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Can writing sandwich thesis in computer science be harmful to your career?
In the next months I will defend my thesis and I wonder if it is really worth it to write a traditional thesis. Although I have time to write it, I would consider a “waste” of time that I could use continuing my research (or improving some of my results).
On the other side, all my colleagues have written a traditional thesis, that is why I am not sure if a sandwich thesis would harm, somewhat, my future career.

I don't even know what a sandwich thesis is... Thus, I assume that the answer to your question strongly depends on where you are studying and where you are planning your future career, so you might want to add these informations.

Here it is really well explained: https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/149/what-is-a-sandwich-thesis

What do you call a "traditional thesis"? There are intermediates between sandwich and what I would maybe call "traditional". Here they are called cumulative.

I refer to "traditional" writing the thesis from scratch.

What kind of harm are you concerned about? Nobody really cares what your thesis looks like - they might look up your papers at best.

A thesis can be an opportunity to publish any minor results, false leads, personal opinions about the field that would otherwise go in a "vision" paper, and whatever else didn't fit in your conference papers.  (My master's thesis is basically a conference paper with a "lessons learned" chapter tacked on.  I don't consider it a waste of time, even though just reformatting the paper would have been good enough.)  Maybe not important to your career, but maybe important to you...

Regarding your career, don't worry at all. In computer science, it is mainly your publications, conferences, and your code in public repositories what's gonna be valued in real life. No one is ever gonna read your thesis, apart from (if you are lucky) the members of the committee evaluating it.
That being said...

In the next months I will defend my thesis and I wonder if it is
  really worth it to write a traditional thesis.

The question here is: do you have a thesis in the research sense of the word (a statement about the world that you believe to be true and you have tried to prove during your PhD years)? From your description, it doesn't look like that's the case.
This would be my personal advice:

Case A: You already have a few good publications that answer some questions of a common broader topic. In my experience, it is worth to compile them, cleaning them out, and adding an introduction and some conclusions to help the reader prove you know what you are talking about, and that you are able to manage the big picture. It helps you clarify your thoughts and your research. That proves that you have a thesis, you are responsible for it, and you are able to defend your own research. You might actually learn a lot doing this.
Case B: You have been publishing here and there, about different topics, some of which don't actually have much to do with each other, and you don't really have a "thesis" per se. Then, honestly, don't bother. Just present your collection of publications and get your PhD. You cannot build and improvise a decent thesis in a few months if you don't have one already.
Case C: You don't have good publications and you don't have a thesis. Get your PhD and run away as fast as you can. Try not to recommend that University to anyone in the future.

Is case B actually inferior to case A, assuming that the candidate has a lot of quality publications but they are simply about unrelated topics?

My first thought about case B would be that this person has been sharing authorship with others from his research group and/or this person does not have a thesis, so it would be inferior to case A, yes. So I would definitely prefer case A with 2 publications over case B with 6. However, given the (corrupt) state of academia, in general terms, case B would most probably rated higher.

Obligatory PhD comic for Case B !!

@Pablo Yes, if you artificially make case B worse, then it's worse. Your original statement makes no judgement on the quality of the research: it is equally compatible with multiple lead-author publications of high quality and in high-impact venues, but about different topics that do not fully coalesce around a single thread. Are you claiming this is inferior to a small number of acceptable-quality publications around a small topic? (Or, to put it another way: are you sure that your representation of case B is not unfairly dismissive of what could be high-quality research?)

@E.P. Every case has to be evaluated individually, but it is clear that in case B you don't have a thesis, so to me, it is an inferior "thesis", yes. Why? It is much easier to publish by aiming at long-hanging fruits and what's more demanded or fashionable, than focus and try to solve a big problem. The aim of actually pursuing a dissertation is precisely that: to prove you have a thesis and you can defend it.

If you don't have publications and you don't have a thesis, how can you get a PhD? What would you write in your dissertation?

@JeffE - I think the answer to your question lies in the next part of the sentence - "... run away as fast as you can". OP probably means a different kind of "get" :P

I'm a CS PhD who went into industry after my degree.  When discussing my thesis back then (which, by the way, was what you call a "traditional" thesis) it was always in general terms: the ideas in it, not the pages.  Similarly, any time I have fielded an application from a PhD, they would put the title of their thesis on their CV, but I very rarely would actually go and try and find the thesis.  Instead I would look at their published articles in journals and conferences.
So while I can't give a definitive answer -- and I can't say that universities wouldn't scrutinize the thesis more closely and perhaps discount a "sandwich" thesis -- I'm strongly of the opinion that if your university permits it and your advisor supports it, that's what matters.  The likelihood of it "harming your career" seems quite low, because in all honesty, who will notice?

PS.  When you compare inserting articles verbatim to "writing from scratch," I assume you know that most "traditional" theses consist of heavily edited articles constituting individual chapters.  It's not like you stick the articles in a bunker and start over.

I would wonder about the content or type of thesis at all unless you plan to go into academia yourself. As mentioned above "if your university permits it and your advisor supports it, that's what matters".
If you plan to go into academia, I don't think there would be any harm done, unless it is a very "weak" thesis at which point you will have to publish more and better papers. Sandwich thesis can be the glue between that keeps the industry together, I would not perse discount them.

tl;dr: Writing a sandwich thesis can further narrow your focus and prevent you from developing a broader understanding of your field.
I have mixed views on sandwich theses that essentially staple 3-5 papers together between a short introduction and conclusion chapters. The benefit of the sandwich thesis is that articles are generally what is important to hiring committees and funding committees. As the sandwich does not include any sides it is also better focused and can be quicker to write letting you finish sooner (which has advantages and disadvantages).
The benefit of a traditional thesis where you have a literature review chapter, general methods, a couple of result chapters and a conclusion chapter is that it lets you explore side topics in addition to your main focus. They can be quicker to write since you only need a single literature review, method, and conclusion sections, especially if you put the writing off until the end. A traditional thesis typically has more comprehensive literature review and conclusion sections. Following side projects and writing a really thorough introduction and summary can provide you with valuable insight into the wider field and help you find your next topic. This is not to say that a sandwich thesis cannot include side projects and in depth literature and conclusion chapters.

It all depends on the quality of the papers and the venues where they were published. A thesis that sandwiches multiple papers from top venues is potentially beneficial, since the included material stood a particular rigorous evaluation process.


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My partner posted our code on Github and I am now being investigated for cheating. What to do?
Last year I took a class where we had to work with a partner on programming assignments.  Apparently someone's solution from this year has a 50% match with our solution from last year.  I did not share my code with anyone but I would not be surprised if my partner did.  What should I do?
Edit: I just talked to my partner and apparently he posted the code on Github so he could show a professor his previous work.  But then he deleted it later.
Update: We talked to the professor and he says my partner and I will not get in trouble.

What is it that you are accused of doing wrong exactly? Your code is your creation so I don't see why you should not be allowed to post it on github. It seems to me that if anyone cheated it is the student who copied your code, not you or your partner.

Do you have proof? Github Logs or the witness statement from the other prof? This would show who put it on GitHub. Your friend could argue that this was a mistake (I do not know what the policies in your school are, so YMMV).

I am not following. How could you cheat? Your solutions is a year older. There is no way you could have copied... Do they suspect since there is a match there was a common source? Or do they suggest you sold it? You need to precisely define what "cheat" means in here. Accusation of plagiarism on your side is unreasonable and derogatory from the POV you present. So I suspect there must be more specifics to this case.

Why do you think you are being investigated? Have you been notified by the investigating panel? Have you been asked for testimony? Is there some general gossip around the campus?// What have you heard, and from whom?

Your problem description contains very little information. To answer "What should I do?" in any useful way, we will need to have a much more complete description if your situation.

Knowingly providing answers to a fellow student is considered cheating.  Thus it is possible for him to have cheated, but it's also possible his partner did, or that it was copied off Github or even obtained by some other means.

Smile and wave while they fail to prove you cheated. You have everything on your side including own your work and being allowed to do whatever you want with it including posting it on the Internet.

How complex is the code we're talking about here?

@LorenPechtel - That seems like a rather esoteric definition of cheating.  More typically, the cheater is the one who benefits through deception, fraud, or other dishonest acts.  I don't see how the original author of the code can be consider to be "cheating" by publishing their work.  If a subsequent student gets a copy of the code and passes it off as their own, then that student has cheated (they're the one getting the benefit).  And also the university should stop reusing coding exercises across multiple terms.  But I see no scenario under which the OP can be considered to have cheated.

The next time make sure you use private repositories so that you are able to share the code only with the people you want. Bitbucket provides unlimited private repositories in its free plan, probably GitHub has something similar.

@aroth- if you provide another student with the answers to a test, you'll both ge tin trouble, although only the recipient of the code may possibly be described as 'cheating' in the normal sense.

Some courses at my university explicitly forbid posting code on public platforms such as Github (due to this having been a problem in the past). Those who assist in plagiarism (by posting on Github) are treated as if they committed the plagiarism themselves. You are be in the clear (assuming you can show your partner is responsible for posting), but your partner would get in trouble at my university.

@TomvanderZanden: This means I'm forced to not publish any kind of my studys, because otherwise my title might get revoked? soudns weird.

50% of the code matches? That doesn't say much. Good developers reuse tried and true code, whether from someone on Stack Overflow or straight out of K&R's textbook on C. Now, if 50% of your variables had weirdly unique names that matched each other, like 'countYellowBananas' or 'starWars_iz_lyfe', then there's reason for suspicion.

@aroth Publishing, no, that's not cheating.  Providing the code to someone to facilitate their copying it for the assignment is enabling cheating.

Cheating cases aren't tried in the court of common sense, but in an honor council which applies the rules set out in the school's code of academic conduct. It will define exactly what is meant by the term "cheating", or otherwise how sharing solutions is to be viewed. I just checked my school's handbook and unauthorized assistance to others is included in the definition of cheating.

I am sometimes involved in panels that investigate unfair means. I am also in the position of checking my own students' code for suspected plagiarism, often by comparing code from a large pool made from the current and past submissions. There are several tools that assist with this, such as Moss and JPlag.  I have experience with both these but there are others, and some that academics have made for themselves for local use.
It is quite possible, therefore, to get a match between a current student's submission and a previous student's submission without the lecturer or university knowing how that occurred. All they can do in this situation is to convene an investigation to determine the facts. Often these investigations are formal affairs, mainly to protect the interest of the students concerned and to ensure that the decision makers are impartial.
This is highly likely to be the position you are in. At the moment they do not know how another student came in possession of your code. If the investigation is organised properly you will be given the opportunity to explain your position, just as you did here. Most investigations should allow you to submit written and verbal statements. You should ensure you do this. I also suggest you seek advice from others who can assist you locally, such as a students union or student association or other student advisor. They will have assisted other students in the same position as you before and help you make the best of the procedure that you have become involved with.
Although it may not be your fault, at the moment the university does not know this. Help them to understand.

I'm not too familiar with these plagiarism tools myself, particularly for coding, but is a 50% match that high if you look over all past submissions?  It seems to me that you should expect some "spurious correlations."

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@Kimball In response to your question: the number should never be used alone as evidence of cheating. Spurious matches are indeed possible. But the report should show where there is significant match with a single source. I assume that is the case here.

For someone possessing only the facts that the code you (plural) submitted last year and the code someone submitted this year have 50% overlap, here are some possibilities:

You gave the code to the student from this year expressly for the purpose of letting him or her submit it as their own work. At most universities this would be a violation of academic honesty rules. In my undergraduate institution they can get you both for facilitating cheating, and for not reporting cheating when you are aware of it.
The student got the code from you, and submitted as his/her own, without your permission. This seems to be the case you have here: your partner posted it on GitHub. This would also be the case where someone ask for your help on a homework and you send him/her something for reference, but not to allow him/her to copy.
Both of you copied the code off of some forum, and you just happened to have found the same one because that's how Google's indexing works. In this case both of you would be guilty for plagiarizing, as you are both submitting others' works as your own.

You are being investigated because the University/instructor does not know whether it is case 1, 2, or 3 (or something else entirely). There's no need to freak out, since as many have said, your code is your intellectual property and unless it is expressly forbidden in your academic regulations you probably haven't done anything wrong by posting it on GitHub. What you need to do, however, is to convince whoever is doing the investigating that your situation is that of case 2 above. You do so by submitting evidence: tell them that you have never shared the code with anybody. Tell them that your partner had posted the code on GitHub to show a professor. Ask that professor to say something on your behalf (a simple "yes, so-and-so posted some of his previous work on GitHub for me to see") would be also quite good. It would be even better if your partner had saved the commit logs showing when the code was publicly viewable.

I agree with your answer (+1), but this opens a can of worms. Are you innocent until proven guilty, or do you need to prove your innocence? If the burden of proof is with you, there is no way to show that it was not on github, AND you provided your solutions to a friend. Also, honor codes tend to be written very broadly, leaving leeway to interpret them in several ways. Is putting a solution on GitHub "providing assistance where a reasonable person should know such assistance is not permitted?" (paraphrasing my grad school's 'examples of hc violations') Nasty stuff.

@gnometorule: the internet opened that can of worms some time ago. // To draw a really bad analogy with criminal proceedings: while one is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, it generally does help your case if you can provide an alibi. // As to interpreting the honor code: not my job, and hopefully I won't have to serve on that committee anytime soon. But in the situation under discussion, the OP is certainly not his partner's keeper etc.

What part of this contradicts "innocent until proven guilty?" That concept does not mean "immune to accusation," despite the fact that a mere accusation can damage the accused's reputation.

You passed over possibility #4: The 50% match is coincidental. There is also 50% not matching. While unlikely it is still possible that the project forced the code into certain shapes and so similarity becomes inevitable. I would want to look hard at the code from both submissions and see if it is a true match or just a superficial one.

@O.M.Y. Of course. But two points: (1) if the project does force the code into certain shapes that make similarity inevitable, I would expect that overall the code overlap between any pair of students to be high. (2) I would assume that the fact that the university has initiated an investigation to mean that someone has already decided that coincidence is unlikely. Of course on both counts I am assuming something of the unknown university's unknown process for detecting plagiarism, so I freely admit the possibility of being quite off the mark.

@WillieWong I agree. It's like using TurnItIn, the raw numerical match is not sufficient. I often find the match is mostly in the source citations and if it is a small paper with several sources one can easily have an overall 30% match because of the references page.

@O.M.Y.: Many years ago I had written a short essay for an assignment, where I actually constructed every phrase completely on my own, but for some baffling reason there was a phrase of 5 or 6 technical words that so happened to match exactly a phrase in some article I had never even seen before, and the plagiarism tool found it, along with those pesky citations like you said, making my total similarity 25% despite me not copying a single word from anywhere.

This happened to me while a student at Georgia Tech.  I posted some code (that incidentally included an active lab report) on github because a potential employer wanted to see my work. I posted it, not realizing that it defaulted to being publicly accessible. Another student found my homework assignment before the due date and submitted it as their own. We were flagged for cheating and the other student pled guilty.  I did not accept the plea deal and was eventually found guilty of:

Unauthorized Access - Possessing, using, or exchanging improperly acquired written or verbal information in the preparation of a problem set, laboratory report, essay, examination, or other academic assignment.

Which, quite frankly, doesn’t make any sense, but the decision was upheld on appeal so I had no further recourse.

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How to boost academic profile for Master's application
I want to apply for a Master's degree program in Robotics at some top schools in Europe and America. However, I feel my current profile is not strong enough to get into a top school and I am looking for ways to boost my profile and increase my chances. More specifically, I graduated with a GPA of 4.06/5.00 (which is relatively low) and I have read that most top would not even consider one's application if one doesn't have a very high GPA to start with except one can show strength in other parts of the application like the GRE score, statement of purpose, letters of recommendation, research publications etc. For example at ETH (one of the schools I am considering), it is rumored that one has to be in the 99th percentile to get in.
Although I haven't written the GRE yet, I hope to score 330+ and I also hope to write a convincing purpose statement. However, for the recommendations, I have only two lecturers (yes, not professors) who know me very well and I am sure they would write good recommendations for me but they are not majorly in the field of Robotics so this may not be a huge plus (Not sure about this, any clarifications would help). Also, I do not have any research publications. To improve my profile, below are some of the steps I am taking/considering taking:
1. Online courses in robotics, machine learning algorithms etc.
2. Looking for a Professor at my local University who is active in the field of Robotics to work with
3. Looking for a job at a Robotics company to gain experience
4. Taking my undergraduate project (a UAV) a step further and publishing my work etc.

As for [1], there seems to be a slight difference of opinion in the answers I have gotten on this site as to how much impact this may have but the consensus is that the impact is minimal.
I included [2] because some schools ask for three recommendation letters and I currently have only two reccommenders. Additionally, I want to know, how eager are Professors to work with people who are no longer students of the University? Does anyone have experience with working with a Professor while maintaining an a full-time job? How tasking is it?
In [4], by a step further, I mean making the platform an autonomous one as it is currently remote piloted, and then publishing the work.
What I want to know is, with my list above, am I heading in the right direction? Which of these (or any others that I haven't listed) are likely to have the biggest impact on my profile?
Just a small consideration, I have a short time (about 5 months) between now and most schools' application deadlines, so I need to make this boost within that period.

If the master's degree you are pursuing is a technical degree (to enhance your technical skills to land a job in robotics), then a professional experience in a related area should greatly help your application. Is there a faculty member you could work with on a project or perhaps a firm where you could intern before the start of the academic program? Even if you can't complete the professional experience before submitting your application, it will likely be helpful to note the upcoming professional exposure on your resume and in your application. Securing a recommendation from an internship supervisor would be good as well. My vote would be to focus on professional exposure in the field.

Thanks for the reply. However, I am applying for a research master's.

"Is there a faculty member you could work with on a project or perhaps a firm where you could intern before the start of the academic program?" Superbest, what is the difference between this and research assistant posts please?

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Upset by male classmates openly comparing female students according to physical appearance
I'm a female student studying computer science (CS). Some of the male CS students have given me a physical ranking compared to other female CS students, and it has me really upset, but I don’t know what to do about it.
One of the students in particular enjoys telling me when he finds another girl in the vicinity more attractive than me. For example, a girl friend of mine told me I looked pretty today; and the one male student then jumped in and said I wasn’t as beautiful as the actress on the TV show we were watching. Another time, an attractive girl walked in to the computer lab, and he said: “And you thought you were the hottest girl in the lab!”
He’s not the only one. When we are in other settings (not male-heavy, CS classes), I often hear that I now have “competition” since there are other pretty girls.
I’m not sure what to do. I am friends with some of these men (or so I thought) and have committed to working on software projects with them that I can’t back out of. In addition, the school is very small so I can’t avoid them.
What do I say? How do I explain that I’m very upset by this, and not because I’m jealous of the other women? The men I’ve told have said not to worry because they think I'm pretty – they don’t seem to get it. I’m not sure I’m explaining it right.
Please help. I am starting to cry during class.

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What country are you in?  The options available might depend on laws in your juristdiction.

A redundant, but possibly reassuring, comment: "jeez, those guys are immature assholed". Not very consoling, I know, to endure it. Be angry, yes. No real solution to the generalized version of "immature guys" seems to be possible, given the cultural limitations around the world... Again. "Sigh".

How would you handle a similar situation outside a classroom setting?

. . . and it might be helpful to others to learn how this played out for you and if there is advice, based on your experience, you would share.

You don't say where you're going to school but if it's here in the US, I would report the problem to the university and demand they do whatever is necessary to fix it.  Title IX requires them to provide an inclusive environment free of sexual harassment.  If you are unsatisfied by their response, I would report the school to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights.  You'll find additional helpful advice here at equalrights.org.
Added:  Several comments express concern that reporting the harassment might result in retaliation.  But it's worth noting that retaliation for filing a harassment complaint is also against the law and cause for a new complaint.  The school has to do whatever it takes to fix this, even if means expelling the perpetrators.  It is not sufficient for them to claim they did the best they could.
Still more:  Having conducted some other disciplinary actions, even if not any that were exactly like the one described here, I would expect the result of complaining to the university is that the Title IX conduct officer will call the students to a meeting that might go something like this:  You start by asking the students if they know why they're there.  After the usual squirmy they-can't-think-of-anything denials, you describe their offensive behavior and ask if the reason they can't remember any of this is because they think it's such completely ordinary behavior.  You point out that in a workplace, it would get them fired and might subject the company to a lawsuit and an expensive settlement.  You explain that university has an obligation under Title IX to maintain an inclusive environment free of sexual harassment.
You then ask, "Do you think you should be allowed to stay at the university?"  Typically, the students' lives flash before their eyes as they realize the seriousness of the stakes and they decide they will never do this again.  There are lots of ways to make this even more, ahem, memorable, e.g., by asking if they have a backup career in mind if this computer science thing doesn't work out or by making them wait a few extra days to hear the disposition of their case (especially if you expect to let them off lightly).  It may seem a little like pulling the wings off flies, but trust me, the problem behavior will end, hopefully for the entire rest of their lives, in which case they will have learned something far more valuable than yet another algorithm.

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If there is a local Women in Computing or Women in Science and Engineering group you may be able to get face-to-face support and advice.
Failing that, I suggest joining Systers. Even if you get suggestions you find helpful here, it may be a better forum for discussion with others who have handled similar problems.
I don't have direct experience because women were taken for granted in computing in the late 1960's and early 1970's, when I was a young woman. By the time it became a "Girls keep out" field, I was far too senior for immature males to risk harassing me.
Telling them how upset you are may be counter-productive. Some boys, not men, feel threatened by intelligent, competent women and want to make them uncomfortable and even try to push them out of the field. It is a specialized form of bullying. The students who are doing this are not your friends. Treat them as formal colleagues when you have a shared project, and try to avoid social contacts with them. Look for the ones who keep quiet or even seem uncomfortable when inappropriate remarks are being made. They are the ones who are more likely to be worthy of your friendship.

Some of the comments have suggested that the behavior may be due to extreme social cluelessness, rather than intentional demeaning of women. Even if you think that is the case, you are neither their mother nor their elementary school teacher. You do not have any responsibility for teaching them basic etiquette, no matter how much they need it. You can, if you feel so inclined, attempt to explain the unacceptable nature of their behavior. On the other hand, you can still just work with them on a formal basis when necessary, and pick friends from among those students who do not participate in the objectionable behavior.

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The link for Systers has moved.  New link is https://anitab.org/our-communities/systers/ or https://www.systers.org/

First of all, acknowledge for yourself that what you're going through is 100% not OK, and you have every right to be upset and looking for a fix ASAP. I start saying this because very often, with any sort of bullying/harassment, people will say "you're overreacting" or "wow, it's not such a big deal, come on", but in fact they are completely wrong. It's unfortunate how many people underestimate the impacts of "little" bullying/harassment events. So don't be afraid to fight for a solution.
Secondly, in a situation of bullying/harassment, either the perpetrators are aware that they're doing it (and keep doing it on pure evil) or, by lack of social awareness, simply don't realize that they're doing what they're doing. This does NOT make much a difference on how bad the situation is, but does make a difference on how hard it might be to solve it. And from your description it seems to me (an outsider that isn't really there to see everything, though), that it is the second case, i.e., those guys are completely unaware of how bad what they're doing is. In fact, it might even be a very weird, convoluted and absurd attempt of flirting (inappropriate, regardless), guessing from the kind of phrases they're saying.

What do I say? How do I explain that I’m very upset by this, and not because I’m jealous of the other women? The men I’ve told have said not to worry because they think I'm pretty – they don’t seem to get it. I’m not sure I’m explaining it right.

Indeed, they don’t seem to get it, which is unfortunate... My suggestion:

Listen, [person's name], this has to stop. It doesn't matter how attractive you think I am. ANY mention, direct or indirect, of my attractiveness, is bothering me for real; it is harassment, it is not appropriate, this is not a place for this, and I am serious, this has to stop, and I am about to escalate this to the university.

Be firm and assertive. Hopefully they will be shocked with the reality of the situation and won't ever do it again. You might want to say this separately to each one of them, and repeatedly if necessary. And actually, feel free to be angry about it as well, you have my full support. Note the high amount of commas I put in the sentence; feel free to raise your voice after each one. Your situation is not to be treated lightly.
And you don't even have to wait to see if it will work, proceed to escalate the situation anyway, and seek help from the places/groups suggested by Nicole Hamilton and Patricia Shanahan.
Good luck!

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I would recommend this approach only after establishing a supportive and understanding support group. Calling other people out on their awful behavior—and dealing with their reactions to being called out—can be seriously emotionally draining, even painful, especially if those people are your peers/"friends". What you're suggesting is NOT easy, but having people you trust backing you up—telling you You're okay, you done good, we're proud of you —is extremely helpful.

I’m not sure what to do. I am friends with some of these men (or so I thought) and have committed to working on software projects with them that I can’t back out of. What do I say?

You could try something along the lines of:

"You do know that a remark like that would probably get you fired in the workplace, right?"

Hopefully that would turn the tone of the conversation much more serious. Then you could add:

"Maybe now would be a good time to start practicing acting like a professional."

If something like that doesn't get the message across, you could consider reporting the problem to your professor, if you think you'd have an advocate. If it still doesn't get resolved, go to the dean, or seek out whatever support structures exist at your university, as others have mentioned in other answers here.
One other thing I would advise: Each time you have a confrontation like this, write down the date, time, location, and what was said (what they said, along with how you responded). This way, if this does escalate to a formal harassment case, you're not relying on vague memories to recall what happened.

+1 to the suggestion of writing the incident down. Also be sure to ask them to repeat it so that you can get all the words down accurately, and confirm that you're spelling their full name correctly. show these children that it's a real issue.

100% agree with this tactic. Most guys I know just won't get it until you lay it out plainly. If they don't understand how you feel at that point, it's time to escalate to university officials (professor, Title IX, etc.). In any case, they don't seem like good people to be friends with. At least in my experience, comments of concern about their behavior never have any effect... sadly.

Completely not saying the guys' actions are justifiable or good at all, but guys at this point in life can be very, very stupid.  Those that don't get better stay this way as adults.

I had a situation comparable, but instead of my classmates saying I was the most favorable looking, they ranked the chance of all the girls to succeed the bachelor on time.
What I explained the guys that I saw as my friends, is that these girls were also my friends and that I don't like to be compared to them. I don't like to be compared to anyone especially on basis of something irrelevant as my gender. I would make this very clear. Use an example if you can, so if the guys are part of any minority, tell them how the would feel if you compare them with all the other in this minority in the class. They will understand it better then.
This is something you will have to say multiple times. For some reason it is often seen as normal to compare different girls to each other in computer science (or probably any minority in any study. I guess guys also have this problem in women-heavy studies). Distance yourself from people that don't understand that this is very annoying. Remind yourself that a lot of people just never have been in a situation where they were the minority, so they just don't know any better. It's quite stupid that they don't understand, but it's probably mostly stupidity and most of them are not trying to hurt you on purpose. If any of them are and they don't listen to you at all, go to a teacher you trust.

This seems sensible, an attempt to get the perpetrators to engage their brains. Why the downvotes?

Seems like the voting populace would rather run for administrative sanctions than engage their brains...

@TheoreticalPerson I didn't downvote, but possibly it's because asking them how they would feel if you compared them might not work. On average, men and women do not respond to such things the same way. Personally, my reaction (as a straight male) to such a comment from a female classmate or group thereof would be, at most, an eyeroll. Telling them how it affects you is probably more going to be more effective than asking them how it would make them feel. It's likely that assuming you'd react the same way they would is part of why they think this behavior is acceptable in the first place.

@TheoreticalPerson It's also possible that it came from the part about other minority groups. I've not personally ever heard people comparing attractiveness by any grouping other than gender (though, within gender, I've heard most combinations of it - i.e. males comparing females, females comparing males, females comparing other females, etc.) Not saying that definitely doesn't happen, just that possibly someone with experiences similar to my own may have downvoted for that reason.

"For some reason it is often seen as normal to compare different girls to each other in computer science" I'm not entirely convinced of this. In my experience geeks spend more time discussing video games, technology or computer science itself than they do discussing girls. This might be down do a difference of culture, it seems that sort of behaviour (comparing girls' attractiveness) is more common in the US.

If you are compared to other women, tell them that Arnold Schwarzenegger will easily beat them both in the brawns and in the brains department. How's that for a comparison.

@Nicole Hamilton's answer is unreservedly the correct one. If you're in the U.S., make use of your Title IX coordinator and file a complaint.
Let me add some further thoughts on that. Frankly, the cascade of comments here that using the official channel for this are "too drastic" or that you should participate in this abuse on an ongoing basis, are absolutely appalling. Neither is there any need for you to spend the rest of your academic time and energy trying to "educate" a legion of Neanderthals around you.
Strategically speaking, it may be useful to consider the poker strategy I know of as going "over the top" or "dropping the hammer". In the face of a large number of repeated minor aggressions, responding with similar low-level aggressions is not beneficial (particularly if you're outnumbered by aggressors). Dealing with each one in the series on an equitable level is going to wear you down. A better option is to find the opportunity for an asymmetric response in terms that are favorable to you, and to communicate a message that cannot be shrugged off or taken as ambiguous.
Moreover, as Dan Romik points out in a comment: "I was a department chair at a major US university, and people here need to understand that filing a title IX complaint isn’t really as drastic of a measure as they think, at least in the context of the immature behavior described in the question. It simply sets in motion a process of having the harassment investigated and responded to in a civil, fairly efficient way by trained professionals. The harassers will be invited for a chat with a department chair or other university official, then receive a written memo advising them of university policies and cautioning them to cease the offending behavior. If they are sensible and heed the warning, no further action is likely to be taken, all will be well and everyone can get on with their lives."
So in conclusion, you don't deserve to have to take this on alone, in the face of a large number of abusers. You deserve to have friends, allies and a support system to give you at least equal leverage on your side. The institutional system for the Title IX coordinator is exactly designed to give you this support, and you should feel entirely justified in using it. If having other students go with you at the same time makes you more comfortable, then by all means do that as well.

I generally agree with this kind of answers, but at the moment there seems to be no certainty about the OP being in the US (even though it's fairly probable). In universities in other countries, there might be no equivalent of a Title IX coordinator, and I think that one should be open to other possibilities, however imperfect they can be.

@MassimoOrtolano: Fair point. I added a conditional to try to improve that.

Minor point, but might be worth repunctuating "unreservedly the correct one. If you're in the U.S., [...]" as "unreservedly the correct one if you're in the U.S.. [...]". :)

What's appalling is your favorable view of an oppressive regime in which the authorities (e.g. the university or in wider contexts the state) can prevent and punish lewd speech. Also, you fail to make a clear distinction between friends and allies and institutions of authority, which is unfortunate.

This isn't "lewd speech", it's harassment, and it absolutely should be prevented where possible, punished where not. @einpoklum

Great answer, the first two paragraphs echo my thoughts exactly. To add to this, I was a department chair at a major US university, and people here need to understand that filing a title IX complaint isn’t really as drastic of a measure as they think, at least in the context of the immature behavior described in the question. It simply sets in motion a process of having the harassment investigated and responded to in a civil, fairly efficient way by trained professionals. ...

... The harassers will be invited for a chat with a department chair or other university official, then receive a written memo advising them of university policies and cautioning them to cease the offending behavior. If they are sensible and heed the warning, no further action is likely to be taken, all will be well and everyone can get on with their lives. As Daniel is saying, there is simply no need for OP to face this alone - the university has mechanisms to help, and using them is absolutely the correct thing to do.

@DanRomik: I think that's an exceptionally useful comment from experience with the Title IX process. I've included it in my answer above as the current 4th paragraph; feel free to edit that part if you'd prefer to see it differently. (I think I sort of assumed that it would be obvious to everyone that expulsion wouldn't be the first step; IME I've never actually seen anyone expelled for anything!)

Wow the first answer which does not just assume the student is in the US by default. That is great.

Thanks, glad you found my comment helpful. I edited your answer a bit. To clarify, what I said is my opinion, based on my particular experience at a particular university. I only had experience with fairly mild incidents, where the response followed the pattern I described. However I can’t guarantee that at other places the response to this complaint wouldn’t be more heavy-handed. In any case, I still think complaining is the right course of action for OP given the situation, and expect the response to her complaint to be relatively mild, and to be educational in nature rather than punitive.

(All of that is assuming OP is in the US. I have no relevant advice to offer if that assumption is incorrect.)

This answer does nothing but assume the asker is in the USA. It merely acknowledges that assumption may not be correct. @mathreadler

@Nij and therefore my criticism. Maybe we should get more clarification from the asker before giving such crystal clear advice which may be counterproductive in other parts of the world.

Stating an apparent fact, which is not even correct, does not provide criticism. Maybe you were aiming for sarcasm but that's really not helpful.

I'm so sorry to hear about your experience. You don't mention which country you're in; Nicole Hamilton's answer  gives great US-specific advice; this is intended to answer the question from a UK perspective.
Given the situation you describe, I would strongly recommend making a formal complaint. If you search Google for "report sexual harrassment" and limit the results to sites ending in ac.uk, you will see the reporting process for many universities.
However, if you don't feel up to that, then here in the UK (where this is also recognised as a major problem) many universities and departments are now signed up to the Athena SWAN charter which covers (among other things) the provision of a supportive working environment for female students. If your university or department is signed up to the charter you will have an Athena SWAN committee and a university-defined pathway to contacting them; they should be able to give you support and advice on how to proceed.

There should also be a designated student equalities person that the OP can complain to.

As anyone in any CS program knows, for some reason, this field of study tends to attract people with low social awareness and low social intelligence. I know some might think it's a bad stereotype of us, but there's much truth to it. Rates of autism are higher than in other fields, and in the words of my not-so-tactful TA, "Everyone in this major is at least somewhere on the spectrum".
There's no doubt that what they're doing is intolerable and unacceptable, and I'm sure you'll get much good insight from users on this site as to how to proceed. My only point is that it might help you to know that these guys are likely completely oblivious that they're being harrasing/abusive because of low social intelligence. They might even think that by doing this they're being social, and winning your friendship/affection.
Speak to them frankly, and ask them what they think they're accomplishing by saying these things. Ask them why they say it - answers might surprise you. Then enlighten them with how wrong their actions are. If they comprehend that it affects you but nevertheless think it's ok/continue to do it, involve the higher ups in your department. Just a warning if you do this, the department will be relentless against these guys, so do it after all attempts at communication fail
Hope the best for you

While some of your points are good, I have two problems with this answer: 1) You seem to equate social awareness and low social intelligence with autism. I would even guess that people with autism are statistically less likely to behave in the way described by the asker. 2) Consider the case that addressing such issues directly may be extremely difficult for the asker. She has no obligation to go this way.

Autistic person here. IME autism does make it harder to gauge social norms, but for this exact reason I put in a lot of effort to learn those norms and do things like reading harassment policies/code of conduct/etc. I would be very surprised if a modern US university did not have a code of conduct that made it clear that this kind of behavior is unacceptable. I also concur with @Wrzlprmft that OP is not obligated to take on the emotional labour of educating classmates - especially since she said that she's already tried this and been ignored.

I don't agree with this answer, but I think there is a valid point in it somewhere. These people may not appreciate how awful their behavior is and potentially talking to them will fix this. However, it is not OP's responsibility to deal with this issue on her own.

Very uncool, not all Coders are like that. These People are just assholes that coincidentally are CS Students

The answer may have its faults, but +1 for the point that there is reason to assume that those guys are completely oblivious to the fact that they show harrassing behavior. They probably think they are just cool. Which doesn't excuse this, of course.

"Everyone in [CS] is at least somewhere on the [autism] spectrum" is an outrageous claim.

@Pierre.Sassoulas: it is true in the trivial sense that since one end of the spectrum is "neurotypical", every single human is somewhere on the spectrum (most of them at the neurotypical end). But I agree that it's unlikely to be meant that way, and that most CS people are neurotypical.

The problem with this answer is that it puts an inordinate burden on the person who is explicitly the victim here. Almost everyone around her is apparently a low-social-awareness male, who the OP is being told to spend time and energy educating. She won't have time for anything else!

Suggesting that anyone interesting in computer science is somewhat autistic is ridiculous. Suggesting that all autistic people are socially awkward to the point of bullying is insulting.

@Clay07g I'm suggesting neither of these things. I'm merely pointing out tendencies, not universal truths. Not even the majority of CS students are autistic, just there are more than in other majors. Furthermore, my suggestion is that they don't realize it's bullying in the first place, which may be at the root of the issue

No, they're probably not just awkward, and telling victims of harassment that it's just a "low social intelligence" problem is in fact exactly the cover that harassers need to keep harassing. http://theweek.com/articles/737056/myth-male-bumbler

@MissMonicaE Do you deny that there's a likelihood that these people are oblivious? Again, I'm not claiming that they necessarily are, I'm merely entertaining that possibility, especially given ASD in CS. Not defending them. However, if what I'm claiming might be the case IS the case, that would be very important in informing the kind of action that needs to be taken to resolve the issue.

"Just a warning if you do this, the department will be relentless against these guys, so do it after all attempts at communication fail" Exactly. It wouldn't hurt to mention that if OP does talk go to the university about this matter without first giving a stern warning all chances of friendship or even a friendly relationship with the male students is gone. No one will trust her. The perception will be that a misunderstood comment will offend her and then the male's career will be hampered. No one will want to be around that hand grenade. Stern statement first, then warning, then    escalate.

@CSSTUDENT I think it's possible but unlikely--Occam's razor says they're actually jerks.

That's not Occams razor when comes to socially incompetent young tech obsessed men, that's much more like I want to think they are jerks because that would justify my reaction.

@Readin She's already told them that this behaviour makes her "very upset". That should be enough warning for anybody; I'm autistic and it would certainly be enough for me. The fact that they know this is distressing her and yet persist makes it clear that they're not interested in a friendly relationship.

Their behavior does not need to be ill-intentioned to be wrong. Even if they mean well, even if they are oblivious and clueless, what they are doing is wrong and needs to be stopped. And not by the OP, who is not their parent or teacher or owes them anything.

@Wrzlprmft I'd also not say she has to deal with this on her own, but she might encounter similar situations elsewhere in life where she cannot fall back to a support system. So it might be a good idea to try out a personal way to deal with it and see if she gets through to those guys (some of them probably friends or acquaintances) on her own. If not, she can still fall back to use the way through authorities. Either way she has learned something about how to establish her boundaries in a safe environment.

People on the spectrum are perfectly capable of following a rules-based process - that being one of the things that draws them to CS. They can often be more aware of other people's emotions than is traditionally assumed.

@SeanHoulihane Especially when the rules are as simple as here. "Never, ever tell a woman that she is less attractive than another woman. Very strongly avoid comparing her attractiveness to that of another woman. Be very careful about commenting on her attractiveness without comparing her." That's really simple.

The men I’ve told have said not to worry because they think I'm pretty – they don’t seem to get it.

A small disclaimer before everyone jumps in: some of what you are experiencing is harassment (particularly the guy who "enjoys telling me when he finds another girl in the vicinity more attractive than me"). This is something you should consider reacting to a way or another - there are very good answers already.
Now, a reality check. I am a male and used to be a student in my '20s. I did look at girls and did compare one to another. We even mentioned this between us. It was all kind and everything, but still.
We were not very good at woman-man interactions. We made mistakes. We were laughed at or we upset others. Retrospectively looking at the younger me I am sometimes shameful (with some "oh god why?" situations as well).
This is to say that some men, when they are 20-30, are not the most mature people on earth (recently the age of adolescence was raised to 24). Some of the things they do may be dumb but possibly not "harmful" (for a lack of a better word). They also may not realize that this is hurting you.
My advice: talk with the one who seem to have the most optimal mix of empathy, brains and eloquence and tell him to help you. If you asked this to me at that time, I would have understood and explained to my dumb friends that they behave like sheep. The ones you would like to be around would have understood. I would even say that you would have helped us to realize that some were true douchebags, worth kicking out of our circle of friends.
Again: some of the guys you describe are assholes and even someone who is hormone driven as I was should have been there to explain him that he should fuck off (and by explain I mean explain in a way he understands). My answer is not trying to say "you are over the top, men are men", or "this is normal". No. I am just trying to show that what you perceive can be different from their perception, and that may just need to be correctly told what to do.

What do you mean by the age of teenagers was raised to 24?

@gerrit: there are proposals to change the age of teenagehood (if this is a word) so that it starts from 10 and ends at 24. See for instance https://www.theguardian.com/society/shortcuts/2018/jan/22/life-begins-at-24-why-being-a-teenager-now-lasts-15-years

The word you're looking for is adolescence.

A much better approach than jumping the typical American "legal bandwagon"... IMHO legalities (punitive administrative punishment etc) are last resort tactics when all else has failed. The OP has an open dialogue with these people and should address problem directly, after all, difficult situations are going to crop up from time to time in life when you can't run off and tell the teacher someone said some nasty things that offended me.

Fully agree here. An overtly annoyed response like "Duuude, don't you think it's time to grow up?!" may be far more helpful (and adequate in the given situation) than the ultimate measure that can be taken, namely, filing an official complaint and potentially ruining them. At least they need the chance to become aware that certain (easily offended) people consider such comments as "inappropriate".

This is a good answer. The truth is (at least when I was young bla bla) that many nerdy guys simply stay in with their computers so much during their teens so they simply don't have many clues what not to do or say. Mistakes must be made in order to learn and for social mistakes the tolerance for error decreases much faster than for other kinds of learning.

@Marco13, and they've had that chance.  Your comment may have merit in some cases, but you're dealing with a selection bias: the people who can face up to making that response, don't wind up online asking strangers what to do because they are crying in class.  There is a time to use the established reporting lines for such incidents and this is it.

@Marco13 I think it could be better worded than "Duuude, don't you think it's time to grow up?!". That sounds like an attack on them, so they might get defensive and do something even more nasty in retaliation.

@Pharap That was just an example. Of course, the exact wording would depend on many, many factors that are hard to estimate from the description in the OP.

@Marco13 I just felt the need to express that it's important to be careful about the wording. Anything that may be misconstrued as an insult or a challenge could have the opposite effect and earn the OP some enemies, or at the very least hurt the OP's case.

@Pharap I'd like to write this up with more details, pointing out the different options for deescalating this (and pointing out the dangers of a wrong wording). Unfortunately, this post is locked and I cannot write an answer.

I think there is a lot of great advice here on how to deal with the harassment situation itself, but I have a feeling there is one aspect of your question everybody seems to be forgetting: you have committed yourself to work on joint projects with some of these people, any any kind of reaction might put your academic success on those projects at risk or at least postpone your academic progress
What they are doing is not okay and not acceptable, and you have the right to make it stop. Let me shortly summarize some of the good reactions on how to deal with this harassment from the other answers:

Get support and surround yourself with understanding people (posting here is a good start, but also talking to your close friends, family, support groups).
Tell the people in question, firmly and clearly that their behavior is not acceptable, neither by social standards nor by your personal judgment. Tell them that it is bothering you, even more so in a University environment where you all come to learn.
You might or might not mention that you will escalate the issue to the appropriate services - I don't think it's your duty to explain the consequences of their negative actions and should be enough to state how bothered you are and how inappropriate their behavior is.
Escalate the problem by talking to the appropriate services (these might depend on the country and the University organization, and several answers go into detail of it for several different settings).
There will likely be a service provided through the University, student support center or something similar, and even if there is nothing in place (not sure if my Croatian university had anything like that), find the appropriate channels to escalate it to the University level.
Don't back off if somebody tells you you are overreacting. If you are having second thoughts about whether you are able to proceed, go back to your support, friends and family to get a gentle reminder that what they were doing is not okay.

However, any of these actions except the first one are likely to generate a response and there is no guarantee that it will be a good one. In the ideal world, as soon as you escalate the situation to the proper services, they should take steps to help you out (or rather, remove them!) from the situation in which harassment occurs. In reality, you might be somewhere where the services are not good, not well in place and this kind of things are still typically swept under the rug, and any course of action might take time to fully implement and be in full effect. So, if any of them try to retaliate by sabotaging your participation in group projects, and you either see or suspect that they are not treating you equally or like a full member of the team, here are some suggestions to protect yourself:

Document everything. Keep a diary mentioning specific dates and names of the team activities (especially document anything I suggest be done through e-mail but due to circumstance, you end up doing in person).
If you feel like they are keeping you from contributing by not assigning you a fair share or work, write an e-mail to your project team asking about the division of tasks. Say that you are capable and willing of doing more than you were assigned.
Keep track of your own contributions (code, research, etc). If you have a feeling they are trying to ignore your contributions, this will be your proof you have done the work.
Keep track of any inappropriate conversations or exchanges (about how they are behaving towards you in shared projects).
If it seems like somebody from the team is preventing you from collaborating within your team, contact the professor in charge of the class (sooner rather than later) with an e-mail explaining, briefly, that you are eager and willing to contribute but your teammates are not giving you a chance, and you would like a chance to demonstrate your abilities like everybody else. If asked for clarifications, will have everything documented and ready to show.

I don't want to come off as insensitive for my reply focused on the academic side of things rather than your actual problem of harassment, but I have a feeling like taking a first step with situations like this can often be quite scary, especially if dealing with it might effect other areas of your life, e.g. your academic success. So if you have a plan to minimize this negative effect, (even if it does require an unfair amount of extra work), hopefully it would give you enough courage to deal with the problem at hand actively.

I would like to add to the already good answers that there is a middle way between taking on the responsibility all by yourself to make these guys think and stop their rude and harmful behaviour and making an official complaint to an authority.
Do you know someone in an authority position but whose opinion will also be respected on the basis of their social position? Maybe a PhD student, or a higher year student or a young lecturer? Someone who could sit down with these guys and point out to them they are being jerks, they are embarrassing themselves, and those around them and not cool at all. Maybe include that that particular kind of behaviour could lead to sanctions if reported.
For example, you could take a stepped approach. First you tell them firmly and clearly their behaviour is unacceptable. You could try to make them empathize: what if one of them had a girlfriend, how would they now feel if the rest of the class would be making jokes about their relationship and discuss if other guys would be better boyfriends?
Then you recruit other females, and case the guys fail to apologize and stop being douche bags, together you complain to a lecturer or TA and ask that person to step in. The lecturer or TA now not only feels a moral obligation to do something but will also be motivated to 'keep the peace'.
Lots of luck, I really feel for you. My fellow students were all well behaved but I did once tell off a group of 12-year-olds for cat calling after me when I was at university. They were genuinely surprised: they didn't think they were doing something inappropriate.

First of all, follow the good advice in other answers. This is not okay, and "boys will be boys" stopped being anything but enabling of harassment a long time back, its not acceptable in the slightest.
The question "what do I do/how do I react" is best guided by "what do I actually want". At a guess what you want is:

harassment to stop - of you for sure, ideally across the board.
harassers to take seriously that its not okay, gets a social clue update, understand it is not "innocent fun" or "ribbing", and generally come away soberminded about it.
Not to have attempts to quell it met by covert or overt maliciousness as a result - no bullying, no snide remarks, no social isolation.
and what else?

You need to decide what you want, to stand a chance of getting it. Then you can approach your school, and when you've talked, give it to them as a bullet list on paper: these are the things I want as outcomes. I'm coming to you to make it happen. Then say nothing and see what they say next. Don't apologise for wanting what is your right, your teacher's right, and the right your fellow students take for granted when they act out this way: the right to feel safe emotionally, in the place you choose to learn.

Unfortunately, as you are aware, women are often put in the position of needing to be polite to guys who are acting inappropriately out of fear of repercussions.
(ETA: What one person sees as "borderline harmless banter" may be what another person sees as intimidating enough to make them leave the field. Telling women to be more assertive when the men around them are acting in nasty and unprofessional ways is both putting the responsibility on the wrong party and something women are often taught from a young age is not "nice", that being likable is more important then being comfortable.)
If you think that asking these guys to act like civilized human beings will jeopardize your grades on shared projects, you can invoke a hypothetical third party:

Be careful, if the wrong person overhears you saying stuff like that you might get reported for sexual harassment, and that kind of stuff can go on your permanent record.

There's no hint of "you make me feel like a piece of meat", there's no hint of what they might hear as "I'm so prudish I can't take a joke", there's no hint of "you are destroying the educational environment for at least half the class", there's no hint of anything personal in it at all.  You are just a nice person who has their best interests at heart.
If they don't take the hint, then you might want to arrange for said "wrong person" to show up, or at least listen to a recording of what goes on in the classroom.

First of all, the amount of people here who want to pull the "go to the authorities" and "sexual harassment" cards out is positively insane. Under no conditions go to anybody with talk of expulsion or official reprimand. To be completely honest, it's not their job to protect you. It's your own job. What happens the next time, if the relevant authorities aren't around? You shouldn't rely on people like that, especially when borderline harmless banter is being talked about as grounds for "sexual harassment" or "expulsion" (neither of which are true, and both of which would be grounds for retaliation, not necessarily to yourself, but to the school, for draconian punishment, and general over-reaction. I, myself, will be fully supporting the parties who would be treated like sexual harassers over a few comments about how pretty or not pretty somebody is).
I found the following phrase very troubling:

How do I explain that I’m very upset by this?

What do you mean "how"?!?! You say to the person that he's being a "dick", which is the technical description of his transgression (and not Sexual Harassment), and tell him to buzz off and to stop being a pain in the posterior. Generally, if you use certain words from a certain section of the vernacular, people will get the point.

Try to persuade a mugger to be embarrassed...?

@paulgarrett Imagine comparing ranking to a crime.

What one person sees as "borderline harmless banter" may be what another person sees as intimidating enough to make them leave the field. Telling women to be more assertive when the men around them are acting in nasty and unprofessional ways is both putting the responsibility on the wrong party and something women are often taught from a young age is not "nice", that being likable is more important then being comfortable.

I will just give you three possible cases and their possible consequences
Passively Sucking it up
This just requires you to passively wait for the list to be forgotten by everyone.This requires a lot of patience not something I would advise but there if don't like confrontations.This may result in people thinking you are a pushover.
Confronting the guys
This is a method that should be meticulously thought over such that you don't insult the guys but still convey your message.It's especially important not to insult people while confronting them as it may lead to counter-productive effects such as the list being immortalized or you being ignored/avoided by others.It might be helpful to bring along a female friend or senior who is supportive. The confrontation should be done in the following method

Conveying you don't like the list clearly.
Reasons you don't like the list and find it demeaning.
Conveying to them that you don't wish to hear anymore about the list.
(Step 4 is only if they don't take steps 1-3 properly)
Convey that you will not be able to continue being friends if this behavior continues and that you may go to the authorities.

 Go to the authorities
This should be your last resort as from what I believe a large chunk to the male population of the college was involved in making of the list and if this is the case it may result in the guys who are hurting you being left of with a slap on the wrist and you facing the same consequences as the previous method if not worst.If not then confronting the authorities may not be such a bad idea but it's still advisable as a last resort and not the first go to.
Hope this helps.

I understand a large chunk to the male population of the college was involved in making of the list – This seems quite some assumption to me. There is nothing in the question that even hints at that somebody compiled a list in written form.

@Wrzlprmft Thanks for pointing it out.Fixed the answer

I see two routes to take (sorry, longish answer):
As you can see by the answers and upvotes, (threatening) to cry is a strategy that has its effects — as a woman. Especially in STEM, in which women are still seen as discouraged and excluded, and at universities, in which people and policies are in place to care for them. It is likely that these people will jump on the chance to tackle this issue, which will then lead to serious consequences for the male students. It might even end their education at that school. In this sense, this route — as suggested by other posters here — is a route that will likely work, esp. short-term. And it will likely feel good.
Question is, should you pursue this route?
Despite a strong tendency to ostensibly protect and care for women, there is probably nothing worse for personal growth and the development of competence than paternalistic overprotection. You are not a little child anymore, and one skill you should learn in school and college/university is how to work with diverse groups. And some of these groups develop their own norms and interaction styles, and, yes, some groups even have — for a lack of a better term — assholes in them.
The group you describe doesn’t strike me as bad, though. Esp. when you take gender out of the question, which likely skews the issue, and see it as normal banter. There are behaviors which should immediately lead to a call to the police — the actual police, not the campus authorities. Issues like physical and sexual assault. But here it’s words and in messy social contexts, words are interpreted. You see it as annoying to harassment. I doubt it is intended as such. Looking back at my youth, this banter, teasing and bullshitting was used for bonding. And in a group of technology-minded people that included bonding with women. Yes, this behavior may actually be a sign they accept you as part of their community. (Nobody said that geeks are particularly skilled socially, but hey, they brought us social media, incl. stackexchange.)
Don’t get me wrong, I can totally understand that you do not like these comparisons, and given how negatively you see them, they will feel worse and worse. And if it’s actually bullying, then yeah, this sucks. But that’s your interpretation of what they are doing, and before you ascribe intention there are some questions you might ask. For example, how do they treat each other? Do they tease and bullshit each other as well (not about beauty, but about other issues)? How do they treat other women? What do they enjoy talking about? And yeah, it could even be a — bad — implementation of negging (xkcd explained it well and might provide a role model: https://xkcd.com/1027/ ), or simply being at a loss for words if other topics don’t lead to a conversation. BTW, I’m also skeptical that it would not make a difference if they were to compliment you.
No matter the reason, how can you deal with this situation? You can call a paternalistic authority. It will work in college/universities, it will work later on the job when you call HR, it will even work in private contexts if you shout on social media (sometimes even with work-related consequences). But at least given these situations, I think it’s important to learn to deal with these situations on your own. Become a competent person who is able to deal with bullshitting and social teasing on her own. After all, banter within a community is common, esp. in difficult jobs. It actually does have an important social function (again: banter, not bullying).
As for how, have a look how others deal with this teasing. It is possible to learn how to spar verbally, to parry and strike some (verbal) hits. To return a joke, a tease, and even an insult and verbal attack — and ensure a) to send a clear message that you can deal with these things, verbally and emotionally, and b) that you give back as good and bad as you receive. If there is a serious skill deficit, there are courses, and there are assertiveness trainings — which will pay out in other areas as well (like salary negotiations).
This later route is not a short-time «delegating-the-issue solution» like going to a paternalistic authority. But is has huge benefits long-term and will likely lead to better interactions overall. You might find that other people aren’t as bad as you first think, and you’ll be able to more effectively weed out the assholes and keep them at bay.
And looking at the bigger picture, it would be a pretty bleak world if every social interaction — no matter how benign or misunderstood — becomes the issue for a paternalistic authority. It might curb the (subjectively or actual) bad for a while, and take with it the misunderstood as collateral damage, but in the long-term, it would lead to the peace of the grave. And that’s not what college is for, nor social interaction in general.

your answer screams "sexism" from every sentence. there is a person, who is in a minority position, singled out in that position every day by comments which suggest she is there because "she has no compitition", etc. and all you ve got is: crying is a women thing, cause they wanna be protected

Many years ago, in 1st year university, some wits on my residence floor decided to print up 100 Why Not? buttons in black on gold (Engineering Faculty colours), with the subheading Barefoot & Pregnant, at a price of $1.00.
Initially outraged, a floor in Women's residence decided to get even instead of angry. Having an economics major on the floor, they astutely noted that with a market established, value increased as supply diminished. So they promptly retaliated by printing up a measly 75 pastel blue on pink (Nursing School colours) buttons Why Not? - Henpecked and Impotent; at a price of $2.00.
Needless to say, the second batch of buttons sold out even faster than the first.
Revenge obtained, with good hearty laughs all around.
So, while you certainly have the right to resort to "the nuclear option" and engage university officials. may I politely suggest that perhaps there is a better first resort. You see, the ability to engage in friendly banter is an essential social skill in the workplace, and this is typically a verbal skill that women are actually better at than men.
Meet privately with your female colleagues, and rate all the men on a scale of 1 to 10. Then the next time anyone rates any of you, rate them back with a comment such as:
"Why thank you; my friends and I figure you for a ___."
You always retain the right to escalate to greater authority; but you might find that fighting fire with fire instead of gasoline builds a truly solid rapport with your male colleagues.

This isn't 'friendly banter', this is objectification and sexual harassment. As someone quite rightly pointed out above, rating their looks would give an undesired impression of sexual interest. Retaliating in this way does nothing productive.

@Eppicurt: You are entitled to your opinion. But in my university days, men and women enjoyed each other's company; knew how to give and take a little banter; and appreciated that the banter improved group morale and spirit. Is that true for your university environment today?

Yes, men and women get along perfectly well in academia these days and we can do so without acting like adolescents. What would you do if your daughter was ranked the least attractive in a cohort of people and came home in tears and wanted to drop out because of it? Do you think that's acceptable behaviour in an environment where we're supposed to act like adults?

@Eppicurt: Right - that's why everyone is screaming "Rape Culture" all over and men are withdrawing from universities hand over fist.

Sexual harassment and misconduct on both sides of the equation is unacceptable. Pity you can't see that.

@Eppicurt: Pity you don't realize that not all offences are worthy of declaring nuclear war.

Unfortunately, the asymmetry between male and female power structures makes this approach less useful much of the time.

I only joined this SE site to express my thoughts here, but of course, the comments are deleted. The statements quoted in the OP are not sexual harassment. You may call them immature and they are certainly unnecessary, but not more than some innocent banter. It's a shame that something like this can get people thrown out of a university. All this got out of hand at some point, and nobody noticed it. (And by the way: I particularly pity those (like the OP) who cannot withstand a snarky comment. They will have a tough life. But at least, they'll keep all those lawyers busy...)

@Marco13 do you understand that this was grouping of women?

@Marco13 Like the people committing the offence, your comment suggests a theory of mind problem. However, the top two answers clearly show that according to policies the actions constitute harassment and are harmful to the victim and also the perpetrators in the long run. You don't mean it's not harassment, you mean you think it's okay (and then it must be okay, right?). Assessing someone's worth by their appearance and constantly comparing their appearance to others in a denigrating way, which clearly causes them distress, then that is targetted harassment in a workplace.

Sexual harassment and misconduct on both sides of the equation is unacceptable — And yet that is exactly what you are proposing.

@ThomasKing The wikipedia article about harassment says "Sexual harassment refers to persistent and unwanted sexual advances", and that is clearly and in no way related to what the OP described (it's rather the opposite, actually). Buf feel free to edit Wikipedia and see whether it works. Beyond that: Being compared to others is normal, and it happens always, and you have to be able to cope with it. (I'd say "Grow some balls", but ... meh...). You will always be "worse" than somebody else in some way, and there will always be someone who rubs it into your face.

The fact that in this case, the comparison referred to "attractiveness" seems to hit some nerves and causes some people to scream "harassment" for no reason whatsoever. Nobody would bat an eye if someone (objectively) said "This person is taller than you", but the (subjective) statement "I find this person more attractive than you" causes an outrage. Imagine she was compared to others based on her ability to solve algorithmic problems. Oh wait. That's what tests and marks are for. Forget that, we're already on this slippery slope.

@Marco13 I said harassment, not sexual harassment. You next confuse is (normalisation) with ought. The normalisation is the problem, not support for why it's okay. Moreover, the perpetrators are not just finding someone more attractive, they are using these statements to bully the victim. Finally, you submit a slippery slope fallacy.

@ThomasKing I did not say "it is not harassment", but I said "it is not sexual harassment". I certainly don't want to argue about the term "harassment" here, because when I said that we already are on the slippery slope, then this referred less to my (somewhat ironic/sarcastic) statement, but to the fact that there does not seem to be any condition that must be fulfilled for something to qualify as "harassment", except for "someone is upset by it". And that's a problem. Some people are easily upset.

The behaviour described in the question meets the legal definition of sexual harassment in at least two jurisdictions. I repeat: this is absolutely textbook sexual harassment and it is illegal in at least two jurisdictions, and comments to the contrary are irrelevant in the face of it. -1 for ignoring the problem, and if it were possible, minus hundreds more for promoting unlawful responses to abusive behaviour and normalising that abuse.


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Leaving postdoc after less than one year with no reference letter
I've been in my first postdoc for a year and feel that I'm not progressing in my career. There has been communication issues with my PI, he's not very supportive of his senior postdocs, and it takes a long time to publish.
I am currently looking for new positions, however how do I address the issue of my one year postdoc, especially if I won't be receiving a reference letter from the PI?
Should I address this in the cover letter?
Also, he is quite big in the field, so are there any considerations I should be careful about, for instance applying to people he has worked with?
Would it be worthwhile to ask other PIs in the department that I have not worked with but I have been on good terms with for a reference letter?

Have you tried talking to your PI about this? Some professors expect the postdocs to be completely independent, some expect them to do only what they are told... If he's known in the field, burning that bridge might no be a good idea and can get in the way of new positions...

Currently the PI has created a toxic environment and some of our interactions have descended into outright bullying. Also I just don't think he'd be supportive of someone leaving so early.

Been there. Not an easy situation. In my case, I literally changed fields before and after this postdoc (CS -> biomechanics -> CS), so it didn't really matter if I burned the bridge. Otherwise, I believe I'd had a hard time finding a new position, people wouldn't like to cross him. Any diplomatic solution would be preferable. A fake 2 body problem, for instance... While I favor telling the truth, I don't think its a good idea at this point..

@FábioDias Lying is never a good idea (simply for being a lie). The fact that no positive reference from the current PI is expected_ makes it worse. But I can't offer a better alternative.

I wish it was that simple. But an interesting way to approach this is to find another reason to move (like I suggested the 2 body problem) and avoid the bullying altogether.... Tbh, it's better for everyone involved, nobody will like this and most likely nothing is gonna change anyway. I tried this, but it didn't work, my PI cut my grant and I had to go nuclear. I don't regret it, it was necessary, but I really didn't want to...

I would apply to new postdocs using the professors at your former doctoral program as references. If there's someone at the postdoc school that you worked with and can speak positively, you could use one of them instead of one of your former profs, but I'd keep the ratio 2:1 or 3:1 in favor of your former professors.
The good thing is that you're in your first year of the postdoc. Sometimes there are just fit issues -- in terms of personalities or research topics or both. Everyone in academia is aware of this and we're aware it's not always the fault of the applicant -- especially when it comes to "big names" (== big egos). I think you could apply to new post docs referring very briefly and obliquely to fit -- and using the materials and references from your doctoral program.


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Wearing a suit for a presentation and meeting with potential postdoc supervisor in Germany
I'm visiting a German university (in one of the big cities) for a couple of days for the purpose of discussing a postdoc for myself. I work in maths.
I'm supposed to give a talk on one day for a research seminar and discuss with a potential advisor the next day.
Should I wear a suit for either of these events? I would have said no, but someone has told me that the Germans look down on "casual" clothes.

While the generic Herr Professor in Germany is traditionally more formal than one in, say, the U.S., you see few suits in math departments. So from that angle, I don't think it would be necessary. However, I find it a good idea always to dress up when presenting yourself for a job. If your potential supervisor shows up in shorts, sandals, and t shirt, I'd just use the opportunity for a little humorous remark, along the lines of "And here I thought I should, for once, wear a suit, no matter the weather..."

German engineer here... I don't recall ever seeing a Math professor in a suit either. Would suggest a shirt in a neutral color and a pair of good pants that doesn't have the "used look". That should look reasonably professional and always worked for me, at least so far.

Definitely not necessary, and even somewhat distracting. If you want to look smart, wear jeans (without holes), a shirt (with collar, bonus points if it's ironed) and decent shoes (i.e., not dirty sneakers, bonus points for leather). No tie. In all departments I'm familiar with, this already counts as dressing up for all but the most senior faculty (although there might be exceptions in financial maths).

Can some of you please turn your comments into answers?  I'd like to vote them up.

Speaking as a math professor in Germany, a suit is definitely not necessary, and might even be seen as overdoing it. (Caveat: things might be different in financial mathematics.) Most of my colleagues never wear a suit except for a few very formal occasions (meetings with the top administration, hearings for grants or evaluations, festive affairs).
In particular, if you are visiting for a job interview, they want to get a feel of how it would be to have you as a colleague -- if you come across as too stiff, that might not be in your interest. If you want to, you can wear a suit for your talk; nobody would complain, but you might get some amused smirks ("He's really keen on this job, isn't he?"). A research seminar of a group is usually a rather informal event (compared to, say, a faculty colloquium).
Of course, the main thing is that you feel comfortable, but if you're unsure what to wear, go "smart casual":

neutral jeans (no holes, not too baggy/tight) in blue or black (or chinos, if you prefer; jeans seem to be more common in Germany, though),
a nice dress shirt (i.e., with a collar, ideally ironed),
decent shoes (i.e., no dirty worn-out sneakers); for extra-smart, wear leather shoes,
no tie.

This will be appropriate for any occasion during your visit, and be seen (by those who look for such things) as making enough of an effort to avoid distracting (by being either under- or over-dressed).


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Applying for PhD admission with a master's thesis written in Spanish
I'm finishing my MS in a Spanish speaking country and my MS thesis is written in Spanish. If I apply for being admitted in a PhD program in a non-Spanish speaking country, should I expect them to accept my MS thesis as it's currently written (i.e. in Spanish)? Also, I could translate it into English in a week or two but, then, that version of the thesis would not be any more the official one(i.e. the approved by the evaluating committee). Would they accept this translated version of the thesis for the application instead of the original one?
(When I said 'accept it' I meant 'consider the possibility of reviewing it and conclude something about my performance or the depth of my MS work'.)
I'm particularly interested in European countries and the US, but I know that there may be cultural or idiosyncratic differences, even between different institutions within the same country. For example, I expect greater chances for my Spanish written thesis to be accepted in Portugal than in Poland. So what I want to know is if there is some general pattern that I should expect from them, like, rejecting it with a high probability... or accepting it with a high probability, given that Spanish is one of the most spoken languages in the world and popular in Occident, unlike Chinese.

Maybe I'm confused by wording, but I think it is incorrect to think in terms of programs 'accepting' a thesis.
There might be cases where a program cares about the gritty details of your thesis, and so the short answer is to specifically ask the department you are applying to.
In the US, I highly doubt any PhD program would ask for your thesis, review it, then make a acceptance decision based on this.  Publishing your thesis is optional, and there is no expectation that you have to in order to be accepted into a PhD (generalization).  Also, a MS is not a requirement for a PhD program in the US, and so there's no rule about accepting an applicant's thesis.
When I applied to PhD programs in the US, Scandinavia, and the Netherlands, no one asked to review my thesis, or discussed accepting my thesis.
What could be useful is to translate the thesis abstract.  Then, if someone asks for more details, you have something on hand to give them.

This tallies with my experience. The only time I have been asked to submit any kind of dissertation or thesis in my PhD applications was by a German university, and they stipulated that if it was not written in English you must translate the abstract only.

I agree with you on the first point, when I said 'accept it' I meant 'consider the possibility of reviewing it and conclude something about my performance or the depth of my MS work'. By the way, great answer. Thanks!

Good answer.  Additional note: if your original abstract seems very short for your purposes (trying to put your best foot forward with an admissions committee), you could write a longer one, or write a two or three-page summary in English, to include with your application.

@aparente001 Good one, I'll write that short but longer summary in English just in case. Thanks for the tip.

Also, they may just ask for an English writing sample.  Even for foreign language programs, they don't care the language of your MA thesis, but they will undoubtedly ask for a writing sample in both the target language and English.

Data point: I had to submit my masters dissertation for admission to a french phd. It was in English. They didn't care, but they needed it.


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What's the difference between regular (aka full), position and short papers?
I've sent the article to the conference and it has been accepted. However, I received a message that my paper has been accepted as the short paper.
I know that there's a difference in, for instance, the oral presentation time between those 3 kinds of papers. However, I wonder if the type (regular, position, short) can say anything about the quality or the importance of the paper's subject?

Here is what I have observed at the peer-reviewed conferences that I attend:

A regular full paper is your basic standard peer-reviewed paper.

A position paper is for ideas that don't have any results, per se, but are worth communicating to the community, or for announcing a result that has been published with another community.

A short paper is for work that is worth publishing, but doesn't rise to the level of quality or significance of a full paper.

Short papers are generally significantly less respected than full papers, but may be worth it anyway: a short paper in a high-profile conference is often better than a full paper in a less significant conference.  Position papers are funny and in a different category: they aren't attempting to be the same as a full paper, and are typically judged more by a standard of "interesting to discuss."

I will speak from the CS perspective, which I know.

If the type (regular, position, short) can say anything about the
  quality or the importance of the paper's subject?

Unfortunately, it does. Although the short paper will still appear in the proceedings, it will have a maximum limit of usually 4 pages. Therefore most details will have to be omitted, due to the limited space. Also, in CS conferences short papers might be presented in a fast-forward fashion (1-2 minutes per paper) or together with the demo papers presentation and therefore they do not attract as much attention as the regular papers. In that case, during the demo / poster session people can come in to your "booth" and discuss about your paper (which is more informal but still a nice way to network).
The better way to take advantage of this situation (your paper was accepted after all, even as a short paper) is to make an extended version of this paper for submitting to a relevant journal, where you can reveal all the missing details from the proceedings short version, along with some additional extra material.

To add to other answers, I'll say that at least in HCI, it depends on the conference. At CHI, for example a short paper is not necessarily one that has less quality. It means that the contribution can be adequately be described and discussed in 4 pages.
However, there are other conferences who explictly declare in their CfPs that short papers can be about preliminary results, works in progress, etc.
If we are talking about evaluating a researcher's CV, a preponderance of short-papers might indicate that the person in question was not able to focus on any one topic long enough to study it in detail.


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What problems are caused by pedagogical blogging about a class?
I am a course TA and I instruct a class of about 20 undergrads. I'm planning to make a public pedagogy blog. I think there could be some potential problems with this. For example, if the students in my class find it, and read "a student is struggling with Y topic", or "I think this student is having problems".
Potentially risky content:

Class plans and preparation
Reflections on each class, including comments on the students
Discussions of course content, and suggested improvements to prescribed classwork

Are there any potential problems I would encounter, given the material I am blogging about?
Possible solutions:

Anonymising my own name
Anonymising all the students' names
Restricting access to course staff (lecturer, TAs)

Do I require any of these solutions?

You may want to check with the legal office at your university if there are privacy regulations preventing you to use real student names (spoiler: they will answer yes anyway, just to be on the safe side).

Anonymising all the students' names – IMO, this is not a "possible" solution, it is a mandatory solution. If not by law, by ethics. As a student, I would not want my TA writing about me on a public blog without asking permission first.

Yes, it'd be a violation of FERPA in the USA to use real names. Even if it was anonymized, if unmasking through deductive disclosure is possible, then it still might be a FERPA violation. I would embargo the blog postings for a semester or two and release them asynchronously with the class.

First, you need to decide the purpose of your blog / your targeted audience.
If you are writing something so your class can be more interactive, you would clearly write it one way (being very careful not to embarrass anyone) - simply removing names might not actually hide identities in a class of 20 students. In this scenario, I don't see a reason to hide your own identity.
If you are writing something for other teachers, to discuss pedagogical issues, then you would write in a very different way. In this case, anonymizing your student names is very important (for different reasons) and you might want to hide your own identity as a way to stop your students or anyone else connecting your writings to a particular group of students.

That makes sense. What problems are caused if my writings are connected to a particular group of students?

When Francois McGillocard is applying for a job and someone digs through his transcripts they might see that he took Psych 101 in the Fall of 2014 at XYZ University. If you blog that you taught Psych 101 in the Fall of 2014 at XYZ University, the person now knows Francois was in your group (assuming there was only one class). If you included "This is the dumbest group I've ever taught. Not one even understands the difference between perception and personality." Now, that potential employer knows something about Francois that they did not know before, which could impact his job offer.