text:
Why am I getting rejection in PhD admission after interview?
When I was in my bachelor's program, I applied to three universities in Europe for masters. My two first choices accepted me and offered me funding for my masters studies which is competitive (2 students in my field got it). The third university which is not as well known as the others in my field, but still very good, accepted me but did not offer me funding. They interviewed me in this university and then rejected me. For the other two universities, I also had interviews and they both accepted me.
Now I am applying to PhD programs again in Europe. I did my masters in one of those universities in which I was accepted. Again, I have applied to three universities. This morning, the one that was not my first choice and again is not as well-known as the other two, after an interview, rejected me. This position had 5-6 vacancies.
I am confused about this, to be honest. Because I do not know if I should interpret it as that I will be rejected in the other two as well, or just assume it depends on my match with their programs. If the latter is the case, why did they even interview me? The thing that confuses me is this: if they shortlisted me, it means they were considering me. After the interview, they rejected me. I did not have the impression that I could not answer their technical questions. My question is this: should I interpret that the same thing will happen with those well-known universities? Why do you think that they rejected me while I feel I am qualified enough to the other two as well?

What kind of positions did you apply to? Most PhD positions in Europe are really just a single position (rather than a "program"). So when you get a rejection after interview, the most likely explanation is that they preferred another candidate.

It was a large institution with many advisors. So it wasn't a "single" position. @lighthousekeeper

That's not an answer to my question. Large institution with many professors offer single positions, too.

@lighthousekeeper In the advertisement, they said they offer 5/6 positions.

I think the implication of the comment by @lighthousekeeper, is that many (most?) doctoral students in Europe are hired directly by a PI, not admitted to a "program". I don't know how it all works, exactly, but it might require applying several times to different professors even at the same university. In the US, you apply to a department at a university and are assigned an advisor later, though you can also change advisors. But it is different in much of Europe.

The most common thing is to interview more people than the minimum positions, often at least 2 interviews per position. Therefore at least half of the people get rejected after an interview. This is how the world works, not just academia. The fact that you got interviewed means you were cosnidered, so its encouraging news to keep applying

I would contact them and politely ask for feedback, such as "How can I improve my interviewing skills"?  They may or may not respond.  Of course, sometimes one doesn't like the feedback one gets ....

I would add a comment that if you are indeed lucky enough to gain an interview, it's as important, if not more, for YOU to use that interview process, as much as for them. Don't go into interviews with the mentality of it's them interviewing you to determine whether you fit into their program, and that's it. There are too many examples, here in [academia.se] of people complaining about bad PI's, instructors, etc. When you go into an interview, you need to interview them, just as much as they interview you. Just because a uni has determined you fit them, you need to ensure they fit you.

@mandoblurian While not very common, PhD programs are not unheard of in Europe. In such a case, it's quite possible that funding was available for 5/6 positions in total, but each supervisor was only allowed to pick one PhD student. It's hard to tell without knowing the details of the job ad.

What does the fraction 5/6 mean here?  (I do know it isn't actually a fraction....)

@mandoblurian I haven't been in academia long enough to know whether the following is sound advice (I'm a PhD student myself), but I would at least consider emailing them to ask what went wrong, and how you could improve. If you phrase it respectfully (ask for feedback, not them to justify the rejection) I can hardly imagine how it could come across as inappropriate

Nobody here can truly answer your question: we weren't in the interview, and haven't seen your application materials. However, some points for you to consider:

Typically, MSc admissions are based heavily on academic achievement: transcripts, references from course tutors, etc. Applicants have come from a variety of backgrounds and may not have had opportunities to undertake significant independent research. In contrast, PhD applicants can be expected to have completed some form of independent research. This makes it easier to assess other skills relevant to success in a PhD: creativity, tenacity, communication, collaboration.
Often admissions decisions are not as simple as identifying the strongest N applicants. A variety of political and practical factors can come into play. For example, departments may try to ensure that PhD positions are distributed 'fairly' across their various research areas, or use them to support newly-hired members of staff. At the uglier end of the spectrum, some departments may base their decisions on the whims of one or two powerful individuals. There can also be additional rules and constraints imposed by whoever is ultimately supplying the cash that supports the positions.
The way your question is phrased, one gets the impression that you went into this interview feeling that success was guaranteed, and that you are 'too good' for this school. If candidates come across this way in interview, it leaves a bad impression, even if it is objectively true.
Schools know that they are competing with each other for the best candidates. A second-tier school may recognise that the very best candidates are going to go elsewhere. If so, it can be counterproductive to make offers to those people: by the time they get around to declining, the second-choice candidates have already taken positions elsewhere.

Don't try to infer anything from such a rejection. The possibilities are too vast. It may be that many good students used this university as their backup plan in case they weren't accepted elsewhere and one of them was chosen instead of you. There can be a lot of competition. It could also be a case of "poor fit" with the faculty that wasn't recognized before the interview.
But, applying to only three schools seems like a mistake. If you want to get into a program then a broad search is recommended (with a backup school or two). Don't make the search narrow in terms of school rankings, geography, and such. There are a lot of possibilities but if you pass them up voluntarily you might suffer for it.
But, relax for now. The outcome at one place has no real effect on the others. Nor does your "worry" change the game.

Don't take it too personally - try looking at it from the other side.  They have some number of positions to fill with some number of applicants and they need to go through a process to find the applicants that best fit the positions.  Typically that process involves eliminating those that don't meet the essential criteria and short-listing and interviewing those who look most promising for the role.
If they interview 4 people for 1 position, 3 (at least) are going to be 'rejected'. If someone is appointed, that does not necessarily mean the selectors thought the others could not have done the role or been successful in it, just that someone else was a better fit with what they were looking for.  (There are also many reasons why they might not appoint anyone, but again not necessarily a reflection on the candidates.)
Certainly it is possible to perform badly in an interview, but even if all 4 performed brilliantly, 3 are not going to be offered the post.
Most of life (PhD positions, jobs, partners, elections etc) is not like a driving test where you pass or fail based on reaching a specific standard, but a matter of 'fit' and preference. The language of 'rejection' and 'acceptance' although common is probably not good for your mental health ... you're looking for something that is a mutually good fit both for you and the role/them.  Just because someone thought you were not a good fit with one role has no bearing on whether you are good fit with a different role.

That's why I think you have to figute out who the potential postdoc employers are before applying for jobs. You can spend the year before applying adjusting your research to be a better fit with the interviewer.

PhDs position in Europe are usually unique: you are not in competition with other candidates, you are in competition with the ideal profile the PI has in mind for that position.
If may be even the case that when none of the candidates fits the profile, the position is advertised again in a couple of months (hint: do not apply again ;) ).
If you feel confident, and you liked the project, you may contact the PI and ask if you can apply for external funding, writing your own proposal. You may ask the PI where to look for calls.
Ps: external funding may or may not be connected to the project, you have freedom in defining the scope of the project (well, then there is a board/panel/comitee having the freedom of funding your project)

Do you mean ideal in the sense of knowledge? Or personality and match as well? Thanks.

@mandoblurian all of this, and more (letters of reference, skills, profile, interest, ...)

both, even attitude towards research/academy (some prefer PhDs that aim for academy, other for PhDs that aim at a industrial career)... I would go so far as to say that the criteria are so subjective that it makes useless to ask for a feedback about the rejection.
I would suggest you to have a look at the Marie-Curie fellowships: they are very competitive, but they may provide you a solid block to build your PhD study (3 years funding and a network of interested institutions).
https://www.thephdlab.com/marie-sklodowska-curie-phd-fellowship/ (a succesful candidate telling her experience)

I studied in Europe until my master Degree and had my Phd in the USA in computer science program. I realized that the level of US students are pretty weak in Math, Science and engineering overall. The math that I did in a bachelor degree in France is what we are doing in a Master or Phd program in the USA. No offense but it's a reality. In some German or French University, american student would be lost in science programs. Here in a phd computer science program, most of my collegue were unable to solve a simple differential equations.

PhD programs in the US lasts 5 years, often including a Master degree (or something like that) for a reason...

I would not read anything into it.
Look at  your MS applications and how they went.
Many things can cause rejection from  too many candidates, funding issues, personal whim of the interviewer, yada yada.


text:
Do MLA guidelines apply in the UK?
Not sure if this is the right place to put this but:
This week I started a six-week school project to write a research paper about diseases. As part of my preperation, I read a short paper on writing research papers (as this is one of the first I have done.) In the paper there was a diagram explaining the MLA guidelines for standardising research paper formatting. My homeschool curriculum is American but I live in the UK. My question is, as a British student, should I write the paper according to MLA guidelines, or is there something else for those of us living across the pond?

In general in academic writing, the final choice of style is up to the publisher (for books, articles etc), employer (for reports or promotional materials), or assessor (for coursework and tests). As such, most academic publishing houses and large universities  produce some kind of stylesheet (if not many) for their authors and staff, and essay based university courses may even produce something specific for students.
In general, these all cross-fertilise with each other, so many general themes towards good writing repeat across them. Frequently, British guides will reference American ones, due to being more readily available, while making changes to keep in line with English reference works such as the OED and Fowler. As such, if you are not writing for assessment, then following the MLA guidelines with suitable modification (e.g. using standard British spellings if you are more comfortable with them) is eminently sensible, and will certainly get you into good habits.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
Can I become a professor if I were expelled from the uni?
I’d just like to know your opinion on this issue (whether you think it is ethical or not).
The point is, for three years, I was a straight A-student. But towards the final year, I simply started to burn out, but then I didn’t know how to handle the situation and my mental and physical health deteriorated.
As a result, I got an F. At our university, if you get an unsatisfactory mark (F) you have to take summer classes. Even though it was the final year, students were still allowed to take them.
I didn’t consider taking a leave of absence since the reason is not considered serious enough in my country.
Then I thought about taking a year off by withdrawing. But I was recommended to stay since a few years of my studies were financed.
This year, the rules were changed and now, as it is the final year, those who got unsatisfactory marks are expelled. So was I.
In my country, however, one is allowed to be enrolled in the college again, retake some classes and get a diploma. And this doesn’t prevent you from getting into grad school.
So the question is, do I still have a moral right to become a professor at another university?
I think that if I’m going to pursue Master’s degree in another university and (on condition that my performance is great) this university is interested in having me as an academic, I should be transparent about this fact.
Or do you think that it is better for me not to pursue academic career at all?
Would a student like that have a chance in your country?
Update: I was eventually given the opportunity to withdraw (since the documents are yet to be signed) and enrol in the same university next year.
Thank you everyone for your answers!

I don't know how the legal situation is in your country, but in some countries it might be illegal to expel a student based on a regulation that was changed during the course of the studies. You might want to involve a lawyer.

There are many issues here. One is law that can change so abruptly. The other is that the legal system in your country is not widely known. Is it possible that with an expulsion in your CV you cannot enroll anymore in a university (something like in the application form they ask if you were expelled from any uni of the country)? then it is better if you withdraw.
Can you withdraw, then enroll in a different course and recover some of the old exams/credits?

Ah then it's a no brainer: what it matters is the final goal (the diploma) not the way you took to get it there (as long as it is legal, I mean, without cheating&so on).
As other said, a good professor is a person that was always successful, but an excellent professor is the one that failed sometime: there is a lot to learn from failing, too.

You should not edit (remove) the question after you get answers - particularly when you have accepted an answer . Leave it up for others who come to visit with a similar question. Thanks folks here by voting and by leaving comments.

I did leave comments, but then I thought that the question felt somewhat private and I made it public. Didn’t know that it’s impossible to delete posts here.
I see the point, though, I will edit the question, but with less details

Yes, please do not vandalize your own question. Please see here for an explanation, and some other options.

Thank you for the link! I’ll consider the options :" )

Yes, you can become a professor. Your expulsion (for unsatisfactory marks) seems equivalent to failing your degree. Failing a degree doesn't preclude becoming professor. But you'll (likely) need a degree to become one. (The definition of professor varies between countries.)
From comments:

[is] failing a degree...dishonourable...something [to] be ashamed of?

Failure isn't shameful nor disgraceful: A professor who hasn't failed, hasn't challenged themselves enough.

Do you think, as a professor, you have the right to keep it to yourself or be transparent?

In the immediate future, universities and employers will want to know why you dropped out, failed, were excluded, however you want to phrase it. Just be honest. Explain your situation. You were burning out, deteriorating mentally and physically, these aren't shameful/disgraceful events.
A professor (depending on definition) probably need never mention distant failures: In the future, historic details (even failing a degree) become irrelevant.

@Sufjan: That depends on the culture you’re living in. Where I’m from, if you earn a professorship through a good Ph.D. and good research, any failure in the past doesn’t matter, instead can be used as a humorous anecdote.

I agree that it is possible, but it is a difficult, uphill, road to get there, and you need to perform differently than in the past to make the climb.

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


text:
Career advice for a Physics PhD Student?
I am currently in the first year of my physics Ph.D. program focused on condensed matter physics. While in undergrad, I specialized in optics which I also enjoyed. I just joined a research group focused on small angle neutron scatteringrg.
I want to transition into the industry sector after graduating and know I want to apply my condensed matter physics knowledge even if it isn't directly related to my group's research emphasis. However, I am not opposed to using the math, physics, and experimental research skills I have been developing in a less directly related career path. I was wondering if anyone had suggestions for potential career paths, career path resources, or just any general advice on future careers?

Don’t forget the various national labs...

This would be a great question for your supervisor.

Internships. An internship or two will give you a taste of what a nonacademic career might entail and give your employers insight into you as a potential candidate. It's not uncommon for employers to view internships as a sort of extended interview. I have no doubt you'll learn things and see things you hadn't anticipated, perhaps interesting paths to follow. Best of luck!


text:
What next after a Marie Curie postdoctoral fellowship?
I have a question for all postdocs, particularly those who are Marie Curie fellows. I am a non-EU researcher who moved to the EU for a Marie Curie postdoc. My fellowship is ending soon, and I am struggling to find something afterward. To provide context, I am from the humanities department where the job market is currently very scarce. I am also unable to secure any academic positions as a postdoc. Moreover, all my academic training is from a non-EU country, so I feel excluded due to the intense gatekeeping that occurs for tenured positions. My fellowship ends in three months, and I am very nervous about the next step in my career. Can other postdocs who have experienced similar feelings please guide me on what I should do? My field and research area are limited by funding, and although I am applying for other grants, they are a long process and competitive. I fear I will soon be without a job, and this thought makes me very nervous and uneasy as I have a family to support back in my home country. The job market in my home country is also very poor, and returning is not an option for me now. Can anyone suggest some ways I can navigate this, especially those who have faced similar challenges in their career progression after their postdoc?

In my country (Portugal) it is possible for a post-doc to run for research grants for lower levels, like masters level which are much more plentiful and easier to get - is this an option in your country? If not, it sounds like the only option is working in the industry - do you not like working with statistics or languages or some other applied skill?

In Australia, the next step would probably be to apply for a DECRA fellowship if you want to stay in academia.

In general you ought to be very proactive in order to find the job in science these days. I don't know specifically about humanities but it's true in general so you either have to be very proactive in talking to different professors and ask literally everyone about possibilities or otherwise you could try to apply for junior PI funding (major Europeancoun countries have different schemas for it) or msca COFUND fellowships. It's a bit late for that but if you can stay in your country of residence a little more you can try it

It is hard in every field these days. You better be very proactive and apply to every opportunity possible. Maybe even lower your perceived standards because any academia-related job is pretty much better than unemployment.


text:
Should I finish all work that I started before PhD graduation?
I have enough work done for my PhD dissertation, but I also have one on-going project which I don't plan to include it in my dissertation. My advisor suggests that I have to finish all the work before I graduate. Is it so?
My advisor doesn't currently have funding and I am not being paid now. He also wants me to share my codes with him and other students, should I do so?    I don't quite want to share my work because 1) I was not be paid; 2) I wrote the codes totally on own and didn't receive any technical helps from my advisor (my advisor is a good story-teller, but he barely knows anything concerning technologies). Am I thinking correctly?

I think you should provide more context for the on-going project. What was the initial agreement between you and your advisor? Was it supposed to be part of the dissertation and then left out? Did you get paid for it before?

If you are not being paid, you should not be spending your time on a PhD.  You should tell your advisor you are not able to continue without financial support.
It is your advisor's job to recommend what you should include in your thesis.  Nobody who has not read your work will be able to advise you on this.
You want to keep the code you have written secret.  To determine if you can do this, you need to consult your university's intellectual property policy.  Very likely the policy says the university owns the rights to all your work, in which case you should hand it over.  In any case, keeping secrets when secrecy is not an ethical requirement is poor scientific practice.

Well, no and yes. In general, it is good to carry away a lot of unfinished projects so that you don't need to start your career with a clean slate. Having a notebook full of research ideas is a big advantage.
But, and this may be the overriding concern, you probably need to do what your advisor requires. It may not be a good career move to push back too hard on such things.
But maybe you can find a middle ground. If there were things s/he has long expected you to complete you would probably be wise to make that happen.
As to the code, it is hard to say. If your project is part of a larger, multi-person, continuing project then the code may well belong to the project. Otherwise you may need to do some negotiating. You will want, at least, recognition, acknowledgement for any future use as well as to guarantee that you may use it for other things.

I recommend trying to go ahead and get the Ph.D. and giving vague assuarances of taking care of the other project.  After you have the union card in your hand, your negotiating position is much stronger and you can decide how to play it.  Prior to it, your advisor can and it sounds like is extorting things that are not a part of getting the degree.

I would not approve a PhD thesis based on vague assurances.  2.  You assume the asker can get a job.  3.  You assume the job has union protection, which is not available everywhere.

I think "union card" here is a colloquial way of referring to the PhD degree, not an actual union.

You should approve it, based on the guy meeting the degree requirements.  Not some side project.  2.  That wasn't a part of the discussion.  3.  Woosh.


text:
Import RIS from zotero to Mendeley while maintaining folder structure
I am trying to export my Zotero library and importing into Mendeley. However, I would like to preserve the folder structure. I cannot seem to do it. Is this possible?

Does Zotero export folders as RIS entries?


text:
Credit for republished writing
I recently had an essay published in a semi-academic journal. It was widely shared and consequently got picked up by a few other online magazines who republished it. How do I list this on a CV? As separate publications with the title, or a note explaining the situation?

Was it peer reviewed?

No, not peer reviewed. It was a commissioned piece in a magazine that discusses theory.

It...got picked up by a few other online magazines who republished it (emphasis added). This surely violates copyright, which (respectable) magazines would surely not do. Have I misunderstood?

People usually add press coverage in a note after the publication eg
C. Xavier “On Human Genetic Mutation”, thesis, 1975
Press Coverage: CNN, BBC
Etc


text:
Has a publisher ever taken action against a researcher hosting the final version of their own paper?
There's an old paper (15+ years) of mine, with average citation numbers. It's pay-walled.
I'd like to just post it on my web site, in its final version. Is this something I might regret?
Has a publisher ever taken any action against a researcher hosting a PDF copy of their own paper?

Do you know the publication policy at your institution?  Sometimes they negotiate specific rights to publish the work, especially if it was produced with sponsored funding.  There can be restrictions (hence open access is a thing), but you should check with your institution where you published the work.  This may help as a primer for what you should look into: https://www.authorsalliance.org/2023/08/18/open-access-and-university-ip-policies-in-the-united-states/

Would you be willing to pay to get the article to open source? I could imagine that after this long the fee for open access might be lower. You might want to reach out to the publisher to see what options they offer to spread your paper further.

I do not know about any instance where  a publisher has taken legal action against a researcher hosting their own work on their own webpages, but such publishers would probably send legal warning and threats before going to such extent. In any case, you have many alternate solutions to publishing exactly the same version as the one protected by a paywall:

It is common usage to have a preliminary version of one's own article on your own webpage (especially in case like the one you described, where the final article is behind a pay-wall), as long as you point to the final article on the website of the publisher.

If your preliminary version is not good enough (or if you do not have one), and if you are really worried about publisher suing you if you publish the official version, I would suggest to do a "pedagogical version" (with some additional explanations and figure, and a distinct formatting from that of the publisher), publishing it on your own website with a pointer to the official, shorter version on the publisher's website.

Hope it helps!

Actually, one could start by asking the publisher for permission to post it. Under some circumstances it might be granted.

If I were a publisher my first step would be sending a DMCA takedown request. Web hosts and internet providers seem to honor these.

Note that in practice the only difference between the final and preliminary version might be that the final version is in the particular style and font of the journal whereas the preliminary version is in whatever style and font the author used to write the paper.

In mathematics, physics, astronomy, and other hard sciences, it is a very normal practice to post articles on https://arxiv.org/  Moreover, in many areas it is regarded unusual not to do so.
This tradition established, no one frowns at people posting those works also on their personal webpages.
To be on the safe side, it is better not to use a specific documentclass provided by the journal. Just use some common format. Like, say, \documentclass[12pt]{article} .
Even if you post the article in the journal format, the chances of someone going after you are asymptotically approaching zero, especially 15 years after publication. Put yourself in the shoes of the publisher: will it be worth wasting their time and resources for the amount of money at stake? But then, again, better safe than sorry: use a standard documentclass, not a journal paper pdf.

That is completely different from posting the journal PDF on your website though, which also is common practice in physics and is explicitly allowed by some publishers.

The journal putting a final version of a paper on arXiv or similar is vastly different from the author(s) doing so without explicit permission. I think this is probably dangerous advice. Preprints, not final versions, are a different matter, since the journal has an investment in the paper.

@Buffy  "The journal putting a final version of a paper on arXiv" You probably misunderstood me. It is the authors who put their works on arXiv. This has become a standard practice.

It's not worth risking to get into trouble with. In most cases you are allowed to give the pdf of your article to individual colleagues, so you may add on your web page a statement that you send a version to interested parties upon request.
And, of course, you should have published the preprint version with a preprint server (such as arXiv) already 15 years ago. However, this may still be possible, but you should check with the publisher and with the license agreement.

Preprint culture was super very common outside of the mathematical sciences until recent years. It's not clear what field OP is in, but that part may not be super relevant.


text:
A paper's citations per year?
Google Scholar shows the total number of citations per year for anyone with an account there:

Is it possible to see a similar figure just for one publication?

Yes, click on the article title and scroll down in the dialog. You can hover over the bars to get raw count.

Thanks, I never noticed this little figure. Unfortunately, it doesn't show the Y-axis, and the plot is kind of squashed, so it can be hard to see trends.


text:
I send my initial Ph.D. proposal to my prospective supervisor, but there was no answer to the document receiving confirmation
A week ago, on July the 16th,2019,  I have sent my initial PhD proposal to a prospective supervisor in New Zealand who I have previously made direct contact with, after 4 days I sent another email to make sure he received my documents, but there was no response. I just want to make sure that he can open my file without difficulty. What am I supposed to do now?

He/she may be on holiday. You may consider being patient or you could contact the university and check about holidays etc

Thank you very much for your response, Mike. I checked the university Academic calendar and see they are in their semester two in the southern hemisphere. It seems that I have to wait a little bit longer to see what happens next. Thanks again.

You may want to wait a while (generally, I will suggest that you wait one week before contacting the prospective professor). Based on my experience, it will take some time for your prospective supervisor to read and comment on a research proposal, if he or she is reading it seriously, which is what you want. If he or she has any difficulty opening your file, he or she will let you know, so you do not need to check with him or her.
If there is no response after one week, you may want to remind him or her by sending an email but make sure you are being very, very, very polite about it.


text:
Can I apply for a Ph.D. position with TOEFL iBT score 86 with writing score 23 while the university want total score 90 with writing 21?
I am going to apply to a university in New Zealand where the university language requirement is the thing that I mentioned in the question. There are other language tests, but I took TOEFL iBT. I have 15 research articles, 7 of them published in high-ranked international journals, and have more than 10 years of research experience. The university does not want to secure a supervisor before submitting the documents, and they choose a supervisor for the candidates. I sent an email to the higher education department, but they just sent me a link containing the Ph.D. requirements that I have already studied. Can I submit the documents to compete for a Ph.D. position? My friends said try your chance and if you have good research background they might give you a position. A friend of mine who is an associate professor in Sweden says it is ok, but I do not know what to do.

What do you have to lose?

Just try, and the worst thing that can happen is that they reject your application.

Thank you very much for your answer.

@astronat the application fee, if there's one.

With 10 yrs research experience and 7 publications in high-ranked journals as you put it, have you considered prospect of PhD by Publication (retrospective route)

That's a good idea. I've never thought about this so far. Thank's a lot!

You could try asking the institution.

I’m voting to close this question because it's too specific to apply to other people.

You can definitely apply. They may just reject your application because you formally don't satisfy the criteria but in this case I would consider that unlikely. Both the particular department you apply to and the university administration want candidates who speak good English but for the department 'almost passed' is probably just as good as 'actually passed' for the language requirement. They care mostly about your academic skills and credentials.
If your application goes to the central administration first, there is a chance it won't even be forwarded to the department and you will be rejected outright. If the department gets your application and they want to hire you they still need to convince administration that you are a good candidate inspite of the language issue but that shouldn't be a big problem.

I really appreciate your answer. It was thorough and eye-opening about what happens if central administration gets our application or the department gets them first.

You most definitely should apply. As @quarague rightly said in their answer, though,

If your application goes to the central administration first, there is a chance it won't even be forwarded to the department and you will be rejected outright.

A time-tested method to prevent this from happening is to tune your application to the research interests of some of the faculty -- and to contact them directly. Doing so, put yourself in their shoes: what a faculty needs is a graduate student enthusiastic about their research and having a sufficiently strong background (which you probably have). If some of the faculty get(s) interested in you, they will make sure that your application receives full consideration, no matter what the grades.
I know cases where this strategy worked.
Wish you luck!

thank you very much for your useful advice.

Just to provide a different perspective, in my department in the US, I know of a professor who couldn’t get the grad school to budge and admit someone who didn’t pass the English requirements.
Different country, probably a different field, so I recommend you get in touch with the department to learn if it is even within their power to admit someone that doesn’t meet the requirements

Thank you very much for your comment.

Yes, you can certainly apply for the Ph.D. position even if you haven't met the specific TOEFL score requirement. There is still a possibility of admission, especially if a professor is interested in your application and provides a supportive letter. Additionally, some universities may conduct interviews to assess your language skills. So, it is possible to be considered for admission, and your friend's suggestion is valid.

Thank you very much for your helpful comment.


text:
Is it advisable to contact faculty members at U.S. universities prior to submitting a PhD application?
In Iran, my home country, it's common practice for students applying to PhD programs to strongly emphasize the importance of emailing potential PhD supervisors before submitting their applications. However, after researching many universities across the U.S., I haven't found much instruction on this approach. Instead, most universities simply advise applicants to upload their documents, pay the application fee, and let the university distribute the relevant materials  to the supervisors we indicate on the application form.
I have a master's degree in industrial engineering, and a friend of mine holds a master's in food industries. We are both unsure of the best approach. Should we continue sending emails to potential supervisors, even if we receive no response, and then send reminders? Or should we simply proceed with the application process without reaching out to faculty members?
The main reason we want to establish some level of connection with a supervisor before applying is the high application fees, which are a significant burden in Iran due to the high inflation rate. We want to ensure that our money is not wasted by securing some level of support from someone within the department.
Thank you for your advice and consideration.

Applications are typically handled by the college and admissions by a departmental committee. You do not apply to a specific faculty. You will typically be asked somewhere in the process (if not at least in your letter) to list who you are interested in working with and why. This is enough in terms of letting faculty know that you exist and may be available if admitted.
Some things to be aware of:

Because so many of your colleagues are doing the same thing, faculty get flooded with emails from Iran (Pakistan and India are also high, but much less so of the latter in recent years). I get about 10 per week from that demographic pool pre application deadline. At some point, it just becomes a nuisance, because frankly all I can do is direct you to apply to the program through the appropriate venue anyway.

Committing to Iranian students is mostly not worth it to a faculty member until they arrive on site. I have trained several Iranian students and they were excellent researchers and lovely people, but the nature of US/Iran relationships and the potential for protracted visa applications means Iranian students are not reliable for a specific start time. So I will not set aside a grant for a potential student from Iran because they may not show up until next cycle.

Be mindful that certain states have implemented or are discussing laws that may prevent hiring Iranian students altogether (among a few other countries including Russia, Cuba, North Korea, etc.). Do a quick Google before sending out emails.

Trying to secure some level of support by establishing a personal connection in a way is trying to game the system which should be merit based and decided by the committee. Faculty know you are doing that because of the sheer number of applicants from that demographic zone (see point 1).  This becomes even worse when one applicant is sending half the department the same email!
Having sat on admissions committees in the past, the only time faculty typically interject is when they have a direct recruit, either from someone they met at a conference/or while giving an invited lecture, or coming from a colleague's lab… or the rare time a faculty is in trouble while on tenure track and we need to help them get more bodies in the lab.

This very much depends on the program. In our PhD program, students must have a faculty member committed to working with them to be admitted to the program.

@MichaelMior sure there are exceptions and that is typically evident when you apply, i.e. you are asked if you have secured an advisor. The general system in the US is a centralized process, hence the general advice.

@R1NaNo Fair enough. FWIW, I'm in the US but did grad school in Canada where I had the same experience of needing an advisor first. But that's fair that my experience might not be the norm.

R1NaNo is correct.

For most purposes and in most fields, it isn't common or necessary to contact potential advisors. It is permitted, but it is unlikely to make any difference in your acceptance into the program or their willingness to take you on. (Caveat: unless you are a superstar in some way)
Even with a masters, which most applicants in most fields don't have, the admission is via a committee and students aren't (normally) hired by professors.
The more common thing is to get accepted, begin your studies, and then meet with a few professors to get a sense of whether it would be mutually beneficial.
In any case, in most fields, one needs to pass comprehensive exams before becoming officially a candidate for the doctorate. This might involve coursework or not, depending on your masters, but the exams cover advanced material in the field and can be quite difficult.
You might ask a university to waive (or reduce) application fees but it wouldn't be the professor who handles that. An Office of Graduate Studies (or similar) might have information. And, an individual professor might not know how the committee might evaluate your application unless they have been on admissions committees. You would get an idea, perhaps, but no guarantees. Competition for limited slots can be very high.
It is common for professors to trash such messages or to simply reply "make a formal application and we can talk later". Follow up mails, when you don't get a reply in a couple of weeks are not going to help. If one of your professors sends an email on your behalf it might be more likely to be answered.
There are a few fields and a few places where students are hired by labs, but that isn't the norm in the US, unlike, say, Germany.
See the answer for the US to the canonical question on admissions for more information. And note the importance of reference letters.

I would be curious to see any data on whether "most fields" don't require contacting an advisor. I totally agree it differs by field, but I'm not sure about the frequency.

There are two main systems of PhD admissions around the world: (1) the "centralized" system where admission is handled by the department and where students are admitted to the "PhD program" and must find an advisor afterwards, and (2) the "decentralized" system where students apply directly to research groups, professors make the decisions themselves, and admission to the department/university/PhD program is merely a formality.
For the most part, universities in the US follow the centralized system.
In cases where the admission system is indeed centralized, there is literally no reason to contact individual professors. (Indeed, sometimes professors will write on their website something like "if you want to work with me as a graduate student, apply to the program–do not contact me directly."  If that's the case: please respect that!)
However, it's often the case that particular PhD programs have elements of the "decentralized" system. The mechanisms vary, but for example professors may have some limited ability to directly hire PhD students (especially if they happen to sit on the admissions committee) or they might be able to influence the admissions committee in some way. The extent to which this exists depends a lot on the field and the university.  In my field of physics, admission to theory groups is usually fully centralized but admission to experimental groups is sometimes partially decentralized.  It's often hard to find out how it works at a particular university, especially if you don't know anyone there and don't have the opportunity to visit, and since often times the admission system is "officially" centralized but has unofficial decentralized elements. One idea for you is to "cold-email" current PhD students at your university of interest. This may be more helpful than asking professors since: (1) students have more free time and often are more willing to help fellow students, and (2) students don't have to be as "politically-correct" as professors, and can tell you the important "unofficial" info.
Finally, it's worth mentioning that: if you genuinely have questions to ask or  ideas to share, rather than simply wanting to say "Hi, I'm interested in your research!" then go ahead and email the professor!  At best, it could lead to a fruitful conversation that may help you gain admission to the PhD program in the end, and at worst you would just be ignored.  Actually, even if all you have to say is the "hi I'm interested", you could just do it; it never hurts to try. (Unless, of course, they explicitly said not to: see my note above)

Thank you for your comment. I particularly like this part of your remark: One idea for you is to "cold-email" current PhD students at your university of interest. This may be more helpful than asking professors since: (1) students have more free time and often are more willing to help fellow students, and (2) students don't have to be as "politically-correct" as professors, and can tell you the important "unofficial" info.

@Afshin: I particularly like this part of your remark --- I too liked that part.

I do receive such emails, and in my case, they clearly show that I should not work with those students. Why? Because I am a staff scientist, and those students have simply grabbed the names of authors from academic journals and sent the same generic email to hundreds, if not thousands, of people. I work with PIs who may (if they have time and resources) engage with a student who cold-emails them, but only if the email is to the point (short), shows effort, and indicates that the student is genuinely passionate about their science, meaning they have read and understood the PI's papers. As for whether this approach helps you get into a PhD program, I have no idea. But whatever you do, avoid sending generic emails.


text:
Loss of motivation to do either academia or industry. Wasting days and feeling lost. Any advice?
I have submitted my STEM PhD thesis to the committee. If everything goes well, my defense will be done by the end of the year. I published 2 papers during my 5 years of PhD, few more to be submitted.
I had applied to few industrial positions a while back, got rejections.
I am feeling unmotivated and lost now. I don't feel like searching for postdoc or industrial positions. I am 31 years old.
I have few pending projects that I should be doing, but I am feeling hopeless and dumb. I am taking this time to study and revise the theoretical concepts from my masters and undergraduate. I should be honing my programming skills. But the more I study, more I am feeling incompetent and lost.
I am literally wasting my time. It's already been over a month since I have not worked. I have just edited my manuscripts, watched some MOOCs. I watch movies or just sleep most of the day. I feel uncertain and uncomfortable about my future. Any advice for me?

Of course it's reasonable to feel exhausted/burned out... but/and, one potentially helpful exercise is ... "imagine how you will pay rent and buy groceries". That is, at some point, "being bummed-out" is a sort of bourgeois luxury, and I think it can be helpful sometimes to realize that. That is, some people have no happy prospects at all, no good choices. Some of us are lucky enough to have interesting choices... yes, which become stressful or disappointing. But don't lose perspective.

Sounds like burn out. Take a vacation. Do something fun and not work.
These sorts of feelings are pretty common for someone completing an advanced degree. But in most cases the feeling doesn't last unless you continue to add stress.
In many cases it is worth seeing a counselor.
But your current activities are probably too related to work to allow for stress reduction.

Talk to someone about this...

I think a nice long vacation to somewhere OP never has been to is an excellent idea. Get rid of the pressure to "have to do something next".

Thank you so much for your answers and advice.

I have suffered from depression in the past due to workload and I agree 100% with this advice. I would also add: don't feel guilty about taking a break from work for a while to recharge your batteries, if you need to. We're not machines and everyone needs that from time to time.

How long is this vacation that you guys recommend? Experiencing the same thing here. :/ I took 2 weeks off and that wasn't enough.

@User293727 Months - even half a year. Two weeks is nothing after a tough time.

Just to add a few things to Buffy's answer:
What you are describing are some of the symptoms of clinical depression. There's no reason to panic, it's really common to go through a bit of depression at the end of the PhD (did it myself and know more than a few people who did). I would even claim that it's a quite natural reaction to the end of a long period of stress... and very often to the beginning of a new period of uncertainty.
That being said, it's really worth seeking professional help, if only to be reassured that it is indeed a temporary thing due to the professional context and not anything serious.
It's also normal to feel lost and confused regarding your career at this particular stage. Going through a PhD is a quite special experience which often affects us even as a person: we are not exactly the person we used to be at the beginning, and not only because a few years have passed! It can be confusing and it often takes some time to fully realize and digest these changes, including realizing the range of skills one acquires during this time. Very often people think that what they have learned is some very specialized knowledge about their field, but there is actually much more to it.
With some time and perspective you will feel better about yourself and discover which direction you want to take in your career. For now if you can afford to take a real break far from anything related to the PhD, preferably with some relatives or friends who have no relation whatsoever to this world, that would be the best way to start the healing process.
In my case I was applying for postdoc positions and got rejected every time. After about 6 months, when I had almost lost hope, I got a positive answer out of the blue. The following year of postdoc in a new town, new institution with new people and on a new topic turned out to be beneficial on every level. It helped restore my confidence and made me understand where I stand professionally and where I want to go.
I wish you the best.

Thank you so much for your answers and advice.

What you describe is understandable, and I'm afraid many people have some similar problems, depending on the place they work (academia or industry) or point in the career (beginning of PhD, end of PhD).
First of all, I'll share a phrase: You can't change yesterday, but you can ruin today by worrying about tomorrow. This comes to your statement:

I feel uncertain and uncomfortable about my future. Any advice for me?

Your future is uncertain and that's fact. So try to accept it, and later think from the other way: you are not limited! The new, bright opportunity or idea might come, sooner or later.

I am literally wasting my time. It's already been over a month since I have not worked. I have just edited my manuscripts, watched some MOOCs. I watch movies or just sleep most of the day.

What you actually do doesn't help you to get out of the situation. And what's even worse, I guess, you are fully aware of that. I had similar problems, with the difference, that I was actually working but there was no effect, and it's a different story. But what could help you are few things:

Cut off what holds you back. I was distrupted by facebook, you are by pointless movies. So drastic change might be a shock, so if you say "I don't watch movies", either you stop only for few days, or you'll find something even worse (I don't know, let's say, scrolling tiktok). So put yourself in the situation that you've no choice. Go somewhere there's no tv nor the internet connection. Change your phone for that time. And explore new opportunities on some holidays - museums, nature, baths, rollercoasters. Something that you might enjoy. What I did, I went for a one-week hike with my old phone and tent to Corsica. I slept near mountain shelters.
Find some new people, which are absolutely not related to what you do currently - it's hard nowadays, but just join new society, or club with the activity you wished. The thing is that now instead of doing that - you watch tv. Think about such change, it actually works for many.
Talk to someone you trust, and you like to talk to and listen to. If you don't have such person - you need a counsellor, as someone already mentioned. There are also many work-job related advisors, who went through similar problems (burnout, lost sense of work) and successfully overcomed them. A friend of mine found a good counsellor - it costs her quite a lot of money she earns, and it takes time, but her academic trauma was extreme. She is much more "normal" person after these meetings.

Good luck!

I was at that point a couple of times. If I were you I would try to find out where it all comes from, are there some frustrations you have with your job or your field? Is there something in your particular workplace that brings you down? That might help you make sense of it all.
One thing that is nice about being in science it is that you have a lot more freedoms than in other fields. You said that you have not worked productively at any project for a month. I consider that to be more or less fine! Smart people often have a wide range of interests and confining oneself to one 'project' may temporarily kill your curiosity. That is often the case during a phd, you are forced to work on a super specialized subject for extended periods of time. If there is no other source of inspiration you sooner or later feel that.
I suggest you just accept the fact that right now you can't give a 100% for these topics, and find what you are passionate about in the meantime. That is fine. We have all been there.
have you done any traveling? Is there a place you'd want to see one time? There sure is a book you have always wanted to read and never found the time to. Have you, like me, been slacking on sporting activities? Volunteering in some kind of way may give you a break and perspective without long-term consequences (career-wise).
(If nothing of this seems to help, consider talking to a professional!)


text:
How bad is it: doing the first PostDoc and PhD at the same place?
In academic recruiting it is often asked that one has lots of experience which includes being at different institutions preferably in different countries.
I would like to who:

What are the potential issues and downfalls for this approach in Academia?

How bad is it from an academic career perspective?

If it is bad, how can one compensate?

The question as phrased asks for opinions, which is going to get it closed. Perhaps phrase it as "what are the potential issues with doing a PhD and postdoc in the same place?"

The reason for wanting to study/work at different institutions is really just so that you see a variety of research approaches. Seeing a variety of organizational approaches doesn't hurt either. But if you study at a place you are in (just a bit) danger of becoming too comfortable. Working with others is a way to break out of that lane.
I question, however, whether working in different countries is all that important, especially if you start out in a large-ish country with a lot of institutions. If you are in Europe, the EU made it possible to do this more easily, of course, as did the general move to English in many places.
But, there are two competing issues.
In the internet age, you can collaborate cross institutions and cross borders much more easily than was possible in the past. Last century if you wanted to collaborate with someone at ETH-Z, for example you either went to Zurich or had to depend on very slow and unreliable mail systems.
The other issue is the pandemic. This has caused a lot of disruption in academia generally and made staying at your doctoral institution for, say, a post-doc much more common as well as much more desirable.
I doubt that, at the moment, staying put will have any negative effects that won't be overcome (even overwhelmed) by good work. So, on your scale, I'd give it (maybe) a 2. In more normal times it would depend more on the actual projects you are involved with. If you aren't stuck in a non-productive situation, then still a 2, but it could escalate if you are. Do good work. Live long and prosper.

Always appreciate your answers @Buffy!

I would like to add a different perspective: moving means adapting to a different work environment, people and group. If you move to a new country additionally, it is also a new culture, new language and completely new life.
If one has been successful at different places, it shows adaptability and flexibility, a willingness to go down the scary path. The first two are certainly good traits to have. All things being equal, I would choose the person who has been exposed to different environments but I would not turn down automatically someone who spent all their life at one institution either. Then again, I am a wanderer myself so probably not completely objective.
(Also, if you are a native English speaker, living for a while in a non-English speaking country can be a formative experience.)


text:
Surviving the contribution requirements
How can one write a thesis in Computer Science, without actually providing the solution, but researching it and explaining how it's being solved right now but not for the specific problem (research area) identified by the researcher.
For instance, imagine that you spend your first year doing a literature review on the subject matter.
Now in your second year you're expected to build this solution, what if you cannot build it, or it requires too much code/time/investment. Obviously, I'm going to try to build the solution, but what if I fail building it, because it will require a lot of advanced code and algorithms.
Is there a way to survive that? Are there methodologies that can be used when you have done a literature review, and then tried to build a solution, potentially failed.
How can one continue and research the topic, write the thesis, or even get published, without having all the code to a solution? Will graphics/images combined with some kind of methodology be a way of actually conducting that research?
Very anxious and need help, motivation and support in order to know how to tackle that period when building the solution is required.

For a doctoral dissertation (I missed the tag, initially), there is probably no way out. I suspect that there are very few doctoral programs, world wide, that will give you a doctorate for a "faithful, but failed, attempt".
The solution is to, sadly enough, pick a different problem, perhaps related to the original, but which is more amenable to solution.
However, if you are doing "real" research and not just going through the motions, there are no guarantees. Research is about the unknown and the unknown can be tricky to reveal. It can be very elusive.
In my dissertation days, I worked on three problems (three bears style). The first was too easy and I could develop a theorem and its proof just about every day. I got a lot of results in a few weeks, but it failed the test of significance. Cute, but it was abandoned. The second was too hard and I couldn't scratch the surface of the diamond/titanium like coating that cut me off from the least result. Also abandoned.
The third problem was just right. Hard, doable, significant (to a very tiny audience, of course). But had I beat my head against the second problem I'd likely still be there almost fifty years later. (Oldest living grad student emerges from dusty cave to say "nope" once again.)
Talk to your advisor. Work out an option for a different problem. It would be good if it were close enough to the original that your literature search gives you tools for the attack. But there is no guarantee. The unknown is the unknown until it becomes known.

Thanks for the reply, wow that is interesting. When you say theorem it sounds like you got a PhD in Mathematics. This is computer science. I'm wondering if the expectations here are different, if found this thread, https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/84774/is-it-research-to-just-combine-other-people-s-work and I am wondering if the solution to the problem I select, could be identified by way of combining 'other solutions' just as the author of that thread had a publication based on that?

Yes, I studied math but taught CS (40 years, about). But "real research" doesn't depend on the field. You are walking into the unknown seeking Truth. (Goodness and beauty is nice, too.)

Is there a way to survive that?

Yes, there is. Daniel Hatton has hinted at it but I'll elaborate.
During your research, there will be many failures and "schedule overruns". Thankfully, this is expected in academia - you are dealing with the unknown, after all. However, if the part you have failed at is actually already done by someone, it rapidly becomes lot less forgiving: a PhD in biology might be expected able to do titration, whimsical as the materials might be, and a PhD in CS might be expected to glue together some code and write something on their own. That gets you into "no guts, no glory" territory - there will be some risks to be taken, and your past experience shall guide you through it. It is very common to have both under- and over-estimates of problem complexity in your career.
The trick here, of course, is to turn "failures" into "wins". Related: this, this, this and this.
While you are dealing with big unknowns there in terms of time estimates, you still get paid for it. And are expected to be able to show some results for it, start to end. That means seeking alternatives and always having a plan B (C, D...). Writing the code turned out to be too hard? How else could you show the merit of your results? Maybe instead of glorious solve-all code you might be able to solve a couple of oversimplified cases which would make writing relevant code lot easier? Maybe you could do some analytical work instead (it would likely take lot longer than writing code but still)?
Bottom line - you may cut your work short and not cover everything that was originally planned but you still have to make sure your work is complete. What this means actually is a pretty specific approach to planning in the first place - you ought to seek these extra exits and don't just hope you'll ride the highway from start to end in more or less given time. The PhD is, in large part, exercise in precisely that.


text:
As a Muslim student, how to refuse to shake the opposite sex's hand without offending them?
I am a postgraduate student and will start my studies in Europe in the next two months. As you may know, it is prohibited in Islam to touch people of the opposite sex (regardless of their faith) except family members.
In case a girl/woman offers her hand, how can I refuse to shake her hand without offending her?
Note: This Islamic rule has nothing to do with underestimating women ( as some comments/answers mistakenly perceived). It is all about the opposite sex; men don't touch women, and women don't touch men (except their families).

Relevant background on Islam.SE: https://islam.stackexchange.com/questions/5487/is-a-muslim-man-allowed-to-shake-hand-with-a-non-muslim-woman-or-vice-versa

Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat.

Same question on workplace.SE from several years ago: https://workplace.stackexchange.com/q/46611/17890

You should be aware that among younger people in the West, especially in academic circles, a significant and growing number decline to identify as either man or woman ("nonbinary", among many other descriptors; "they" as a singular pronoun, etc.). I wonder how your practice will interact with people who self-identify in this way?

It likely will be helpful if you clarify how you are dealing with this situation outside of your academic environment.

@Daniel R. Collins According to Shia Islam, everyone is responsible for their knowledge. Therefore, if, say, a Shia Muslim female encounters a handshaking situation with someone who is acknowledged as a female by her (regardless of how they call themselves, "him", "her", "they), there is no problem with touching.

Alish: curious question: what is the take of your cultural background if someone of the same sex refuses to shake an offered hand?

(+1) for thoughtfully asking this question, which shows the respect you speak of. Nevertheless, the underlying religious question - which I think is considering the rule of not touching the opposite sex which I understand to be a specific outcome of the basic principle of fostering peace with not offending/insulting which falls under the same basic principle, and reconciling them as well as possible - may be suitable for islam.sx or a discussion with an religious advisor or peer group as well.

I intended to stay out of this as such questions are off topic as well as fraught. But....
My suggestion is to just tell them, gently if possible that your religion, or tradition in your culture, forbids you to touch men/women not in your family. If you wear any distinctive clothing it will make some things more obvious to others, but that isn't needed.
I think most reasonable people will just accept it, even if they don't understand it. Those who are unreasonable can be ignored. There are a lot of chauvinists around, as come comments here demonstrate; people who think their standards simply must be adopted by others.
My opinion is that people who don't/can't accept other people as they are have no valid place in academia. There are proselytizers everywhere, of course, both for religion and, for example, western European values. But they have a mission that you don't need to buy in to.
Just say it. Anyone reasonable will accept it. The others won't be convinced but you probably don't want association with them in any case. Haters gonna' hate. Be true to yourself.

Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat. Please see this FAQ before posting another comment.

Folks: it's been three years and we're still arguing about this. That's okay, but please use the above chat link. That chat is permanent and loosely moderated; it exists exactly for things like this. Comments, on the other hand, have a different function, as described in the link above.

Shaking hands with male academics but not with female academics is something many in European academia (including myself) will find somewhat offensive. Explaining this to be inherently tied to you being a Muslim is also problematic, as this can be seen as implicitly questioning whether others not following this rule are "real Muslims". That said, the principle of "no touching without consent" is widely accepted - and requiring you to shake hands with women would go against that.
The usual recommendation for someone with your objectives would be to forgo handshaking altogether and not shake anyone's hand. In a greeting situation where hands might be shaken, put your hands behind your back (to minimize the risk of someone reaching for them and making things awkward), and bow (more than just a nod, but definitely not deeply) while smiling.
From my experience at conferences, etc, there is not that much handshaking happening anyway (even in pre-Covid times). Most people will be vaguely aware of the cultural and personal issues surrounding it, and vaguely accepting. Some Germans really like to shake hands though. Currently I'd expect that shaking hands would violate Covid safety rules at most European academic events anyway.

Regarding "Explaining this to be inherently tied to you being a Muslim is also problematic, as this can be seen as implicitly questioning whether others not following this rule are "real Muslims".": That seems like a general argument against anyone observing any practice associated with their identity, right?  This is, presumably anyone practicing anything in observance of a belief-system couldn't explain themself as observing such a belief because it might delegitimize others' identity as believers of the same?

@Nat It's not about observing the practise, it is about the details of how this is stated. "I don't do X for religious reasons." is completely unproblematic in this regard. Also, broader context is relevant: It may be rude to explain to someone how they are not a "real vegetarian" because they eat Parmesan, but to my knowledge no one was ever killed over being a vegetarian in the wrong way.

"In a greeting situation where hands might be shaken, put your hands behind your back (to minimize the risk of someone reaching for them and making things awkward), and bow (more than just a nod, but definitely not deeply) while smiling." I think that in many Western countries, this would likely be interpreted as sort of weird and foreign, but it's probably better to be thought of as the weird foreign guy than the sexist Muslim guy.

"...as this can be seen as implicitly questioning whether..." those looking for a reason to take offense can usually find it.  I don't think that is a good reason for not being truthful.

@Arno "Shaking hands with male ... offensive."
How if a muslim girl would rather not shake hand with male academics? Is it still offensive?
"Explaining this to be ...real Muslims".
So, I should not follow what I think is right, because other Muslims would be taught of "unreal muslims"? No, every one is responsible for their behavior but not for other's.
All in all, I learned alot from your answer. Thanks.

@Alish It is much less problematic if a Muslim woman would not shake hands with men, but with other women (but I'd still recommend adopting a gender neutral greeting). Regarding your second point, read my comment above to Nat.

@Arno There are, in fact, parts of the world where people can get killed over being a vegetarian in the wrong way, since vegetarianism has gotten tied up with religion there.

I really like the idea of keeping hands behind back and bowing, slightly but respectfully. It solves the gender-discrimination problem, and in pandemic times is probably safer too!

I live in a university community that has both a large number of muslims and a large number of non-muslims. In situations where a handshake might be expected but the Muslim person prefers not to, they put their right hand on their chest. I don't know how widespread this practice is, but in our community it is very well understood and accepted.

This is also consistent with highly upvoted and accepted advice at workplace.se https://workplace.stackexchange.com/questions/46611/how-does-one-politely-decline-a-handshake-due-to-religious-reasons A pragmatic, useful answer.

This. You do not refuse the greeting (i.e. the handshake) entirely; you simply change the mode of the greeting (instead of shaking hands, putting your right hand on the chest and do a small bow). I guess this would be far better received than refusing the handshake regardless of explanation.

@DohnJoe Sure, see my comment under Buffy's answer.

I'm answering mostly from German background, where (especially in the East) handshakes are culturally important. But they are not super-important, handshakes can be replaced by other gestures.
Summary

Try very hard to initiate your preferred greeting gesture before any hand is actually stretched out to you.

Refusing an actually offered hand is far more difficult to do without offending: within Western cultures, refusing to shake hands when offered is a way to intentionally insult.

Respectfully not shaking hands with anyone is acceptable, shaking hands with some but not with others is not.

Please make super clear that you are respectful: there are others who act out their sexism by shaking hands with men but not with women.
By putting in extra the effort of being unambiguously respectful in a way that is easily understood also the in the culture you're moving to, you'll actively contribute to a more peaceful society.

More detailed thoughts

In academia (and many office-type workplaces) handshakes are not very frequent.

In most situations, you can avoid shaking hands in a face-saving (for everyone) and respectful manner.
However, you need to be clear and consistent, and [non-verbally] communicate this early on.

A handshake signalling peaceful intentions as greeting or farewell can usually be substituted by other gestures.

Here in Germany, waving your hand would be a natural and acceptable, but somewhat less formal, substitute. But do get someone to explain and show you the local waving customs. You do not want to accidentally use a flirtatious handwave.
Waving is done at longer distances. I.e., you initiate the waving greeting long before anyone stretches out their hand to you. This gives you a very nice opportunity to suggest a less formal and non-contact greeting mode.
I'd think hand behind your back unusual,
what I've seen more often is the hand on chest gesture @David Ketcheson describes.
The Japanese please gesture you refer to in one of the comments would also look well to me. Answering an offered hand by this gesture may be perceived as slightly awkward, but I think it is a graceful way to save the situation. The perfect timing would be to initiate it just those few milliseconds before the hand is extended towards you.

Hand shaking also serves a business purpose of closing a contract and in this function is a purely professional and formal act.
You're unlikely to find yourself spontaneously in a situation where this formal handshake is required.
If you end up getting some award, poster prize or the like, I'd recommend to tell the committee when they inform you that you don't shake hands for religious reasons and ask how to perform the prize ceremony under these circumstances.

Making a difference with whom you shake hands according to sex or gender is plain unacceptable (as is making a difference according to religion, skin color, ethnicity, disability, etc.).
I think this is where lots of the emotions in other answers and comments are about: differentiating between women and men in shaking hands violates an important Western value (treating all sexes and genders equally) in a way that is perceived as unnecessary considering your need to not shake hands with women: both can be reconciled by not shaking hands with anyone.
Re comment to one of the other answers: this applies also to Muslim women not shaking hands with men but with women. However, so far I've only seen men making such a difference, never women. (We do have a certain self-selection here: several [female] Muslim colleagues who live in Western countries have explicitly told me that they are here because of exactly these Western values.)
Not shaking hands/touching without making a difference may be seen as reticent or shy - that's entirely acceptable.

In case a girl/woman offers her hand, how can I refuse to shake her hand without offending her?

In the Western cultures we're talking about, refusing an offered hand is an offensive gesture that can be used intentionally to insult. Specifically, if someone's offered hand is refused while others are shaken, this is an even stronger insult.
I do think this cultural/religious conflict can be solved gracefully and respectfully by you - but you need to be aware of this and you need to very clearly and unambiguously communicate that there is really nothing disrespectful in your behavior here. One straightforward way of doing this is is to show respect for the Western value of treating men and women equally.
Otherwise confusion and conflict will result: while your action may be with respectful intention, there are sexists who act in a way that observed from the outside is indistinguishable from you shaking hands with men but not with women.
(Among those, many are Muslim men. Sexists with Western cultural background certainly exist as well, but refusing to shake hands with women is not one of the typical ways how they act out their sexism.)
Your colleagues (of any sex or gender) have likely had encounters with Muslims who are sexist (or bigot) and have refused to shake hands (or worse). You'll likely also have colleagues who were hindered in their carreer and/or personal life by sexism.
As your colleagues should respect you and your reticence in shaking hands, you should respect them and their cultural background.
Depending on regional and situational subtleties, your question may be similar to saying "If someone greets me with a Salaam, how can I refuse this greeting [for religious reasons] without offending them?"
Hence my recommendation to try and make sure beforehand that no hands are extended.

As a side note, I'd recommend to also be very careful about spacing if you come from a culture/setting where you are used to crowds and not having much personal space.
Avoiding handshakes will likely be perceived as more acceptable if it comes together with also maintaining more distance in general. The other way round, if you are perceived as intruding too much into personal space and refusing to shake hands is a combination that is prone to be read as very disrespectful.

I would like to and a bit of perspective as to why not shaking a woman's hand could easily be perceived as sexist.
As you assert, the rule of not touching anyone of the opposite sex is not necessarily sexist in a vacuum. However, the social context of academia and the world cannot be ignored. Women have systemically been excluded from academia, especially STEM (which I'm assuming is your background based on your profile). As such, the practice of not shaking the hand of anyone of the opposite sex necessarily negatively impacts women more than men.
For instance, imagine attending a conference in which there are 9 men and one woman (this is not at all uncommon in many fields). If you shake the men's hands but not the woman's you will also contribute directly to the isolation of that woman. Thus, in this broader sense, the act can be viewed as sexist. As such, it will likely be perceived poorly by others. The problem is not the act itself but rather the larger context.

"the rule of not touching anyone of the opposite sex is not necessarily sexist in a vacuum" If we consider sexism at the level of indivuals: any given individual will very likely during their whole life apply the not-touching rule to the same sex [but not the other]. (Chances that OP ever becomes a women are very close to zero.) Such an individual doesn't have their skin in the game wrt. the question what the opinion of the opposite sex towards such a practice is. On a systematic level, the rule thus offers a hiding place to  sexists, even without any sexist history in the West.

My pragmatic advice would be "When in Rome, do as the Romans do". Islam can't prohibit you anything, you have to decide your behavior yourself in the end.

Thereby proving that you have no real principles or beliefs.

Rigidly adhering to beliefs and pragmatism are antitheses. Pragmatism involves weighing the benefits of a decision case to case, principles dictate behavior in advance.

So, then, pragmatism trumps belief?

Regardless, this doesn't really answer the question which is about what the OP should do about not being able to touch women.

@Buffy: doing in Rome as the Romans do IMHO should not be disregarded as lack of principles or belief. The underlying principle is striving for a peaceful society (i.e. OP's not causing offense). I'd say this may be better expressed as "do not cause conflict by offending/insulting". BUT: under the AFAIK basic Islamic principle of fostering a peaceful society, not offending needs to be weighed against the do-not-touch-rule (which I think is the Islamic answer to a problem that falls under the "peaceful society" principle as well, but for which the Western cultures found a different solution.)

But I have to admit that my belief is: Whether harm is caused or avoided due to adhering to principles or due to considering the situation at hand doesn't matter compared to  whether harm or good is caused.

I think I'll start this answer by addressing some of the hostility in the comments (and one of the answers) to your proposed conduct.  As an opening observation it is worth noting that this religious practice potentially applies both ways to Muslim men and women, forbidding either of them to shake hands with a member of the opposite sex.  There have been legal cases involving Muslim women who have eschewed shaking hands with male colleagues in the workplace for this same religious reason (see e.g., here).  So even from a Western-egalitarian perspective, while the practice involves differential treatment of men and women in individual cases, it "balances out" in a holistic sense.
It is also worth pointing out that Western countries also have norms about what physical touching between members of the opposite sex is appropriate in professional settings, and these norms also distinguish between the sexes in some cases.  If you doubt this, just think for a moment about what kind of touching of a man in his chest area would be considered innocuous (e.g., a friendly slap on the pectoral muscle), and now think about whether you could do the same with a woman.  So really, while some specifics differ, I find it quite laughable that some consider the OP's proposed conduct to be offensive.

Getting to the substance of your matter, universities as institutions tend to be quite accommodating of religious differences in cultural practices.  Some universities have even adopted an explicit "Muslim handshake rule" in their policies to explicitly state that this practice is allowed, and is not in breach of other policies (see e.g., here).  So at an institutional level, you will probably find that there is general support for the fact that some religious people will not want to touch members of the opposite sex, including shaking hands with them.  At an individual level, when dealing with other students, there is going to be a lot of variation, and some small minority of people might find this offensive.  I doubt it will be many, but that will depend on the culture at your university.  If you are looking for a way to "soften the blow" for people who find this practice strange or offensive, you could consider substituting an alternative method of greeting that does not involve touching (e.g., a nod of the head, a bow, etc.).  I'll leave it to you to determine what alternative greeting is consistent with your religious practices and preference.  As for dealing with other men, I disagree with the other answer that suggests that you should cease shaking hands with women and men altogether.  I don't think that is necessary, so you should feel free to continue shaking hands with other men if that is your preference.
Although he didn't end up mentioning it in his answer, I quite like Buffy's original suggestion that you could print up small cards explaining this practice and  hand them to people in the event that they show signs of offence to your practice.  This is a practice that has been used successfully in other cases where a person has an individual practice or disability that they think might cause offence to others.  (A recent example was shown in the movie The Joker, where he uses cards to explain a disability that causes him to laugh uncontrollably.)  The other nice thing about the card idea is that it helps to teach other students explicitly about your cultural practices.  Students are at university to learn, so if they learn a little bit of information about Islam at the same time, that is a little educational bonus.
Finally, you should be careful with citing Islam as a blanket reason for your practice, since there are evidently many Muslims who do not use this practice.  Thus, if you decide to specify the religious basis for this practice then I think you should be a bit more specific, or just say that your particular type/sect/practice of Islam forbids it.

"So even from a Western-egalitarian perspective, while the practice involves differential treatment of men and women in individual cases, it "balances out" in a holistic sense." Thanks to the feminist double standards in Western society, this isn't true. A Muslim woman refusing to shake hands with men is seen as exercising her bodily autonomy as a woman. A Muslim man refusing to shake women's hands is seen as a sexist pig who refuses to accept women as his equals.

Whilst there are certainly people who will adopt such a double-standard, I am speaking here of the normative ideal.  To the extent that someone adopts such a double-standard, I consider it a departure from the ideal.  But yes, it is unfortunate that some people adopt such thinking.  (And in fairness to feminists, I think that many would not adopt this double-standard, though some certainly would.)

Feminist double standards are real and functionally omnipresent within Western institutions. Behaviour regarded as acceptable for women is unacceptable for men. The article you quoted where a Muslim woman won a court case on this matter also discussed instances where Muslim men lost similar court cases.

One of the reasons why it is much more acceptable for women* to refuse bodily contact is because many, many more women are on the receiving end of unwanted body contact from men. The overwhelming majority of women has been inappropriately touched, groped or faced even worse sexual misconduct during their life (and no, this doesn't mean that in cannot happen the other way around, it does, but much less often).

"a friendly slap on the pectoral muscle" is absolutely not ok behaviour in a university. No matter who is doing the touching. I'm maybe ok with someone I know well touching my shoulder or upper arm, but unless life or limb are at stake, no one should be touching anything else.

"Behaviour regarded as acceptable for women is unacceptable for men. " this is completely appropriate.  @Sursula is spot on.  I have a female colleague who occasionally gives me a hug, I stand there and allow myself to be hugged & take it as a high compliment that I am trusted not to take it the wrong way (especially as I am a foot taller).  I wouldn't give a female colleague a hug in any circumstances, for precisely the reasons Sursula suggests.  If I liked them enough to hug them, the last thing I would want to do is make them worry about their personal safety even for an instant

The very first time they ask you to shake your hand, you should simply tell them "Sorry, I'm a Muslim" and they will never ever try it again because they are nice enough to understand the religious aspects in my view.

Your answer could be improved with additional supporting information. Please [edit] to add further details, such as citations or documentation, so that others can confirm that your answer is correct. You can find more information on how to write good answers in the help center.

@Tamjeeda Thanks, but this will cause them to think that the reason I don't shake hand with them is that they are not Muslim while this is not the case.

@Tamjeeda In case you think that the accepted answer is similar to yours, I'd say that the main difference is the phrasing of what I'd say; instead of "sorry, I'm Muslim" I'd rather say "sorry, I can't shake hand with you due to religious reasons", and make a respectful gesture at the same time (My preferred one is Japanese Please gesture https://learnjapanese123.com/popular-japanese-gestures/#3_Please )

@Alish good choice - most Europeans and Americans will understand this gesture and it gives you something to do with your hands.


text:
What happens if a mathematician publishes an incorrect proof of a theorem or conjecture?
I understand that normally the proof is peer reviewed by others before submitting for publication, but what happens if it turns out there was some problem in the proof invalidating it? Is their career over?

Certainly not. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiles%27s_proof_of_Fermat%27s_Last_Theorem

@zabop. Good example. Famous mistake and famous recovery by a superb mathematician.

The academic publishing system has two main ways of dealing with errors in already published papers: corrections and retractions.
For errors that can be corrected without invalidating the main conclusions of a paper, the journal can publish a correction. This is a separate published item that explains the error that has been made and how it should be corrected.
If the paper is not salvageable, the journal or authors should retract it. The journal will publish a separate retraction notice that basically says that the previously published paper is removed.
One should note that the existence of these mechanisms does not mean that they are always used when errors are detected. In many cases errors in published papers just persist. Probably this is due to the correction process being quite formal, and there are little benefits associated to going through it.
Concerning the issue with the authors' career, it mostly depends on whether the problem was an honest error, or misconduct by the authors such as falsifying something to achieve better looking results. In the case of an honest error, it would in most cases not be the end of a career, though it may leave a bad impression. In the case of misconduct, there are a number of examples where it indeed means the end of a career.

Also, the error itself matters. Rarely are proofs blatantly wrong, they're normally subtly wrong, and later this is pointed out by other authors in another paper. It then becomes part of the knowledge of the field that Paper A fails for Case X. Sometimes that means that Paper A is no longer useful (but still worth keeping in the literature as negative results are important, as you might not choose Paper A's approach for a similar problem); sometimes that means that if you know that Case X won't occur, then Paper A is used, otherwise Paper B (which might have other flaws).


text:
Which of the arXiv licenses are compatible with the IOP preprint policy?
IOP policy reads:

IOP Publishing Limited ("IOP") supports the early sharing of research via preprint servers and other early sharing platforms and our authors are permitted to share a Preprint of their article anywhere at any time (see below for a definition of a Preprint).
The only restrictions are that authors must not transfer or assign copyright when sharing the Preprint, or make the Preprint available under any exclusive licence."

So, which of the arXiv licenses are compatible with the above?

Any of the arXiv licenses can be chosen; they are all compatible with the above quoted terms of the IOP policy. From arXiv Submittal Agreement Terms and Conditions (revision 0.8.3):

Management of Copyright
This grant to arXiv is a non-exclusive license and is not a grant of exclusive rights or a transfer of the copyright. The authors retain their copyright and may enter into publication agreements or other arrangements, so long as they do not conflict with the ability of arXiv to exercise its rights under the License. arXiv has no obligation to protect or enforce any copyright in the Work, and arXiv has no obligation to respond to any permission requests or other inquiries regarding the copyright in or other uses of the Work.
The Submitter may elect to make the Work available under one of the following Creative Commons licenses that the Submitter shall select at the time of submission: Creative Commons Attribution license (CC BY 4.0); Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license (CC BY-SA 4.0); Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike license (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0); Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0); arXiv license (https://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/license.html); or Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication (CC0 1.0).
If you wish to use a different CC license, then select arXiv's non-exclusive license to distribute in the arXiv submission process and indicate the desired Creative Commons license in the actual article.
The Creative Commons licenses are explained here: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/.
Metadata license
To the extent that the Submitter or arXiv has a copyright interest in metadata accompanying the submission, a Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication will apply. Metadata includes title, author, abstract, and other information describing the Work.

Bold emphasis in first paragraph is mine.


text:
Is it possible to submit to Nature Toolbox?
Recently, I found this list of journals that accept articles describing open-source software. In the list, Nature Toolbox is mentioned. I looked it up and found that it is a category within Nature, but I have not found any information regarding the submission and publication process for this submission type.
Is it really possible to submit an article to Nature Toolbox or is this part commissioned-only?

"Toolbox" is not the name of a journal but of a section of Nature itself. As far as I know, articles published there are comments about existing software. It is  not possible to submit a "toolbox" article from Nature's manuscript tracking system, which most likely means that "toolbox" articles are invite-only.

So... if you want to do it, the best way is to contact Nature’s editors?

@nick012000 I guess. Either that or you are asked to write a commentary.


text:
Can a single college course section be taught by two professors?
For example, having half of the lessons taught by one professor, and the other half of the lessons taught by another professor.
If this isn't possible, why isn't it possible?  Can you provide any links to further information on how it's done (e.g. dividing the compensation)?

It's certainly possible; I've attended a lot of such courses. The professors teach different topics based on their specialty.

It's often called "team teaching" or "co-teaching".  Arrangements could vary, but the simplest thing would be to split the compensation 50/50.

It is pretty common. Regulations, details can be different country by country, university by university.

For several years I taught a doctoral level course with a colleague. We were both always present for every class. Each of us took a different "perspective" with the material. One of us would take the lead at any given moment and the other would comment as he felt inclined. Students could ask either of us questions at any time.
The course was very broad, but, generally speaking, centered on Agile Software Development, both its technical and managerial aspects. It was a bit broader than that implies, actually.
We were both salaried, as is typical in US, and each of us got "full credit" for a course taught. The course was considered important enough by the university that the pay issue was basically ignored.
Not every university would be willing to ignore pay issues, of course, and, I suspect, no university would make a general practice of it for many courses. Few would, anyway.

"no university would make a general practice of it." I know one where every student is required to take a "senior seminar" which is taught by two faculty.

@AnonymousPhysicist, actually, I meant for every course. Clarified now.

I can think of at least one world-famous university in which certain departments teach virtually all their classes this way.

Yes, it's possible, obviously. As for the details, it varies hugely between different countries and universities so you won't get a precise answer.

I shared a course with two other professors, we each taught our own cohort of students - biggest issue is making sure you all cover the same material per week. Students ask questions that can easily cause "drift" away from the main topic - usually interesting, but the main material still needs covering as that is what is in the exam.
I have shared other courses where I covered one set of topics and the other covered a different set of topics - works fine but you have to stick to what was agreed and communicate.

Thank you for responding! When you say "shared a course", you mean it was a single course section?

It was a module, we shared it, all teaching the same material.

+1 I have also co-taught courses where I covered a subset of the material (lectures, homework, exam questions, etc.) and the other instructor covered the rest.  I have also co-taught courses where the other instructor gave all the lectures and I wrote all the homeworks and exams and handled all the other administrivia.  In both cases, all instructors were paid their full salary.  There are many many models.