc; would you know of any openings?
This is the standard/conventional way of inquiring about postdocs. He'll know what you're asking and will let you know if he has a position available. This gives the "askee" a way not to say "No, I don't have a position."

Though if you're particularly interested in working with a specific person, I don't see why you wouldn't want to let him know it.  This isn't like clubs where you need to feign disinterest to get someone interested in you.

It's a fine line in this case, but sometimes you can't be too blunt. That's the culture in the US at least, which I am assuming (for no apparent reason) is the locale of the OP. I can see this not being the case in Germany, for example.

Conferences and seminars are not only here to present what you are doing, but also create and expand your network of contact with people from your field.
Any form of contact is good, provided you put the respect it deserves. If the person is too busy, maybe it's best to send an email or try to talk to him in a very short availability period and drop your card.
If you have a meeting, that's even better. You already got his attention, it's the perfect moment to ask him the question directly. If you're interested in his research topic, just ask if he's looking to having a post-doc on the subject. He might not have a position available, but maybe he can ask for one.
There is no official method to contact for a post-doc, unless it's advertised on a website, then the preferred method should already e described.


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Introducing myself to a research mentor
I am a PhD student and apart from academic supervisors I also have a mentor. This mentor I haven't met in person yet and have only communicated through email once. But I am going to meet the mentor in person in a conference. My question is how am I going to introduce myself to him? It is important for me to make a good connection with this mentor. Since I wrote that email  long time ago he might not remember me at all.
How do I approach him? Should I mention to him that he is my mentor and then explain to him what I am doing in my research?
Is it okay to say that he is being assigned as my mentor ? How can I say this politely?

Who assigned him to be your mentor? How was he informed about it? (By your mail?) Did he agree? This situation seems very strange to me to be honest...

Agree with @JayFromA ... very strange. Voting to close as unclear because in no universe I am familiar with are folks assigned as mentors without them even knowing about it.

A mentor that you don't know and have no contact with? That seems not overly useful.

@MadJack Just because you're not familiar with it doesn't mean it doesn't happen. The guy probably signed up to some kind of voluntary mentoring programme, and it was probably left up to the new PhDs to introduce themselves to their mentors. Not implausible at all given the notoriously disorganised and half-assed nature of most academic administration. It's probably part of some box-ticking exercise anyway and OP doesn't realise it's not actually meant to be useful.

Just because you're not familiar with it doesn't mean it doesn't happen. -- This is one of the key things I've learned here on this SE, so, of course, I agree. Still doesn't mean that the question is not unclear. @user234461

"Hi, I'm Sam. I believe you're my assigned mentor."

@MadJack You literally used the words "because in no universe I am familiar with are folks assigned as mentors without them even knowing about it". If you now admit that your basis for believing it doesn't happen is flawed, and you justify your argument that the question is unclear by your assertion that it doesn't happen, then your argument is now wrong and you have no basis for calling for the question to be closed without clarifying your position and justifying why you think the question is unclear, which you have so far failed to do.

@user234461 The question is unclear. OP needs to elaborate more. It is really that simple.

@madjack: This situation is vommon in my University. Mentors get assigned which then have no interest in meeting the students which are to be mentored.

Schedule a time to talk in advance.  Email him again, mention how he came to be identified as your mentor (as a reminder, in case he forgot), and ask if you could get lunch with him or meet whenever is convenient during the conference.  In my experience, many researchers have packed schedules during conferences and may not have the time to speak with you when you find him.


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Can an acknowledgement section of a thesis contain names of music bands?
Can I add some music bands in the acknowledgement section of my bachelor thesis? I used to listen these bands during all my 3-year long studies and during all the writing of my thesis, so I think they helped me quite a lot.

Of course, if you are an electronic engineer writing a thesis on power converters you should absolutely acknowledge the AC/DCs. And if you are a physicists working on particle accelerators, you should acknowledge the Van der Graaf Generator band ;-)

I did it in mine. You are quite free to put whatever you want in the acknowledgement section. The game in the lab where I did my PhD was to read the section to find the hidden jokes. Just remember that what you write there will stay there forever...

I've flagged this as a possible duplicate because even though the question is different the answer is essentially: "Thank whoever you want to thank."

The duplicate flag is for actual duplicate questions, not questions that admit the same answer. Canonical counterexample is 2+2 and 2×2.

@R.. We don't want to have a separate question for any possible thankable subject. That could serve as a canonical answer.

@MassimoOrtolano - I agree with the concept you have expressed.  However, the girlfriend etc. question isn't worded in a general enough way.  How about you write a general question, in canonical form?  I haven't figured out the "community" thing yet -- perhaps that would be appropriate, though?

@aparente001 Usually the need of canonical Q&A is firstly discussed on meta (see [tag:canonical-question]). In this case, I don't know how the question could be formulated in a general way with an answer that says anything different from those already existing, or which simply becomes a list of thankable subjects.

@MassimoOrtolano - see if these options give you some ideas: "What am I allowed to put in my thesis acknowledgements section?"  "Can an acknowledgement section of a thesis contain _______?"


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Withdraw CS conference paper (after acceptance) due to authorship disputes?
Is it ethical to withdraw a CS conference paper after being accepted, but before the final version is due (because of authorship disputes). What other consequences would there be (like re-submitting to other conferences if withdrawal is is successful)?

Can you expand? What do you mean exactly by "authorship disputes"?

can't agree on inclusion exclusion of authors.

How is that even a dispute after submission? Usually, it is not an issue. Apologize and claim there has been a technical problem and you have to withdraw.

If you are able to resolve the authorship dispute, then clearly that would be the best solution. On the other hand, if you are unable to resolve the dispute (at least on a timeline compatible with the conference's schedule), then not only is it ethical to withdraw the paper, but in fact that would be the only ethical course of action. Basically in this situation you have no reasonable choice and you simply have to withdraw the paper, which is why it is clearly ethical despite the fact that it means you will have wasted the time and effort of the organizing committee and reviewers.
With that said, even though withdrawing the paper is ethical, there may still be some hurt feelings and a small amount of loss of credibility on your and the other coauthors' part, so it is important to do all you can to minimize the damage by being as honest and transparent as you can about what happened and about your motivations. As Anonymous Mathematician points out, just telling the organizing committee that there's an authorship dispute might come across as a lame and possibly suspicious explanation. What I would do is make sure to include in my withdrawal email:

an apology;
a relatively detailed explanation of the nature of the dispute, which establishes the claim that withdrawing the paper is the only reasonable course of action open to you (if there are some highly sensitive or personal details, you can omit them, but try to provide as many details as possible to make your claim that you have to withdraw as credible as possible);
an apology! Specifically, acknowledge that you should have sorted out the authorship issue before submitting the paper and that you and the other authors are at fault for not taking proper care on this matter. Make it clear that you understand what went wrong and will be more careful in the future.

My feeling is that with the proper explanation, no one will bear you any hard feelings for creating this somewhat awkward situation -- reasonable people understand that these things can happen (as Anonymous Mathematician points out, in rare cases they can happen even when everyone is behaving reasonably and has the best of intentions). Your reputation will survive. In any case, letting the paper be published when there are unresolved issues surrounding authorship is almost certain to lead to a much bigger mess and much greater damage to the reputations of everyone involved.

These sort of things do occur and are of valid concern. It would be best to withdraw your paper with a kind apology note to the conference committee. There is not an unethical conduct as your reason should be perfectly valid and you have no gain in this act.

You should be extremely careful with this.  It's possible in principle to have an authorship dispute in which everybody is behaving completely reasonably and ethically (and it's just a really delicate, borderline case), but generally this means someone is behaving badly.  If you announce to the organizing committee that there's an authorship dispute without clarifying, it could give everyone involved a bad reputation.
It's also unclear how withdrawing will help you (since that won't resolve the dispute), unless there's a newly added author who just doesn't want to publish in this venue.

On the other hand, you can ethically withdraw any paper at any time, for any reason or no reason, before you've actually signed the publication agreement.  Yes, revealing an authorship dispute would make you look bad so don't do that.

@JeffE are you sure you are prepared to defend the position that "you can ethically withdraw any paper at any time, for any reason or no reason, before you've actually signed the publication agreement"? It seems to me that if you submitted your paper in bad faith, intending to withdraw it (for some bizarre reason, I'm not saying it's necessarily a very realistic scenario), then you are clearly behaving unethically. So possibly I'll agree that in most realistic scenarios when one might need to withdraw a paper the withdrawal is ethical, but saying that the reason doesn't matter is surely wrong.

IMHO, withdrawing a paper is never a good practice, and this is much worse if you withdraw after acceptance. Indeed this means that you (and the co-authors) asked for a peer-review, several reviewer worked (for free) on your paper, then a committee accepted it, and at the end you decide to discard all this work.
Moreover, reviewers give you also some useful advices. If you decide to withdraw, then one can imagine that you will use those comments for improving the paper and (for instance) submit it to a journal or to another conference. And this would not be fair...

Can you explain what you mean by "this would not be fair"? Is it better to not improve the paper and simply let the advice go to waste?

It is better to improve the paper and submit it to that conference... If one withdraws, a reviewer can think that authors "used" the conference just to have some reviews and improve the paper IN ORDER TO send it to a journal or a better conference... If this is the case, this is unfair.

But you are not addressing the OP's question. It's obvious that withdrawing the paper could lead to some unpleasant feelings, but on the other hand I don't see anything "unfair" about it given the situation that the OP finds himself in (admittedly, possibly due to his own fault in not taking proper care to resolve all authorship issues before submitting the paper). It could be unfair if OP was doing it for unethical reasons, but he isn't, so it isn't. So all you're saying is "no, don't withdraw because withdrawing is never a good practice", which I don't feel is a very helpful answer.

@DanRomik I think Vito means the following: Some editors consider the work invested by them and their reviewers as asset which improves the paper. They do not like a paper which has been improved by them to publishable level (and thus bears the editor/reviewer stamp of their review process) being published somewhere else. This is where the unfairness may be seen coming in. I never saw it like that, but an editor I sub-edited for made clear that he'd rather seen a reviewed and salvageable paper be published in his journal which had the work of bringing it to this level, rather than rejected.

@CaptainEmacs Yes, thanks for helping me in explaining my idea

@CaptainEmacs thanks for the clarification, I think I understand what you're saying, and what Vito was saying before. All I can say is that thinking of advice that you're offering to help someone improve their paper as an asset seems to me like an incredibly misguided and selfish way of thinking for an editor/reviewer. I'm very glad I'm in mathematics where I have never encountered this kind of ultra-possessive attitude.

@DanRomik I do not think that is field-dependent. This happened in a field very close to mathematics, where, in terms of possessiveness, I also have seen (far) worse. But, frankly, whether an editor has an unhealthy interest in keeping a submitted paper under their control, authors not resolving authorship disputes before it comes to a withdrawal, or a judgmental community who interprets all kinds of misconduct into a withdrawal, this is the world in which we live and all we can do here at Academia.SE is to give the best possible overview over the possible situations and motivations.


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Seeking Advice on Requesting Professor's Help for Internship Opportunities
I'm currently an undergraduate student in a condensed matter physics research group at a mid-tier college, actively seeking internship opportunities. Despite having interviewed with a notable company, I wasn't successful, and I'm reflecting on whether my college affiliation may have influenced the outcome.
My professor, with a strong academic background including a PhD and postdoc from prestigious institutions, has connections with researchers at these institutions. While I'm currently working with him for this summer, I'm also considering asking for his recommendation to potentially join his previous groups or connections there for programs like REUs in future semesters.
Previously, I casually mentioned to him, "If you have any suggestions or know someone, please let me know," but his efforts in assisting me seemed minimal, possibly assuming I only needed passive support.
I'm now contemplating seeking more active assistance from him in securing internship opportunities. However, I'm unsure about the appropriateness of this and how best to approach the conversation.
Could anyone offer advice on whether it's appropriate to seek more active assistance from my professor and, if so, how I should go about doing this?

Internships for this summer are likely thin on the ground at this point. For my national lab the last date to hire on a summer intern posting was last month. Next time around start early and search broadly. And, yes, actively engage with your professors.

Yeah, that's what I figured. I wanted the post to be general, not really aimed at particular semesters. Thanks for the advice!

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Emailing professor: Is my profile good enough for this position?
I am applying for PhD positions nowadays. Recently, few PhDs are announced (in CoQus, Austria) and I am very interested in these positions. But it looks like these positions require very high profile candidates. They have asked about publications (if applicable) in nearly each paragraph of advertisement. It is also written that a candidate can only apply once for PhD in that institute in whole life.
I have written a paper during my M.Sc. but its status is "submitted". So, technically I don't have any publication yet.
I don't want to lose my chance by applying without publication. So, my question is:
Is it a good idea to email professor of my interest asking about if my profile is good enough to have any chance to get this PhD?

Why downvote without mentioning my mistake? What am I doing wrong?

The conditions invite potential candidates to self-assess their profiles.  The reason is probably that the University receives a lot of applications per post and HRs want to save a bit of time during the shortlisting stage by ensuring that candidates apply only when they are ready.  In all fairness, it seems that you want your potential supervisor to do a bit of this work for you. I am not sure it is a good idea.

Normally, a PI wouldn't reply this type of question. But if they do I'm not sure if they would like to hire such an insecure student.
I would just send an email introducing myself and showing interest on the PIs lab and questioning some things about the program. But I would never ask if I'm good enough... or show any type of insecurity.

I don't think the question is about insecurity but rather about formal definitions (does a submitted not-yet-published paper fulfill the requirements of such-and-such paragraph?)


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What to write in the email for sending PhD application to a research group's head?
I am applying for a Ph.D. position in a research group. On the group's webpage, the leader of the group has asked to send him CV and Motivation Letter if someone is interested in a Ph.D. position.
I have prepared the documents, but I am wondering that what should I write in the email by which I will send him the documents?
Should I write about why am I interested in his work?
Should I talk about my educational background?
Or just simply say "Dear Professor, Attachment is my application for Ph.D. position in your group?"

Your CV has your background. Hopefully you have written an SOP (Statement of purpose) giving your goals for grad study and beyond. In the email you can probably best help yourself writing about why you want to work with him, but make it honest and not too "over the top". But a bit more than just your last suggestion. How does this group fit your SOP?
If he gets a lot of applications he will quickly sort them into two piles. You want to be in the pile for "further consideration".


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Emailing professor for PhD supervision
When you email a professor to inquire about an available PhD position is it a good idea to ask if they have any available projects?

Depends on where you are.

See https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/90725/how-should-i-phrase-an-important-question-that-i-need-to-ask-a-professor

You should do basic research on the topics the professors is researching himself. Afterwards, you may either see whether there is a project around where you could supply your workpower, or you have an idea on a concrete project where he could extend research. (Keep in mind, he might need to get a funding for that).
If you do have an own project with independent funding, it might be easier - however, it should fit in the reseach area of the professor.
If you just come around, most professors I know simply will skip your application, as the normally have sufficient requests and work to do.

You should first check your program if it is your POI who recruits you or the grad school that does the job.
If it is the grad school that selects the student, keep in mind that whatever  POI replies do not necessarily reflect your future.
Most of  POIs are busy, ie, they have thousands of emails to reply each day. So,  this is unnecessary. Worse come to worse, they can put your email address in spam.  So, my suggestion tends toward not making any contact with him.
On the contrary, if it is your POI that recruits his students, it is good to observe his research interest from the recent papers. Then, if any of those matches yours, you should mention them in your email. Even though you have some of them in mind, you should also ask POI about his particular research interest and funding. Expression of curiosity and eagerness to work with him is a good sign.
Good luck.


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How to write formal letter for PhD after completion of MS
I have recently defended my MS thesis and want to continue as a Ph.D. student in the same department. Department secretary told me that I have to write a formal letter. When I asked her what things do I have to write in the formal letter she said she doesn't know. So there are two parts of my question

How to write a formal letter?
What do I write in the formal letter when upgrading to a Ph.D. program after completion of MS?

If you studied in the same department, you (should) have at least two advantages:
1) You know the culture there -- how important "rules" are.
2) You know people: Professors (your MS thesis advisor), Master students, PhD students, your student union.
So try to use this to find out how to write the letter. Ask the people you know how they wrote their letter/ what they recommend/ if it really matters. (You may find out that nobody even cares if you really write the letter.)
In my university for example, there is also such a rule -- however, in reality, nobody looks at the letter and it's even possible to just write "I want to do my PhD". The official rule of course doesn't say so and secetaries also have no idea.
If this fails and you do not get any information, include at least: your name, your previous studies, your prospective advisor, if you will get funding and how and a detailed description of your project.
I wish you good luck!


text:
I want to quit this PhD and look for a better position
Summary:
My Ph.D. advisor left my university, but I decided to keep working with him remotely. Now, he does not have time for me, and I feel the only solution is to quit my Ph.D. How difficult will it be to avail of another Ph.D. position?
Background:
I started my Ph.D. in theoretical condensed matter physics in September 2019 from Uni-X under the supervision of Prof-A. I had three other Ph.D. offers at the time, but I chose this Ph.D. because I wanted to work with Prof-A. I was "mad-crazy" to learn a theory, and Prof-A was actively working on this theory.
After two months of my joining Uni-X, Prof-A took a sabbatical leave and went to Uni-Y. However, when the Corona pandemic happened, Prof-A decided that he would permanently leave Uni-X, and he offered me three options

Apply for a Ph.D. position at Uni-Y at work with him
Stay at Uni-X and move to another research group and work with another professor
Stay at Uni-X, move to another research work but remotely keep working with him

I could not choose option (1) because of the pandemic and "no funding" for new professors at Uni-Y. Option (2) was a clear no-go for me because no other group (I repeat, not even one group) was working on theoretical condensed matter physics in Uni-X. Because I was so stubborn to work with Prof-A, I chose option (3) and joined the research group of Prof-B, who is a very good friend of Prof-A. Biggest mistake of my life (so far).
Progress of my Ph.D. and relation with Prof-A and Prof-B has been as follows:
1st year (Sept-2019 to Sept-2020): I was focused on coursework and the Ph.D. qualification exam. I had fortnightly meetings with Prof-A about potential Ph.D. projects. I had very little contact with Prof-B because he didn't care what I was doing.
2nd year (Sept-2020 to Sept-2021): Prof-A and I started working on a project. But he began to give me less and less time. He could arrange only one meeting in one month. Still very little interaction with Prof-B because of the covid pandemic.
3rd year (Sept-2021 to today): I talked with Prof-A and explicitly told him that I needed more time (fortnightly meetings). Things started to change; I felt like my Ph.D. was finally moving. I defended my Ph.D. proposal on 2nd Feb 2022. But right after my proposal, Prof-A again started ghosting me. After the 2nd Feb meeting, I could speak with him in April. Also, I began to meet with Prof-B weekly. I update him on my progress, but unfortunately, he is not very familiar with the mathematical theory we are using, so he always says, "sounds good, keep working!".
Current Condition:
Since Feb 2022, I have been stuck on the second part of the project we started in 2020. I am stuck because I didn't take two courses about a math-heavy theory. Prof-A was the only person in this institute who knew this theory, and he used to teach this. Ever since he left, nobody has been teaching that. I asked Prof-A to help me understand some theoretical points, but he is too busy to help. I asked Prof-B for help, and he said he is not an expert in this field, so he can't help.
I am so burned out because of this Ph.D. I see no one in this institute who can help me; everyone is either an experimentalist or doing computer simulations of some materials. In the whole Physics department, I am the only guy working on theoretical physics. I believe this is the reason why Prof-A left this institute.
I see no future here. But I also don't want just to quit. I want to get a Ph.D. I want to ask a simple question: How difficult would it be to find another Ph.D. if I quit this Ph.D. in 3rd year?

Part of being a PhD student is learning to pick up things like ‘math-heavy’ theory on their own. Does someone have lecture notes from the course?

Can you clarify how/if this is different than your question from last year? If so, please [edit] your question to make the difference clearer, and we can reopen. https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/167749/i-am-so-stuck-in-the-second-year-of-my-phd-should-i-leave

I don't know anything about the educational system in Turkey so this may be useful advice or not.
Moving to a different university may mean moving yourself (and family as well). This puts you back in the situation of option 1, which might still be open to you.
But, in the US, at least, it is possible to move from one program to another. However, it is greatly aided by having a sponsor to ease the way. The best case is when the sponsor is at the university you want to move to, so if you have contacts, exploit them.
But your advisor might serve as a sponsor if they are willing to go to their list of collaborators and contacts to promote your candidacy to another university and, optimally, to an alternate advisor there.
But simply dropping out and making application elsewhere on your own is a much worse scenario.
The alternative is to tough it out where you are. But there is no reason you can't seek help from other people on those mathematical hard bits. There may be a professor at your current institution, possibly in a different department, who can give informal advice. Between you and your advisor you might be able to find a person that can assist remotely.
All options are difficult. You need to choose the least bad option, perhaps.
Good luck.


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A proper response to an interview question for PhD admission
What is a proper reply to questions like "Describe your operational knowledge about (some course, i.e. quantum physics)?"
I have taken few courses about quantum physics but it's not a big deal for an M.Sc. physics graduate. Everybody knows that it's essential to take quantum physics courses during B.Sc. and M.Sc. physics.
Should the answer be about the stuff that I learned in that course?

Certainly everyone will have done courses in these subjects, but their level of knowledge and understanding of the topics will differ vastly.  Questions like this are generally designed to elicit a summary of the core principles of the subject, and see if you can explain the subject intuitively in a short period of time.  When they ask about your "operational knowledge" they are presumably asking about how to apply the principles you learned in the course to problems.  They certainly do not want to hear about the "stuff" you learned in the course, and I disagree with the view that you should describe your courses and textbooks.  Instead, I would suggest that you demonstrate that this "stuff" you learned has led you to a clear structured understanding of the subject, that you can explain intuitively in a logically coherent order, and that you can apply to problems.
To prepare for these questions, I would suggest that you practice articulating the principles of these subjects to non-experts, and see if you can explain the subject succinctly and clearly to someone with minimal background knowledge.  So, for example, what is quantum physics, in one sentence?  What does it add to classical physics, and how does it change the principles of classical physics?  Can you give one or two practical applications of the topic and how you would apply this topic to those practical applications (i.e., how to "operationalize" the material)?  Be ready to reel this information off succinctly and coherently, and take questions on more detailed specifics.

Wow. It is very much detailed. Thank you so much.

Not a big deal? Along with general relativity, quantum mechanics is one of the main pillars of modern physics!
You are right that everyone who has done a BSc in physics will have learnt a bit of QM-- the problem is, not everyone will have done the same amount, or to the same level. They probably ask you this question so they can gauge exactly how much you have learnt and so where you stand in relation to your potential classmates.
A good way to answer the question would be to describe the QM you have learnt, and reference what textbooks you used, especially if they are the standard, well-known literature.

Thank you. Of course quantum mechanics is base of modern physics.

I might interpret 'operational' knowledge to more be about what you might have used QM for outside of a given course, i.e. if you needed it in any research you may have done. But, a mix of course and lab use would be a good answer too...

I'm not a native speaker and not in physics as well, but from my understanding "operational knowledge" means how you can apply what you've learned and which parts of it you did apply. That's a huge step from textbook knowledge.


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What to add in MS thesis presentation
I am about to defend my MS thesis in Physics. How much detail of the methods should I add in the presentation? In my thesis, I have compared the results of my method to an other method's results. Should I give a brief introduction of that method too?
One of the members of the defense committee is from the other field of research. Should I make my presentation very detailed so that he can understand it? But it will make the presentation very long. Probably, more than 40 minutes long.

My general guideline for this is to present at a level your audience will understand. For example if your audience are other physics Masters students, you can expect them to be familiar with quantum mechanics, although not necessarily concepts such as neural networks or Monte Carlo Markov Chains; but if your audience are first-year undergraduates then you cannot assume any of those.
Your talk also needs to be self-contained. If the audience cannot understand your talk without knowing the other method for example, that's not good and you should give an introduction to that method a well.
If you're still concerned, try practicing with a fellow student. You can give your talks to each other, and if the other is completely confused, you know there's a problem to fix.

Your advisor can give you the best advice. You might also attend another student's presentation to get an idea of what is typical at your institution.
But probably you should cover the ground lightly but be ready to supply more detail as requested. Focus more on your own contribution, but don't neglect the basis on which your work rests. Probably a 70/30 or even 80/20 split seems about right.
If you haven't given enough detail, I assume you will be asked questions, so be prepared for that with a more complete explanation.


text:
Address on cover letter for PhD application
There are 3 PhD positions advertised on university's website and I am interested in two of them. University welcomes to give more than one choices for which candidate should be considered. For both positions requirements are similar. I know the names of professors who will supervise these PhDs but I am not sure if they are the only ones who will judge the applications. Moreover, it is written to upload cover letter in university's application system not to sent to Professors directly.
I am confused how should I address Cover Letter to be considered for both positions. Currently, I have the following

PhD Candidate Search Committee
{Department name}
{University name}
{City, Country}
{postcode}
Dear Members of the Search Committee,

Is it a good way to address in cover letter?

The form of the letter you are proposing is appropriate. You are applying to the institution, not to the professors.
I agree with astronat (above) but with the recommendation that your cover letter and CV be in attachments. The actual message should be far more succinct, with the right keywords to catch the eye of the professors. Most of us have overflowing mailboxes and the attention spans of goldfish, and won't read past the first paragraph. Bottom Line Up Front!

Yes, what you have written already is perfectly fine.

This is fine.  If you’re game you might want to separately send a copy of the letter to the persons of interest, indicating in a polite and serious email that you have applied and why you are very interested in this position.


text:
Should I include a short summary of my MS research in the Statement of Purpose for PhD position?
I am writing a Statement of Purpose (SOP) for a Ph.D. position and confused if I should add a summary of my MS research work. My MS research work is very much related to the advertised Ph.D. project.
I googled it and found that in some SOPs people have written a short summary of their previous work but in others, they have not.

Yes, absolutely.
A statement of purpose for a PhD should indicate why you want to do research and that you are prepared for it. There is no better way to establish that than to discuss your research experience.
However, when discussing your prior research make sure not to only focus on the past. For example, explain how your prior research has motivated you to do more research in the future (via a PhD).

My "yes" wouldn't be so absolute. While I don't disagree with the answer, I also think that some things should be elsewhere in your materials, such as your CV so that your SOP can be entirely forward looking. Make it about what you envision in your degree program to come and about your future career, not your past. The summary needs to be somewhere in your materials, of course.


text:
Benefit of having more than required courses on a Ph.D. transcript
I am in the second year of my Ph.D. in computational Physics I have already fulfilled the course requirement according to the university doctoral school. However, I am interested in two more courses that are being offered this semester. I am planning to take them. I mentioned these two courses to my advisor and he said that they could be helpful for my research. He said that it's up to me if I want to properly register for these courses or just sit in class without registration and learn the course content.
I am wondering what is the impact of having more than required courses on a Ph.D. transcript? I will be learning these courses in either way. If I don't register, I would not be bound to take final exams (a little relief). But if having more courses on a Ph.D. transcript shows a positive feature (for a job or postdoc position), I would not mind taking final exams.

In my dept, you have to stay registered for a certain number of credits (for me, it's 3, or one class), although they did offer to make a class up for COVID. Do you have to take at least one class anyway?

@AzorAhai--hehim in my dept, we have to register for at least 12 credit hours. I can take as many credit hours and I want for Doctoral Thesis. So, I can fulfill the credit requirement from Thesis.

When hiring post docs, I don’t even look at the courses on the transcript. Even if I did I would have no idea if you took extra or not.

Once you have your doctorate people are very unlikely to care which courses you took to get there. Especially in academia, though there might be some value for a specialized industrial job.
The trick, however, is whether sitting in will give you enough incentive to learn the material enough to benefit your research. Probably it will, based on your question, but some people need a goad to work hard.
If the knowledge will be helpful and you can put in some effort, then I'd suggest just sitting in (or auditing) would be best. You don't want additional courses to actually interfere with your research.


text:
Is it okay to ask a professor from another university for class lecture notes of a course that he offered on that university?
I find two very interesting courses that were offered in the Spring 2019 semester at ETH Zürich. Unfortunately, their class lecture notes are not shared publically. I wonder if it is appropriate to email the professors and ask them for class notes.

Will they want to give their work for free? Will you give away your work for free in the future?

You can always ask as long as you are polite.  There are many reasons that an instructor wouldn't want to release their notes, though.  Among them (there are others):

Their notes are copyrighted and don't belong to them, either because THEY are using another person's notes or because their notes are part of a textbook that they wrote and signed copyright over to.
Their notes include important assignment information for assignments that are given every year, so they don't want them in the wild
They want to protect their copyright and just straight up don't want to give you the notes

I, personally, would have no issue giving my notes out to anyone who asks, but I'd give the big caveat that you can probably find better resources.  Other instructors may just ignore you.  However, a polite query is fine.

Some people might be more willing to share them with another professor than with a student, I think. But there is no harm in asking.

Another possibility is that there simply aren't any notes!  In a class where I know the material well enough, I frequently lecture extemporaneously at the blackboard.  I might have written down an outline for the lecture (if it's too complicated to remember or I'm worried I'll forget about a key point) or the specifics of a couple good examples (say some specific matrices to find the eigenvectors for), but that's it.


text:
My adviser is leaving. Can I ask him to support my application for an other PhD position?
A little background:
I started my PhD in August 2019 at university X. I wanted to work on project A, but after I joined PhD, my adviser asked me to work on project B. He said that if I start working on project A, he won't be able to help me in any matter. He's a very nice guy, he said that I can work on whatever the project I want. I decided to start working on project B because I don't want to get lost and have nobody to help me out. (I had a horrible experience in my MS where I worked on a project about which my MS adviser didn't have any knowledge).
For the last 4 months, I have been working on project B. It's okay, but I don't feel happy about it. It doesn't motivate me. It doesn't give those internal joy-feelings.
Current situation:
My adviser is leaving this university and moving to university Y. He has offered me three options:

Change research group and stay in university X
I stay at university X and he will supervise me from university Y (he becomes an adjoint faculty, if department chair allows)
Move out with him to university Y and start working on a new project (which is also not of my interests)

I don't want to choose option#2, for sure. Option#1 is also not quite suitable for me because no professor here is working on something that interests me (quantum machine learning). The salary that I am getting from university X is much more than the salary that I will receive from university Y. I might choose Option#3, because at least I know that this professor is a very open-minded, nice and genius guy. I have to make a decision before June 2020.
Question:
I want to apply for an other PhD position, the one which really interests me. Is it okay if I ask my current adviser to give me a recommendation letter and support my application? What reaction of him should I expect?

Why do you work on a topic you are not interested in? A PhD should be a topic where you have genuine and deep interest in. A nice supervisor is good to have, but you should take the opportunity and switch to a university where they actually do your preferred topic.

Your advisor has offered three options. You have a fourth. My best guess is that the advisor just forgot that fourth option rather than considered and rejected it.
I strongly suggest that you ask him for your support in starting over at a different university. Any ethical advisor should support you. If you've been doing good work, they should support you strongly.
In your request, though, I'd do two things. The first is to talk about the research trajectory that you would like to get on and suggest a few places (and even professors) where it would be possible. The second is to ask, also, for his suggestions about places to pursue your goals. He may well have contacts that can be useful to you in changing. Try to make your change a cooperative endeavor with the professor, not a break. The future may hold collaborative opportunities if you work it right.


text:
Supervisor does not want me to do my own research
This is a bit of an unusual problem, I feel, but I am conducting a PhD at a university, where it technically is possible to graduate without any first author publications. So my supervisor wants me to do that. I work on his project and have done all of the analysis for him. He is the first author. I am also doing another project for him and one for his colleague. I also have a project of my own that he wants me to drop.
I have done 20+ interviews and collected plenty of other data, written many versions and edited endlessly. Some of the effort that I have put in would warrant more than just second author, but it is what we agreed. However, he wants me to do a phd based solely on second and third author publications. I do not want to do that. I aim high and want my own publications. I have a lot of ideas, but he says it is not smart for me to pursue them. We have a conflict of interests, it seems. He sees me as cheap labor and career boost. I see myself as my own person and want to do my phd and my research on my own terms. How to solve this problem?

which country/cultural area?

Maybe you can be patient hang on to complete your PhD (if you are close to complete it) and continue your projects during pos-doc?

I am in Europe, don't want to specify which country

@Friendlyrobot222 Well, the cultural normals are pretty different throughout Europe. Can you perhaps add if you are paid by funds that are "owned" by your supervisor (e.g., third-party funded grant running under the name of your supervisor)?

Yes, I am. I also have my own funding under my own name, but most of the funding is third-party funding with supervisor as PI.

Is there a postdoc or someone else that you could pursue your own ideas with? You don't necessarily need to share details of your side projects with your professor.

Have you actually seen people graduating this way? "Technically possible" and "happening" have somewhat different meaning.

@tevemadar I have seen people graduate without any publications, having written a monograph. I know that in other faculties, there is a demand for an author of a compilation thesis to have at least one first authored article, but not in my faculty. But no, I have never seen anyone graduate with a compilation thesis without any first authored articles. Yet, this is what my supervisor demands while stating that he has my best interest at heart.

Here is the thing: this kind of behavior is normal, especially in some countries (Some institutions in Poland comes to mind here). Technically, during a PhD, he should be directing your research up to a certain point. So if you are at the beginning of PhD, i see nothing unusual. You (and the community) also have to stop with this thing about publications. If you get one out of your PhD is fine. No one cares about authorship order for a PhD publication, and is not unusual (in some countries) for a PhD to be awarded with no published papers.

I don't think that it is up to me as a phd researcher to stop the obsession with publications. It is the metric by which the academic world measures success. Also, many journals state that if the work is based on a student's thesis, the student should be the first author. He wants to publish first and see if I can get a phd out of it. What if the strategy is unsuccessful? I don't think I am being unreasonable in my point of view.

If your goal in the PhD is to move on to an academic career, this arrangement is not suitable for you. If your advisor is not supportive of your career goals, they are not suitable for you, either. If you cannot resolve this disagreement with your advisor, you need to find a different one. It's possible there is some other way you can compel your advisor to see things your way, like bringing in the influence of your graduate program or a department chair who could tell them that they're mistreating their students and behaving selfishly, but I think that's a rather short-term fix even if successful (you'd still be stuck in an advisory relationship with someone not interested in your best interests) and if their attitude is shared in the department the likelihood of even that modest success is low.
There are lots of existing Q&A here about changing advisors and changing PhD programs, so I'd suggest starting with a search here for more guidance on that, as well as familiarizing yourself with rules in your program.
In my own field and country, this conflict is solved rather simply by giving senior authors credit for being last author. A professor who has no senior (last) author positions because they're stealing all the first authorships of their students would stand out and not in a good way. In other places, unfortunately there are procedures that rate professors for their first author papers primarily (for hiring, promotions, even direct bonuses). If you are in one of those places, it's possible you will not find a better solution because the system is fundamentally broken.

Thank you for the comment. My supervisor has tenure, so I don't really understand why he acts this way. But I think you're right on the system being fundamentally broken.

@Friendlyrobot222 I don't usually think of Europe as one of the places where this specific behavior is highly incentivized by the system, but perhaps it is for your specific country. India is the example that comes to mind most strongly. If there are no other incentives past tenure then I think your odds are good that another supervisor in your country would be more reasonable.

This really sucks and I'm sorry to hear about your situation. As far as I see, the problem is twofold:

If you're employed via his grant, technically the work you have to do is pre-specified in the corresponding proposal. Many PIs are fairly relaxed about this and expect funders to be happy as long as you produce publications vaguely related to the topic. But other PIs aren't and you can't do much about that. If pursuing your own ideas is a high priority, the best way is to have PhD funding of your own, like a scholarship.

The authorship issue is independent of that. In my field, it would be highly unusual for the PI to be first author rather than last, esp if you did the bulk of the work (which it sounds like and is also typically the case). Under these circumstances the behaviour of your supervisor would be considered at least borderline unethical, I think. And bizarre - I don't understand what he gains from it, other than ruining your career, and flagging to future PhDs that he's not a PI you want to work with.

Now, how to deal with this? Bryan Krause gave an excellent answer, I think. I would add that the following sequence of actions seem advisable to me:
->  gather as much information about your options as you can (e.g. if switching supervisors is possible; if your university has a student advisory office or similar, use it)
-> rank your options by preference (e.g. whether you'd rather start from scratch with someone else / not pursue a PhD / pull through in case your supervisor is hell-bent on the current course)
-> prepare for a conversation in which you communicate these clearly to your supervisor (ideally, this could involve a role play rehearsal with an external coach; some student / postdoc offices offer to pay for something like this)
-> have that conversation
-> now you really know your options and can chose according to preference

Pursuing my own ideas isn't a high priority, but first author publications are. As I won't have them working in this project, I am forced to come up with my own ideas. I have been able to write a few article drafts (on my own data) working on my own grant, so there's that. Thank you for your comment and advise.

I agree that funding can constrain the work that is done and I think this is reasonable. It is not reasonable, though, for the professor to demand first authorship. They need to carve their grant into projects that can be completed primarily by their student, that's what it means to train a researcher to research.

@Friendlyrobot222 - first authorship often indicates that some of the ideas are the first authors own. If you are happy to conduct the work to merely collect and analyse data to support the ideas of your supervisor the question might be whether your project suffices for a PhD. As PBee says: gather information, and I would add, look for what requirements a PhD in your university has regarding showing independency in research.

I disagree with some of the above sentiments that you are an employee of the university. Most PhD students in the US where I am at are not considered employees here and do not give us the same benefits received by postdocs or any other employees like admin. The stipend you receive is significantly less than what you make as an employed research assistant not working toward a PhD (often called technicians).
When you are a technician, you are getting paid to do the experiments you're PI tells you to do. Some PIs give their technical staff more or less liberty to independently troubleshoot and pursue research objectives on their own. When you are a student, you get paid less, and the reason you get paid less is that part of your "payment" comes in the form of greater mentorship to become an independent scientist. This involves being given substantial independence in how you pursue overarching research objectives. It involves being given the time and freedom to fail and learn from your mistakes. While this freedom does have to be constrained so as to be justifiable by the grant you are being paid by, often from your PI's grant in the US life sciences, it is commonly understood by both granting agencies and PIs that in order to produce the next generation of independent scientists, you must allow some degree of freedom in choosing their research objectives with feedback and guidance from the PI.
If you are just doing the experiments your PI says, you aren't getting training that is the essence of the PhD: Being able to A) Identify a scientific problem worthy of investigation and B) solving that problem or some aspects of it. I've seen this happen with some students and even postdocs and I think it is really shortchanging these trainees because they are usually working much beyond a 40 hour week and getting chump change compared to what many people can make without a bachelor's degree.
My PhD advisor was a great mentor. His philosophy was to give his students "just enough rope that they don't hang themselves" lol.
I suppose the first author part of this varies by academic field, but in the hard sciences it would be unacceptable to not have a project you're working on that is expected to result in the student getting first authorship. I also agree with what others said that in biomedical sciences, the PI very rarely gets a first authorship, as they take the last author spot. This is the norm. Occasionally a PI will have first author if written primarily based on his own work in collaboration with other faculty level scientists.
My opinion is that students need to be mentored, not trained, and guided, not given directions. You need to develop your sense of intellectual independence and your confidence in it. I would say all departments should have a student oversight committee that should be able to speak with you confidentially and help in handling the dispute, whether by giving you advice on handling it yourself or mediating the conflict directly.
I hope you get your situation resolved. Don't be afraid to boldly advocate for your own interests. After all, that's why you are pursuing a PhD!

A PhD student being a employee is simplly a matter of legal fact in most of Europe. Particularly in northern europe, PhD students are mostly employed, with contracts of employement, and due all the same rights and benefits as any other employee. Usually this employment is via a PIs grant, where the PI will have had to pre-specify what work will be done in order to get the grant.

Sir,
You have missed the point. Universities are run by human beings. Departments are the same. You are a student but you are also an employee, and by tradition you are an apprentice. A research university is a a place you work at to generate unique and groundbreaking ideas. You exist for the University. It does not exist for you. The University serves the public. Now, I am not saying that you shouldn't do the research you want to do. Keep it going, if it's about getting your magnum opus out there and read, 10 years is not a long time to wait to arrive at its content falling under a lot of eyes.
Now, do you think you can get your work in a top 4 article in field? Unless you are someone along the likes of John Nash, I doubt it. What your advisor is doing making you. You should feel honored.  Yes it his research, but he is offering you citations that you could otherwise never get on your own. Then, 10 years from now, when you have 4 A pubs, you can submit this idea to a top journal with a high probability of acceptance.
Remember, human beings are very much human beings regardless of the costume. Learning how to navigate is as important as the the amazing findings that the world needs you to share with it.
This of course just my opinion. Ask others ( that are successful) and see what they say.

This may be field specific, but first author publications in your PhD are the empirical norm and expected in e.g. neuroscience. And yes, these papers can land high impact journals.

I think you share my advisor's views, but not mine. He also believes I have slim chances of publishing in a quality journal, but all of the important discoveries in his paper are mine, so if I have slim chances, so does he. I haven't shown him my own research, so the evaluation is not based on facts.


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Is re-implementation of a method in another setting enough for a master thesis, especially when you didn't know that the method existed
so I am currently writing my master's thesis, where I developed a new method on how to develop a "new" type of digital circuit. I am currently done with the implementation and getting the results, and am starting to write the actual thesis. So while writing, I did a literature search to re-find some of the papers that I used to for the development of the "new" method. While doing this, I came across a paper which uses approximately the same method. So my question is if this makes much of my work obsolete? I am worried that this means that I no longer present anything extremely "new" to the table anymore.
Additionally, I know I now have to cite this paper, however I don't know where to that. I can for instance pretend that I used that paper as inspiration and say that I'm just re-implementing the method in a new setting. Or I can state later in my thesis that "oh by the way, someone else has also done this already."
For some context, the paper that I found uses the method to re-develop a whole digital circuit, while I am only doing it on a part of the circuit, so that I can save more power. So we are utilizing the method differently, and my version is more adapted to fit this specific type of circuit. Additionally, the paper mainly uses the method on smaller circuits and have not described how to do it on bigger ones, while I do describe how to expand it to work for bigger circuits. So there are some differences.

This is something you need to ask your advisor. Whose opinion do you think will ultimately count:  the opinion of some random people on the internet or your advisor's opinion?


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Should I justify an average GRE score with a good excuse?
I received a 4/6 (59%) for my GRE analytical writing score. I would have scored higher had it not been for the fact that I type on an alternate keyboard layout (i.e. not QWERTY) and had to use QWERTY to type the essays. Before taking the test, I looked into getting approved to use my alternate layout, but it seemed like a good amount of time and paperwork would be involved, so I didn't go through with it.
Should I mention this in my graduate applications? For reference, this is for application to United States PhD programs in physics. My GRE verbal / quantitative scores and GRE subject test scores are all much better (>90%).

Some more information will be helpful in context. Are you applying in the humanities or in STEM? Are you a domestic or international applicant? A native English speaker or is it a second language?

Do you use a keyboard other than QWERTY for any reason other than comfort?

@aeismail physics, domestic, native speaker

@AzorAhai no reason other than comfort.

@jacob Why do you think you would have scored better?

@AzorAhai I typed extremely slowly in QWERTY and as a result was not able to completely express my ideas. I also would have had significantly more time to think had I not needed to spend so much time typing. I type around 100 WPM in my layout and closer to 25-30 WPM in QWERTY.

I'm curious: does ETS actually have any provision for letting someone use a different keyboard layout purely for "comfort"?  That would surprise me.  It seems they only allow accommodations when someone has a diagnosed disability.  By "time and paperwork" did you mean "find a doctor who would diagnose me with something"?  If you just meant ordinary "time and paperwork" then I doubt you would have succeeded.

@NateEldredge they were requesting for me to submit this as a disability and get supporting documentation. They also said it would take up to 6 weeks for this to be reviewed, which would have delayed the test substantially. There were no more paper tests available before my application deadlines, so I just went through with the QWERTY essays.

A more important question would be do you need to submit GRE scores?  Many programs this cycle are making them optional.

@Daveguy this question is from >1 year before anyone heard of COVID.

Should I mention this in my graduate applications?

It is good that you are showing the initiative to seek advice on your application, so please take my criticism of your proposal in the positive spirit in which it is intended.  As a general rule, it is not likely to look good for you if you are already volunteering contextual reasons for underperformance (a.k.a. making excuses) before you have even set foot in the program.  Through their teaching duties, academics have experience with certain students who consistently underperform, and offer excuses in lieu of improvement.  As a result, this type of comment excusing your low performance on that element of the test is likely to be seen as a "red flag".
There are some instances where universities ask people to put lower performance into context, such as when they ask about successes "relative to opportunity".  In this context you are invited to raise disadvantages that have constrained your performance, though they are still expected to be substantial issues, not trivial ones.  It is usually not a good idea to raise contextual issues unless prompted to do so, and it can give the impression that you are more interested in explaining-away bad results than doing what is needed to get good results.

... I looked into getting approved to use my alternate layout, but it seemed like a good amount of time and paperwork would be involved, so I didn't go through with it.

Unfortunately this makes it a lot worse.  The fact that it is possible to put in some administrative effort to get the resources you needed, and you chose not to do this, is more likely to raise a negative inference than a positive one.  If there were follow-up questions on this, and it came to light that you eschewed administrative work that was needed to get resources you needed to do good work, that would be seen as a serious negative, and could sink your application.  PhD candidates are expected to be able to jump through administrative hoops to progress their work, and anything that indicates resistance to this in the application stage is going to hurt you.  Even without that worst-case scenario, mentioning the issue is likely to focus attention on your low score, rather than focussing attention on the strengths of your application.
If you are not happy with your GRE score, you should consider re-sitting the test.  If you need a particular piece of equipment to do this effectively, then do the administrative work required to get that.  Good luck.

I'm skeptical that OP could actually have received approval to use an alternate keyboard layout, even with "time and paperwork".  The general policy of ETS seems to be that accommodations of any sort are only granted when the student has a documented disability, and OP stated above that his only reason for preferring the alternate layout is "comfort", which I assume means he doesn't have a disability that the layout accommodates.  So unless "time and paperwork" is a euphemism for "phony diagnosis", I don't see how he had any chance of getting his preferred layout.

Well, the OP's description is that he didn't go through with it, so I'm assuming there was something to go through with!

I don’t think you need or should mention it.
First of all, 4/6 is not a bad score, even for a PhD application. Moreover, Writing is probably the least important section of the GRE test, at least for a physics major.
Second, the professors who review your application would expect to see other more meaningful indicators of your research potential, and thus, explaining why you don’t have a higher score will make you look petty. In fact, try not to talk about your Writing score because the reviewers might not care about it at all, unless you mention it.
After all, the rule of thumb is to focus on the strength of your application instead of explaining the weaknesses.


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Physics PhD personal statement: including a figure
My advisor suggested including a simple plot in my physics PhD personal statements for US universities in order to make the essay more interesting and give a bit more detail about a research problem I am working on right now. On one hand I agree that this would probably make the essay more interesting, but I am concerned that the admissions committees would be annoyed since it will take them a bit longer to look at and understand the plot. Is this a good idea?

I would much prefer that the applicant give me a plot to look at than that he tries to explain everything only in words. A balance of text and graphics can be beneficial in many pieces of academic work. Adding a graphic may actually speed up the understanding of an applicant's application materials. This is why most of us can read a comic book much more quickly than a novel. I am actually more prone to drifting off while reading paragraph after paragraph of text with no "graphic relief."
As academics, we are quite used to being told to refer to figures. If an explanation of your work can be aided by use of a graphic or two, by all means please include them.
At the very worst, if someone feels they only have time to read text, they can just ignore the graphics. This would likely be to their own detriment.

+1 Agree completely. I'd give the same answer for most other (scientific) fields as well.

+1, though I would add that a bad graphic can be detrimental. A graphic appropriate for a dense scientific paper may need to be simplified or beautified for inclusion here; further, consider how the page as a whole looks with the graphic included (e.g., watch your whitespace)

You're starting from the wrong end if you're asking whether per se, a graphic is bad. The question you ought to ask yourself is: Given that I'm trying to explain a concept to the reader, what is the best way to do this. If a figure is the best way to explain things, then add one. If the figure does not add anything that's not also easy to explain in text, then omit it.


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Can a student write their undergraduate thesis on the main result of a paper under review for a journal?
I think it's fairly common practice to isolate some parts of a thesis, if interesting enough, and publish them as a paper after properly changing structure and style.
Is the opposite possible, if the paper has been submitted to a journal and is under review? And what if it actually gets published before the dissertation?

What did your supervisor say when you asked them?

@astronat Actually, I'm asking this here just before going to my supervisor, as I wanted to be already informed when I ask him.

You can, at least when your advisor allows it and you acknowledge the fact that your dissertation is based on a journal article. Note that even an undergrad dissertation would typically require some expansion, though. Source: my friend did it.

@xuq01 You mean, in my thesis I should mention the fact that it's based on an article I submitted to a journal?

@user3737 I believe so

If the student did the work, then I see no problem at all. While its never happened for me with an undergrad dissertation (mostly because UGs get about 3 weeks to write their dissertation after the research period has finished, and a paper takes at least 6 months to go through review), this is a pretty normal thing to happen for a PhD.
Write up the paper first and submit it for publication. Use this as a good starting point for the thesis. If the stars align, the paper will be back from review with corrections at about the time the thesis is submitted, and the corrections to the paper can be done while the student is waiting for their viva.
This is all on the proviso of course that the student actually writes the dissertation themselves and doesn't just paraphrase an article written by their supervisor.

I have done that in my theses. It went just fine on all levels. Just make sure to site properly (even work under revision) and request the right to use images if needed.


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PhD application: bad grade in relevant subject at master's
I'm currently pursuing an M.Sc. in Europe. I am going to apply for a PhD program at an Ivy league university. I am afraid that some bad marks in the master's (especially one in a relevant subject) would affect my application.
Some background: I completed my B.Sc. in mathematics with very good marks (corresponding to a GPA of 4.0 or something close to it) in Europe and then moved to another country (still in Europe) to do a quite renowned master in theoretical physics (about 1 out of every 5 applicants was selected for this master).
Current situation: Because of several factors (moving to another country, changing subject from math to theoretical physics, different and stricter exam regulations*, having chosen to follow the most demanding courses) I got bad marks in my first semester. In particular I got the American equivalent to 2.5 in a subject which is relevant for my master thesis (and for the PhD project I would like to pursue).
During the second semester my grades improved. Since I got most of the required credits, I have time to do the specific low-grade exam again during next semester (I can also do more exams to replace the bad ones according to the university regulations).
Problem: Even if I do the exam again and get a good mark, I will know the results after the deadline of the application for the PhD. So, I can't reflect my ability in that core subject (apart from my results in other exams and from my reference letters) in the application. Would it be a problem for my application? Would saying "I did bad in the first semester but I will try to make up for it in the third semester" be satisfying for such elite universities?
I am very excited about the research topic and would love to work on it. I am just afraid that some bad marks could affect my chances to get in the PhD program.
Additional info: The PhD program would be in physics / theoretical physics. My B.Sc. was in mathematics but included physics exams (and I did more physics exams than average by choosing optional modules).
*here I mean that in the master's I had less time to prepare for exams (they were immediately after the end of the lectures, whereas during my bachelor's I had time between the end of lectures and the exam session). Moreover, in the bachelor's I had multiple retake exams and every retake had the same difficulty whereas here we have at most one retake and if it occurs it is more difficult than the first exam (this is an objective observation claimed by professors, I quote "you can't get a good mark at the retake" and "guys I suggest you to do the exam immediately because the retake will be way more difficult").

I've occasionally had the same experience with apparently random downvotes.  I didn't see an issue with your question so I upvoted it back.

Mistakes happen.  If you feel that you know what exactly went wrong and how you can improve on it, explain your plan for improving any weaknesses in your statement of purpose.

Since you are saying Ivy league I take it you are applying in the US? in which case did you sit a GRE physics for the application? If that is high enough then maybe you can compare using that (though I don't know inner details on how the US application system works). The other thing about the US is that the PhD program includes the master component for the first couple of years, so in a sense you are going to be doing masters courses.

@NAMcMahon yes, I meant the US. GRE exams are not accepted next year because of the Covid-19 pandemic (I assume many people couldn't have the chance to sit for the exam). As regards master courses, as far as I know I can get course waivers for what I have already done. For the rest, I wouldn't mind to attend more courses since my B.Sc. was in math and not in physics. But I was wondering if already having a M.Sc. could help with my application (even with a weak grade) since many US applicants only have a bachelor's.

Why applying at an Ivy League uni? if your goal is to get a good PhD, apply to the EU Marie Curie scolarship and then you will have the freedom to bring money to any lab/institution, your CV will look so much better (proving you are able to get funds independently for your research, a skill much required and sought after on both side of the Atlantic Ocean).
I do not say Ivy league are bad choices. I am saying there are better choices, which in the long term will quickstart your path to a professorship, with less risk of being involved in accidents in a racist, violent, inequal country.

@EarlGrey thanks for your advice, but that wasn't really related to what I asked. I'm applying at an Ivy League university because many good professors that work in the field I'm interested in teach and do research in that particular university. I didn't say that I will only apply there, though.

@moonlight I have a strong opinion on that, but during your PhD you will get at best 10 hours of your professor time. It is not particularly relevant to have them around you.
It is much more efficent that you are doing your PhD "somewhere" and you prove you are capable in the specific field X, so during your PhD you can be a visiting at professor of field X for 3/6 months.
I have a strong opinion, my experience is that during your PhD you need to learn t ofly on your own, then you can join the storm of the top 1%. Being with them to learn to fly it is usually bringing people to burnout

I believe it is very normal to have some drawbacks in every university experience, especially in the situation you described. I believe most people would be understanding if you explained to them what caused that specific grade (the changing masters and countries, etc), and I would explain how you are improving (extra hours of study, asking for advise of older students, learning better organization techniques, things of that kind). It's all a matter of how you expose the situation; if you expose it with a positive output, they will get a positive impression of you!
For my master thesis internship interview, one of the topics I talked about was how I in one semester had very low grades (average of 13/20) and even failed at one subject, and how I decided to turn things back around, got up on my feet and in the next semester, did one extra subject and ended with an average of 18/20, and they loved it, I was actually their first option for the internship! It's all about how you deliver the info :)

I can relate to your situation, as Johanna stated above, it is normal to feel like you might not be on par with other applicants.  As far as lower than desired GPA, or any other factor that you may be holding you back, one of the things that the Ivy Leagues (and other schools in the US for that matter) generally require for PhD admissions is a statement of purpose, where you explain why you are applying to the programs you are applying to as well as your research interests.  It's been discussed in a couple other posts on this site, but the statement of purpose (SOP) is a great place to explain any hiccups that may have occurred during your previous education (people tend to be more understanding of stumbles along the way than you may think).  So in the case of your low grades, you could briefly mention your low grades, and what caused this and how you improved from that situation and how you plan to build on this during your PhD studies.  You want to remember, though, to not bring too much (negative) attention to this and keep everything in a positive light here.
You are far from the only one I've seen on here to post worrying about lower than desired grades; a lot of people have posted fretting not being able to get into a PhD/graduate program due to lower than desired grades, most often owing to a bad first semester or even first couple of years.  However, a lot of people have overcome such situations and have been able to secure admission to great graduate programs, so keep your chin up and eventually things will work out.  Hope this helped and best of luck.

This is exactly the sort of situation that a reference letter should address. Find a referee, perhaps the lecturer for that subject, who can credibly say that your results don't truly reflect your ability and explain why.
(Of course, as other posters have suggested, you can also explain the situation in your own statement. But this might look a bit defensive, which is why it's so helpful to have someone else, who can take a more objective tone, do it for you.)

How were your GRE scores?  If they were great, you can write off that one bad grade, maybe even show semester-by-semester Marks to prove it’s an outlier. If your GRE scores were poor, there’s a chance it will be seen as confirmatory that your poor grade was diagnostic.