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What are the steps for republishing imagery held in archives?
I want to reuse, in a new work, some period drawings and paintings that are held in various libraries and archives. Presumably this means paying for their time spent helping me. To make the process go as smoothly as possible, what is the correct process for obtaining high-quality copies of these materials and permission to republish them? Will I need to already be working with a publisher before acquiring the artwork? Will I need to sign a terms-of-use contract with each archive? Will I be allowed to crop and adjust color levels to improve print quality? Is there anything in particular to watch out for?

Before requesting publication rights for images it is best to have an arrangement with a publisher, as most institutions require you to provide details about the publication venue, the type of publication (print or digital or both), the print run and so forth when you are requesting the images. Then you have to make a request to the image holder (provided the copyright is not an issue for your, as you indicated in a comment to another answer) either using a web form or by email (in most cases you should be able to figure out from their website who the contact persons for such requests is. They will inform you about the costs, and then you can decide if you go on with signing an agreement (yes, you have to sign a contract with each institution providing images even in the rare cases when the images are provided for free), and they are expected to provide you with high resolution images after the payment (if they charge a fee, as most such institutions do, at least in my field). You surely can crop and process the images as required for the production of your publication. Keep in mind that in the worst case, the process can take months, so it is best to start it as soon as you reach an agreement with the publisher.

Any creative work is either owned by its copyright owners, or is in the public domain.
When it is in the public domain, you can reproduce and alter the copies anyway you like.
When there is a copyright owner (and from your question I would suspect that this is the case), then most reuses of the creative work requires permission of the copyright owner. Some copyright owners will be very liberal in what they allow you to do, while others will be very restrictive. Some will demand money, others won't.
So, the first step is finding out who the copyright owner is. Then the second step is to propose your plans with the creative work to them, and see whether they allow this and whether they require any (monetary) compensation.

I'm afraid I think there is a third case: original work in the public domain, but the scanned imagery that the archive provides for me is not. I do have an idea about which archives have the images I want, but haven't yet asked them for their terms.


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Significance of Summer Schools in CV
When applying for PhD in US or EU, do universities give any importance to the summer schools (7 days/15 days) candidate has attended? I mean, are the summer schools a worthy addition to the CV?

If you did something relevant that relates to the PhD position you are applying to, then it should be fine to include it in the CV.

My contacts in the chemistry department at my institution have told me that "summer schools" don't really count that much, and that your research experience/publication record, letters of recommendation, and coursework rigor/performance are worth much much more.
Let me tell a story. A certain institution has been putting on a "summer school" for graduate students in a certain branch of mathematics for a few years now. One of the graduate students from my institution went one year. He told his advisor that quite a few students attending treated it like a paid-for vacation (indeed, I thought the attendees were paid an obscene amount to such sit in on a few lectures upon finding out how much they were paid). Those people simply didn't show up to the lectures or, if they attended, were just doing their own thing (reading something else, on their laptops, sleeping, etc.) during the lectures.
So it would make sense, at least to me, there would (and should) be little to no weight put on a summer school that consisted of not requiring any 1-on-1 interaction with faculty nor any sort of submitted written work on the part of the students. Or not requiring doing anything in a lab, in this case I suppose.
Certainly it doesn't hurt to include a summer school on your CV though, I just can't see it helping all that much either.

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Is the number of non-EU/EEA students seeking PhD in the UK declining?
I am just curious.
Coz, after all of those tuition fee hike, job visa ban, and so on is the UK still a popular destination to do a "3-year PhD"?
Is the number of non-EU/EEA students seeking PhD in the UK declining?

There's no job visa ban in the UK.

@AlexeyB., yes there is.....Degree holders are bound to get out of the country as soon as they complete their education.

Not if you find a job or apply for a doctorate extension scheme.

@AlexeyB., what happens after PhD and Postdoctoral?

What do you mean?

@AlexeyB., I mean, Suppose, somebody completes a PhD and a postdoctoral in then UK. That means, all his academic options are used up. Can he still do job in the UK?

There's no such things as using up the academic options. You can get multiple postdoc (RA in UK terms) appointments and maybe a lectureship eventually. It is true that the competition for academic positions is high, and the rules of Tier 2 (work) visas are complicated, but there's no ban.

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Citing the procedures of a research lab
Is there a specific way to cite the unpublished procedures of a research lab, or even to use the lab itself as an information source for citation?
I'm writing a mock SOP for a course that requires a reference for the procedures, but my lab supervisor only told me to "cite the lab" for an unpublished and informal list of steps for MIC determination.

How is this any different from citing any other unpublished document?

With an unpublished document, one would use individuals or organizations as authors. For this citation, the lab itself (i.e. J. Smith Research Lab) would be the author. There's no example of anything like this in the APA manual, so I'm concerned that it's an inappropriate way to cite.

How is the J. Smith Research Lab not an organization?

Is this for "Minimum inhibitory concentration" in microbiology? I've given an answer appropriate to a general audience but in this case it's a fairly established method in the field. Is there not a paper doing it similarly? It's also a simple technique that you could describe in full in a couple of sentences (as we did in a genetics group assignment), you're literally just growing bacteria in a range of concentrations, right? It may even benefit your students to have complete resource including this. If it's your own protocol you don't have to cite it (unless in a paper/thesis already).

It depends if these procedures common in your field.
If they are you can briefly describe them as established (or widely adopted) practices in the field or naming the well known techniques. e.g., We used sample prep technique X, measured Y with Z equipment, and used A, B, then C tools to analyse it. Another option is to cite the published method or protocol in a journal and describe how (and why) your lab modified the procedure.
This citation does not have to be reputable journal (although it is preferred), it could be a thesis from a previous lab member or a lab's website, blog, or GitHub repo as long as the source is acknowledged and the full procedure can be accessed (reproduced, critiqued, or verified). Perhaps considering putting your procedure on GitHub? We do this for both our workshop lesson resources and procedures shared within the lab.
Failing that, your other options (in order of preference) are to cite articles "in press", "unpublished work" or "personal communication". Generally this refers to early access to data that your audience should be able to access once it's been published too. These are accepted practices in many fields but generally used as a last resort when a paper can't be given. Note that a "personal communication" is generally citing a person rather than a group, in this case probably your professor. Personal communications are cited in text but not listed in the bibliography. How accepted this is depends on the person the reputation in the field of you're citing and whether you can describe how they communicated it (e.g., in lecture notes, a seminar, or course laboratory manual). For example it is clear here why the personal communication is from a reliable source:

This analysis used the method of Parker et al. (2009) designed for microarray data with the following modifications for RNASeq data (J. S. Parker, personal communication 2016).


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Is this a good enough reason for not taking an educational loan?
I have recently been accepted for a degree program in Economics at LSE and am currently applying for Financial Aid. The application form expects that I have already applied for an educational loan to fund my education, but honestly, I have not. I intend to enter academia and so I think that in the near future (up until I do my Ph.D.) I won't be able to repay the loan. Will this be good enough for the committee evaluating my application?

"up until I do my Ph.D." Do you mean with this that you expect you won't be able to repay any loans until after you finished a phd, or until you start a phd?

until after I have finished a phd.

Do PhDs generally not have a salary attached where you live? And do education loans expect you to start repayment directly after finishing the degree, even if you are doing a PhD without a salary?

Usually, Ph.D.s do have a salary, but I guess that is just enough to take care of your living costs. The loans in my country require me to start paying up within a year's of notice and so supposing I do join a Ph.D. program, I will not be able to afford my living cost.

"I guess that is just enough to take care of your living costs" This is something to look into then. For example in the Netherlands a PhD student will get 2174 euros per month before tax in the first year increasing yearly to 2779 per month in the last year. This is by no means enough for a life in luxury, but with frugal living allows you to make considerable loan repayments. Also some loans have grace periods where you can stop repaying for a time, possible contingent on low income.  And of course essential here is the minimum repayment amount per month.

The thing is that I am not sure where would I get accepted as a Ph.D. candidate and so I cannot predict how much stipend I will be receiving in the future. It could be sufficient to repay the loans or it may not be. The student who has taken the loan is expected to repay after 6 months or 1 year after completion of the graduate program.

Then I'd ask the financial aid office. Explain to them that an educational loan would probably severely limit your options of persuing a PhD and that you rather not apply for one because of that. They must have seen this situation before (every year people apply for PhDs), so they could help you best knowing all your specific details.

I shall contact them right away. Thank you for your time and advice...

I'm confused.  Normally the reason to get a loan would be to pay the cost of being in the degree program (tuition, living expenses, etc).  If you don't get a loan, then you have to pay those costs yourself right away, instead of paying over time.  And if you don't have the money to repay the loan, how are you going to pay those costs?

I am applying for Financial Aid. The application form wants to know why I can't apply for loans. If I manage to convince them that I can't apply for loans, they'll give me enough scholarship to cover my costs.

These are subtleties that could easily get your application dismissed on formal grounds. So the best thing you can do is talk to the appropriate department in the LSE directly. They may tell you it is ok, or they may point you to other options for taking educational loans. But they know (make) the rules, and we don't.


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Should I mention my interest in teaching in SOP and recommendation letter?
I'm currently thinking of applying to PhD in Economics, after much consideration and reading through answers in my previous question: Should I do master or phd to teach in community college.
Basically, I'm interested in teaching in post-secondary level, and I have little interest in doing research (though I'm currently doing full-time in a research institution). However, PhD is recommended to teach in post-secondary level in most institutions, at least in United States.
As I'm thinking of preparing for Statement of Purpose, I'm conflicted as how I should mention my passion in teaching, since SOP is meant to show research interest. Should I not mention anything about my desire to teach? If I do mention, should I mention that I'd like to teach rather than do research upon completion of PhD? How do admission view applicants who are more interested in teaching?
Similarly, I'm unsure of how I should talk to my professors who agreed to write recommendation letter about my deviation from being an enthusiastic researcher. I have two professors from undergraduate that I'm close with, but they only know that I used to be very interested in research when I was in college, and they do not know that I have lost much interest in research after graduating and working in a research institution. Should I let them know that my interest has changed? How about my current research advisor, from whom I'm thinking of asking for my third recommendation? Should I let him know as well?

You should be clear with your previous and current advisors about your current research goals. That being said, teaching and research are not a dichotomy. Teaching may be performed using research methods and vice-versa. Your advisors may or may not feel that way.

I am not sure if this is true everywhere, but I don't think it would help your admissions to Economics at my top 40 US institution to mention you really want to pursue teaching-centered jobs after graduation. That may not be true at lower-ranked programs.

For a SOP, you may mention something about your desire to teach. However, I think at most higher-ranking economics departments, this would not be viewed as positively as having a strong research interest and agenda. You may gain a small benefit if the reader of the SOP gets the sense that you are a "team player" who will do a good job TAing and not make a fuss about it.
(I will note here that my advisor has told me that some faculty are extra  suspicious about investing effort when they hear too much discussion of teaching from a woman - they already think of women as being less serious about research because of biases and discussion of teaching by a woman can support their stereotypes. So note this if you are a woman.)
I would say that it is not inappropriate to talk to your recommenders about your desire to teach economics. However, I would tend to frame it as and interest IN ADDITION TO research. You can say, I really see myself ending up at an institution that combines teaching with research - what would you recommend I do at this point to make myself the most competitive for those types of places?

That was helpful! I especially didnt think about stereotypes about women teaching. Thank you!

I'm going to suggest that you do a graduate degree in education, with research in pedagogical methods, which, of course you could give an economics focus to.  In fact, you may even be able to find a degree program designed around exactly such a combination.
A degree in education would make you an attractive candidate for a teaching position; it would help you become a more effective teacher; and it would fit well with your interests.

Thank you for your answer! Though your answer does not directly answer my question regarding SOP and recommendation letter, it has given me a new insight! I have indeed seen such programs, but I wasn't sure if those were necessarily the degrees that would make me a competitive candidate against other phds in the field. This answer would better suit the question in the link! I'd accept this if no one else answers my question, but I'd like to see the question about SOP and recommendation letter answered, for the public's benefit.

@Hosea - I forgot to say, do talk to some people in departments where you might be applying in a few years to make sure you're heading in the right direction. // Sorry I didn't answer your question.  On the one hand, I don't think "I am much more interested in teaching than doing research" would go over big; on the other hand, it might not be very ethical not to be up front about that; if you really want to pursue a PhD in economics, it would be best if you could find some research topic you could be honestly enthusiastic about in your essay.  Dawn has a very good point, though.

That was exactly my concern. I certainly do not want to hide my fading interest in research to my advisors, and I'm not so sure if I can write a genuine SOP that sounds like I'm honestly enthusiastic about. But at the same time I know admission committees are mostly looking for people with high motivation in research, and I'll be killing my application if I make it sound like I have no interest in research. I hope I'll find a research topic that I'll love to explore one day.

@Hosea - As Dawn said, a lower-ranked school would be less likely to mind.

I'll remember that when I'm applying!

I am not sure about community colleges, but any four-year,teaching focused university would not hire someone with a Education PhD to their Economics department.

@Dawn - What about something like the Doctoral Specialization in the Economics of Education at Michigan State?  Might that go over better?

I believe that program is training people to be researchers whose work focuses on the Economics of Education - basically the economic evaluation of educational policies. The OP wants to teach economics courses, which is quite different.

@Dawn - Oh dear.  I was trying to find something like this which was a great program but doesn't exist anymore, BUT for economics.


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Recommendation letter from assistant professor vs professor
Which one will be given more importance? A strong recommendation from a new assistant professor or an average recommendation from senior professor?

You will want a recommendation from someone who is familiar with your work and who can speak to your strengths. Overall, I think the content of the letter matters more than the exact person writing it, provided s/he has the qualifications to write the letter in the first place (e.g., a professor or someone otherwise qualified to assess your academic and research work).
If you have had considerable interaction with the new professor through research, class time, et cetera, then s/he would be a good choice for a letter. Probably the only time you may even consider going with the senior professor (and weaker letter) is if the absence of the letter from him/her would be a red flag. For example, if the senior professor was your advisor, most people would find it concerning not to see a letter from him/her.

Sorry to down vote, but I think not mentioning experience at all as one of the qualifications to write a letter is really doing this question a disservice.  It's not the only thing that matters, but it does matter.

I like this answer.  A mediocre recommendation from a senior professor can be a kiss of death.

@aparente001 I agree with that.  The answer to the OP's question probably depends a lot on what an "average" recommendation means.  I just think that seniority is an important component of "who can speak to your strengths."

@BenWebster - Yes, I got a bit stuck on what was meant by "average" too.  Good point.

By average I meant that when faculty uses a generic template to write and the referral which contains nothing unique about the candidate. A very generic letter.

The effect of multiple recommendation letters isn't additive (usually it's subadditive).  So, it's better to have recommendation letters from different types of professors who know you in different ways.  A strong recommendation from a new assistant professor could carry a lot of weight, but they don't have a lot of experience to compare your work with other students, which a more experienced professor would.  So you do probably want a letter from a senior person who has worked with a lot of students, but luckily, you're allowed to get letters from multiple people, so you don't have to choose.

So you do probably want a letter from a senior person — Not if it's "average".  Anything less than a strong letter is damaging.

@JeffE To me, it's totally impossible to know what the OP means by "average."  Obviously, it would be best to have three letters from glowingly enthusiastic, extremely eminent and experienced professors who know the candidate extremely well in lots of different contexts.  But generally, students have to make a lot of trade-offs.  I'm just trying to put out that asking a less experienced person is trading something off, though in many cases it is a tradeoff worth making.

By average I meant that when faculty uses a generic template to write and the referral which contains nothing unique about the candidate. A very generic letter.


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Coauthoring with a reviewer possible?
I recently submitted an article to a math journal and got a response
from a reviewer, with an attachment. In it, I have found some good
advice that could improve my article tremendously.
I am a bit suspicious of its accuracy since it could resolve
what I have been working with for some months in a few
sentences.
But anyway, it was enough for me to ask the reviewer for
coauthoring with me.
My question would be, does it often happen that
an author asks a referee for coauthoring during
the review process? Or could it even be possible?
I was given a month to revise my article, but
the chance that I could revise successfully
by myself seems to be fat.
I would be looking forward to any advice.
Thanks in advance.

We cannot really give you much advice, as we don't know the details. You should contact the managing editor at the journal (or, if you don't know who that is, just contact any editor of the journal). Describe your situation. The editor can talk with the reviewer while maintaining initial anonymity. Good luck. --- I'm closing this question as it's not actually about mathematics.

Related question: How to offer a reviewer to be co-author?

Yes, it is possible.
If you want to invite the reviewer to be a coauthor, send a request through the editor.  If the editor agrees, they will forward your invitation to the reviewer.  If the reviewer accepts, they will reply to the editor, who will introduce the reviewer to you, and off you go.

The answer to this kind of questions cannot be absolute or definitive. All depends on details (how much did the referee improve your proof, does it make sense to ignore the proof of referee, etc).
I've not direct experience but I have a friend to which this arrived at least three times in the last years. At each time it was the occasion to start a new and fruitful collaboration.
So I see this in the positive.
Hope this can help...

I can't answer your question directly I'm afraid, as I'm just not 100% on how the process would work in this situation.
But for sure, a new reviewer would need to be found for the revised manuscript. Potentially, you might need to withdraw the submission and start from fresh. It's a unique situation and I'm sure the editor would be understanding.
(My experience is in engineering journals, however I imagine the 'no conflict of interest' requirement between authors and reviewers would be applicable here too.)


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Is the gap between lower- and higher-ranked graduate programs in pure math really that big?
Initially I asked this question on math stackexchange but it seems academia stackexchange is more appropriate place for this.
Note: a question similar to that I'm going to ask was discussed here, but answers to the questions I'm going to ask were not covered there.
Basically, I'd like to understand how significant is the gap between lower- and higher-ranked graduate schools in mathematics. I'll be referring to the USN graduate schools ranking. Let me fix the notation straight away. By 'higher-ranked schools' (which I will also refer to as 'top schools') I will mean top 10 (or if you want top 20) and by 'lower-ranked schools' I will mean schools ranked 20-40 (all according to USN).
What I understood from the question I provided the link to above is that being amidst 'top students' at a higher ranked school is more beneficial than being amidst 'average students' at a lower-ranked school. Also, higher-ranked schools may be more diverse and provide more opportunities in meeting people from other top schools as well as in obtaining a job in the academia.
But I still have a couple of questions.
The first one is about the first two years of the study. Is, in general, the instruction level at lower-ranked schools worse than that in higher-ranked ones? Also, are graduate corses at 'top schools' more difficult to master and to pass? If so, does it imply that one needs a better preparation (i.e., a stronger mathematical background) to succeed in a top graduate program? Also, does it imply that the students enrolled in a top program will eventually have a better mathematical background that will make it easier for them to conduct research? If you have anything else to say about the coursework at top universities in comparison to that at lower-ranked universities, I would appreciate it.
Secondly, in the question I referred to above (or elsewhere), some people mentioned that exposure to new ideas in various branches of mathematics (which is one of the advantages of top programs) is a consequence of the size of the department and the 'quality' of faculty/post-docs/students. Whereas I do agree that students at top universities are more knowledgable and creative, I cannot see why the other assertions hold. Correct me if I am wrong but the the math department of say Stony Brook or Indiana (ranked 25 and 34, resp.) is not smaller than that of Chicago or Columbia (ranked 5 and 9, resp.). Furthermore, the vast majority of professors in all of the places mentioned are alumni of Harvard/Princeton/Berkeley/MIT/Chicago/Stanford (i.e., a top school in my terminology); post-docs also come from very prestigious places to all of the four mentioned universities. So what makes Chicago or Columbia 'better' than Stony Brook or Indiana? Just their name? (Of course Chicago may have more publications than Indiana but I don't think that graduate students feel it.)

better faculty = > better advice

There's a lot to respond to here. Keep in mind that those graduates of the top schools are not teaching at the top universities, so perhaps they were poor performers at better schools?  As a very general answer: the graduate experience is what you make of it.  I had poor students when I taught at top schools and stellar students when I taught at not-top schools.  If you want to get into academia these distinctions might matter a little but if you don't, then probably -- as you already seem to intuit -- not so much.

in my personal experience the rankings are useless. I am a mathematics PhD student at a university with some of the most accomplished topologists in the world, and yet my graduate program gets very low rankings.  Connect with the right people and have a bit of luck in your research.

Looking at the problem as someone who has been on a variety of hiring committees and grant panels,
I would say that in general, having someone with a good reputation in the field writing a strong letter of support is the most important factor, together with the journals where you have published.
In view of this, the school doesn't really matter: if you do your PhD in a small school but with a supervisor with a solid reputation who produces a multi-page letter highlighting well your contributions to the field, you will usually fare better than if you come from a very well known school with very little endorsement from your supervisor. Of course, some people tend to get a little bit star struck, but the dynamics of a hiring (or funding) committee usually smooths things out. Actually, contrary to what Dave Kaye was saying, I would argue that the school matters less in academia, more if you want to venture out into the real world, where name recognition is more important and might help you land your first job.
So why favor a good school? Well, there will be more visiting speakers of a high caliber. There might be a wider variety of grad courses to choose from. Overall, probably a more enriching experience. The difficulty level will not be very different, if at all, once you have been admitted.

I know I'm quite late to the party, but I disagree rather strongly with part of the other answer, namely:

Yes, the level courses are taught at can vary quite a bit between first tier schools, second tier schools and third tier schools.  (Also though the drop off is probably steeper going from second to third tier.)  Consequently, it may be much harder for someone to succeed in the first couple years at a top school than at an "average" school, particularly if one does not have adequate preparation.  This is not to say it's impossible---I've seen PhD students need to start with undergrad courses in a top 10 school and then successfully graduate.  In fact, I think the success (PhD completion) rates tend to be higher higher at top schools, because of course they try to only accept the students who seem likely to succeed.
Generally top schools have the professors doing the most impressive/popular  (subjective, I know) research.  It's not the size of the department or the number of publications that varies so much, but it's the quality of research.  It's not just the name.  That said, rankings themselves are rather imprecise---certainly departments are not linearly ordered by quality---and some schools are better in certain fields than others: maybe a second tier school is actually one of the top schools in your field of interest.

In summary, you will certainly have a different educational experience at Chicago than at Indiana.  This does not mean you will have a better experience at Chicago---this is highly circumstantial/individual, or that you would get a better job coming out of Chicago, but the readily available resources will be different.  Interactions with the leaders of your field is a very valuable thing.

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Invited to apply for different position at same school- write different letter?
I applied for a tenure track job, and was recently told that I would be better qualified for a different TT job in the same department and should apply for that position. The person who contacted me said they are on both committees. Do I need to write a completely different cover letter? The template of my letter makes sense, so I'd essentially just be rephrasing the letter with generally the same content. I don't know if that looks any better though since I could add some new information but I'd still want to hit the same points as in my previous letter. Or is it possible that they wouldn't even remember my original materials anyway?
PS, on top of that the job descriptions aren't all that different so I'm not even sure how I would make a new letter more specific. Literally like the only thing different is the title of the position and that the candidate should "have a background in X." Just based on principle, I don't know if a new letter is necessary.

I would just ask that person how to proceed, e.g. "Thanks for the suggestion.  Please do consider me for the other job.  Do I need to resubmit the whole kaboodle, with a new cover letter?"  I think the answer will be, "No need to resubmit, your email was sufficient.  Thanks for your flexibility."

What they wrote was
"You applied for X position that was posted. I am serving on both of these committees, and I noticed based on your qualifications that perhaps you would be a good fit for the Y position that was also posted. If you are interested in Y position, I invite you to apply for that position, as you would need to submit them to the Y listing in order for your materials to be considered. Thank you for letting me know."
It seems I have to explicitly reapply. I don't know reading this back now though if I'm out of the first running, or would be considered for both?

Okay, apparently they have some kind of database and in order to be considered for Y, you have to resubmit.  I think you can reuse everything but in your cover letter replace X with Y.  The goal is to get into the right slot in the database.  However, it sounds like the human beings on the committee are already informally considering you for Y.

Does your existing letter make it explicit that you have a background in X?


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How to approach other professors in a department when the potential advisor is unsure of his funding situation?
I am a M.Sc. graduated in Computer Science and I am going to continue my graduate studies abroad. There is one professor who I am in contact for a few months and now he states that he is willing to hire me as PhD student if he receives good news of the grant proposals that he submitted to funding organizations. However, there is another professor in that department that I think we have a considerable overlap in our interests and backgrounds too. I mentioned the name of those professors in my Application Form in order. So now, how can I let the second professor knows (e.g. by email) that I am serious about joining her lab if the first professor could not provide funding for me. I should mention that In this department, there is just a formality admission committee and professors (independently) hire students if they can support their students through sources of funds.

I would be honest.

What exactly is your question? "how to write an email"?

I thought about it a bit more.  Are you concerned that it could be touchy to tell Prof. X that your priority is to work with Prof. Y?  Have you figured out clearly for yourself which one you'd rather work with?  I guess the safest thing would be to write to both (very transparent!) saying that you hope your application will be accepted, and that you would be very interested in working in either of these two groups if accepted.  The hefty bounty shows that you really want some help on this -- but I feel like I need a bit more information before I dive in with a specific suggested text.

The simplest solution seems to be the best - just be honest with both. Everybody knows that funding can be very difficult, and no one would blame you for having more than one horse in the race. It is, in fact, expected of a good student to seek out options. But we can consider some options.
Logically there are four options. You discuss with both, you discuss with neither, you discuss only with your first priority (called A) or you discuss only with your second priority (called B).
Discuss with neither: Nothing good will come out of this - they cannot read minds, and don't know your intentions if you don't speak up.
Discuss only with A: If A's funding falls through, this risks becoming awkward with B. You don't, in fact, know if B for example has other plans if you don't discuss it.
Discuss only with B: If A's funding falls through and you get a place at B's team, this may be awkward as you still have to be in the same department as A.
Now ask yourself - are there any downsides from discussing with both? I cannot think of any.

If it is already open knowledge that the first professor (prof A) is your preference / the better fit, then I do not believe there is any harm in being open with both. I would recommend saying to B "I really like the work you do, and I know I would be an excellent fit for your lab. I had a difficult time choosing whether to work for you or prof A. Due to [my prior experience working with prof A]/[the fact that prof A and I already had an understanding], I am hoping to pursue working with him/her. However, it is not clear at this time if the funding will not be available. [If it doesn't work out], I would be honored to work in your lab.
Preferably, I might try to avoid "Prof A's research is closer to my interests".
If, however, it's plausible that either could be your first choice, then the choice is a little more difficult. Here, letting B know that he/she is not your first choice does come at some cost, but may still be the right move.


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Has a STEM professor ever won an Oscar?
Has a STEM professor ever been nominated for - or won - an Oscar for their academic research?

Do the technical Oscars count? I'd be very surprised if there weren't a few in there...

I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because this is the definition of a boat programming question ("Has an  ever done <something that's not at all specific to academia>").

Richard Taylor has won several oscars, but not that Richard Taylor.

I've voted to reopen this question: The question has only triggered answers where the people won their Oscars for their academic achievements. I propose to change the question to ask for this and then reopen it.

This question might be on topic at:  http://movies.stackexchange.com/  (I'm not a regular there though, so please verify with their moderators/meta/etc before moving.)

@Dirk This still does not "feel" like an academia question to me. At best it's trivia, and the three answers so far make the question look like a shopping question.

@user70019 What does trivia about who has won an Oscar to do with "life as graduate student, postdoctoral researcher, university professor"? And given that the question was in the Hot Network Questions list for a while (a random selection), the votes and views mean close to nothing anymore.

She (Jodie Foster) returned to Yale in 1993 to address the graduating class, and was awarded an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from the university in 1997. - Wikipedia I know it's not exactely STEM but still worth to mentione in a comment.

UCLA mathematicians Joseph Teran and Alexey Stomakhin (Teran's PhD student at the time) worked on the snow simulation for Frozen, so they at least contributed to a movie that won an oscar.  Stomakhin, now at Disney, worked on Zootopia, which just won an Oscar.  Teran was a student of Ron Fedkiw (who won an Oscar), by the way. Relevant article: http://dailybruin.com/2017/02/24/oscars-2017-alum-creates-software-to-breathe-life-into-moana-zootopia/

Yes.
For example, a professor from Stanford, Rod Fedkiw, won an Oscar in 2015. You can read about it in the following article:
Stanford professor wins Oscar for science of destroying things

An example of a previous professor winning the technical Oscar is Ken Museth (professor at the University of Linköping in Sweden) who won it together with Peter Cucka and Mihai Aldén for their work on OpenVDB in 2014.

Ken Perlin, a professor of computer science at the NYU Media Research Lab, won a technical achievement Oscar for the development of Perlin Noise.


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Is there a shortage of accounting professors?
I spoke with an economics professor recently (before he passed away) and he made a claim to me that I thought was interesting: that there is a shortage of accounting professors, and so a PhD in Accounting would be valuable for both academia and industry.
Is there any data available that backs up this claim?

I get lots of recruiting emails for accounting professors.  I've never studied accounting.

Such shortages typically depend on the country, so mentioning that would be useful. Moreover, beware of the pork cycle: by the time you are eligible to become professor the shortage may well have turned into a surplus.

Students who study accounts go on to the industry ,very rarely to academia

@MaartenBuis - excellent point about the "pork cycle".


text:
In a PhD program of study, what does "emphasis on descriptive material" mean?
For example, an interdisciplinary PhD program that I am reading about says this about their program:
"The program differs from the regular departmental offerings in science mainly by its interdisciplinary approach and emphasis on mathematics and physics, with less emphasis on descriptive material from any one discipline."
What does descriptive material mean here?

Ask them.  And let us know what you find out!

I'm guessing, but the way I read it is 'you're going to have to do proper calculations, not just waffle'. That is, I would take the 'descriptive material' to be in contrast with 'mathematics and physics'.

I had the same thought. My department uses a similar wording to describe their business degree with a quantitative finance / fintech focus from the more "fluffy" business administration and marketing degrees.

actually, I stumbled on a field of study called "descriptive statistics" that computes information that summarizes an entire population (average quantities, for example) whereas "inferential statistics" makes inferences about a population, based on sampling (I have no experience in Stats, fyi).  I think this context of "descriptive" could be the one used in describing the PhD program that I was reading about...

@user70019 No, I don't think so. "descriptive statistics" as a subfield does not equal "descriptive material from any one discipline". (Of course, knowledge about descriptive statistics methods is very useful. But that applies to statistics in general.)

@Roland, ah, thanks for the correction...I will not conflate the meanings then.

If I found the correct program, its description says earlier, "quantitative analysis of observational records, and theoretical, mathematical, numerical, and experimenting modeling."


text:
Timely answers to academic e-mails and internet addiction
After lots of struggles with the internet, almost overcoming an addiction to Facebook and a compulsive obsession to check my e-mail, I have finally reached an equilibrium that allows me to concentrate and be productive. My strategy is simple: I check and answer e-mails only three times a day: when I get to the lab in the morning, after lunch, and before leaving at night.
During the rest of the day, I use the computer just for work (I’m a bioinformatician) and keep my e-mail locked with an app. At home, I fully disconnect from my computer. Also, I don’t have a smartphone. I know this strategy seems a bit extreme these days when most people is connected 24/7, but it’s the only way I found to control myself and get my things done. I have the impression that everybody (especially in bioinformatics and including my PI) assumes I’m catching up with my e-mail almost instantly (for real, it isn’t rare to get answers from coworkers in matter of seconds).
For instance, one day my PI came kind of angry to my desk asking why I hadn’t gone to his office (or cancelled) if he had sent me and e-mail asking me to. Of course, the message had been sent but I hadn’t checked the e-mail.  The follow up message “Could you please answer my previous e-mail?” isn’t uncommon in my inbox. So I’m starting to get worried that some people may get upset at me for being a late responder, especially people outside my lab, but at the same time I have to level out my internet usage to keep my addiction tamed.
In that context, I would like to known what is considered a timely response to an academic e-mail? If I can’t use my e-mail all the time, what strategies to use so I don’t miss crucial information? Should I let my PI and coworkers know about my previous problems with the internet?

Many ways to solve this problem. For example, filter incoming emails into separate folders and set up pop-up notifications for specific folders.

This might be better on Workplace S.E. as it's not really academia-specific. That being said, another option might be adding an automated reply to your email account (if it's supported) saying something to the effect of, "Thank you for your message. I am unable to check my email except for early in the morning, at lunch, and before I leave for the day. If you need to reach me on an urgent matter, please contact me at XXX."

In most workplace settings (and certainly in academia), email is not considered a reliable medium for getting a hold of someone in a timeframe of hours, so your PI's expectations are unreasonable. However it is not unreasonable of him to want to have a way of reaching you reliably in such a timeframe. Do you have a (non-smart)phone? Give him your number and tell him to call/text for anything really urgent. Do the same for anyone else who has a legitimate potential need to reach you quickly. Problem solved.

@tonysdg those autoreply messages are super annoying and would be a sure way for OP to alienate all his/her colleagues very quickly, so I think that's not a good idea. And this question is academia-specific since workplace norms differ quite a lot across industries. In academia one is typically not expected to be reading and responding to emails within hours, but in some non-academic workplaces that would not be the case.

Modern email platforms can request a read receipt for urgent emails so that the sender knows who read the email and who didn't. I read plenty of email and I have a policy whereby I'll get back to you in 24hr unless urgent. I also have a phone number and if you need me, calling me is an instant response. I think your issues are common in any workplace: the people with the most urgent messages often lack the diligence to get them across properly.

@CMosychuk emails requesting read receipts are rude, and read receipts don't work. See related discussion in this question.

@DanRomik I see your point but I disagree that theyre rude in any situation, which is why the email must be urgent with no subjectivity it what is considered urgent.  Ground rules in the lab about correspondence are critical, though, and a lack of expectation seems to be the problem.

You could either incorporate something into your signature like "I respond to email twice a day, and my work schedule does not permit me to receive email as instant messages; for urgent matters, I can be reached at (phone number in lab) or (phone number at home)" or you could explain this to the key pests in your life. // There is no need to explain about the difficulties you had previously.

What's considered a timely response depends on context.  A response could be expected within hours, days, or weeks, depending on the email.  What I think is important is that both parties are clear on expectations.
For normal academic activities, I would say checking emails twice a day is generally sufficient.  Academics are often busy with classes and meetings throughout the day, so it's generally understood (at least between faculty, though not always by students) that you might not read or respond to an email within an hour.
However, it sounds like your PI expects you to check email more frequently than you do, so it's probably worthwhile mentioning that you only check email a few times a day (if asked why, just say so it doesn't distract you too much from your work).  Then you can see if your PI is happy with calling you or seeing you in person if it's something urgent.  If not, and PI really wants you to check email constantly, maybe you can set up something where you will only see emails from your PI (e.g., forward them to another email that you use for nothing else).
Similarly, if there are other people that seem to be expecting immediate responses from you, just maybe add a "PS" in your reply about how often you check email.  I don't think most people will be upset if they know your habits.

Great answer, except for the sentence starting with "If not."

@aparente001 What would you say is a better response in that case?

I'm just saying it's enough to inform the PI that OP doesn't use email like a telephone, and that the thing to use like a telephone is the phone in the lab.  If there is no phone in the lab, and no pre-existing paging system, but the office and the lab are in the same building a walkie talkie or a wired intercom could be used.  In the last resort, a beeper.

@aparente001 I think that's probably enough too, but in case the PI is adamant about lab members checking messages constantly, it might not be worth having to fight about it.


text:
Where can I find scientific poster examples?
I have in a few days a scientific conference and I will present my work in the form of a poster. Now I am in the process of looking for models of scientific posters, Please who can help me find some example.

Your institution might have a coporate design and offers a poster template.

Where did you already look and what did/didn't you like? Because a simple Google search already yields dozens of examples.

@FuzzyLeapfrog: Even if that is the case, that is often just a frame/background, while the OP may rather be looking for an example of how to present the content. And with that said, I have found templates by university PR departments to often be fit for marketing purposes, but somewhat unsuitable for scientific posters.

@O.R.Mapper As it seems to be unclear whether OP is looking for models of scientific posters regarding the design or the content or the text-figure-ratio or something else, a clarification of the question by OP might be useful. Regarding the corporate designs for posters and slides, I made only very good experiences so far (4 universities, 1 research center). Wondering whether these good experiences are only a local (Germany, Switzerland) phenomenon?

@FuzzyLeapfrog: I made my observations mainly in Germany, both related to posters and presentation slides. University-wide templates actually used by the researchers (rather than just for marketing/administrative purposes) were extremely rare, and if available, they were rarely suitable for research. Of course, these things can vary considerably between institutions and often depend a lot on personal preferences of people high-up in the hierarchy or in the PR department.

@O.R.Mapper I made the same experience as FuzzyyLeapfrog, i.e. the uni provides great templates that are extremely helpful (in a lot of formats including some Adobe software, Office and LaTeX) especially for scientific content.

See Colin Purrington's advice on designing conference posters.  You can find it here: http://colinpurrington.com/tips/poster-design
For more examples than you'll ever want, see the comment above by Danny Ruijters.
(I know we frown on link-only answers here, but Purrington's pages have been very stable for a very long time, and the advice is too lengthy even to try to summarize here.)

There is also the "Better Posters Blog", which has lots of tips and information and also does reviews of user-submitted posters. http://betterposters.blogspot.com/

For "offline" resources:
Senior members in your lab Unless your advisor is in their very first year, there's likely to be people in your research group that have given posters before. (And if your advisor is in their first year, they probably have given a poster in the not so distant past.) Ask them if they have an example of a poster they've given. As a bonus, you can talk to them about what worked well when they gave the poster and what went poorly.
This is particularly a good idea if your supervisor has strong opinions/ideas about what posters should be like, or how they should be formatted/structured. By using an example from your group, there's less chance your advisor will tell you to completely reformat things when they see it.
Others in your department Even if your group is new/small and there isn't a person in the group who has done a poster, there's bound to be someone (multiple people, probably) in your department who have given a poster session. Ask around to people you know to see if they have an example poster. Even if the only people you know are first-years who haven't even done a poster themselves, the senior members of their groups probably have a poster or two lying around.
Walls If you walk the corridors of most scientific research buildings looking for them, you'll notice that scientific posters are a main feature, right up there with yellowing article reprints and seminar announcements. Posters (after journal articles) are one of the primary methods of scientific communication, and after poster sessions there's not much you can do with the things, besides stick them on blank spots on the walls to insinuate to your colleagues that you're being vaguely productive. Wander the corridors of your building (or other buildings in your department or related departments) browsing the posted posters, and feel free to whip out your cell phone camera to take a reference photo if you see one you like.
If you're feeling particularly gregarious, you could even try knocking on the doors close to what you think are particularly good posters, and seeing if the person whose poster it is would mind talking about it or their science.

+1 for Walls. I believe most universities will have them.

Lots of scientific posters (all fields) are stored at F1000 posters (https://f1000research.com/browse/posters?&selectedDomain=posters). Some of them have been presented in scientific congress. Just keep in mind that these posters have not been peer-reviewed.

Ask senior members of your group or members of other groups in your university. Each university usually has a template that has the university logo, or center logo, that they will want you to use.


text:
How can an undergraduate challenge a professor on a misleading homework question?
Thinking back to when I was an undergraduate, one of the homework assignments in a probability class was:

In a lottery, is it possible for the winning combination to be 1,2,3,4,5,6?

To paraphrase the lecturer's answer:

No, because the combination is very unlikely.

The official answer clearly is an error, but how does an undergraduate approach a lecturer when the given answer is wrong?

Btw, every combination is equally likely...

Is it possible you could have misremembered what was actually said? For instance, maybe the lecturer actually said that in a real lottery such a combination might not be used because some people are likely to pick something like this. I mention the possibility of misremembering because this is such an egregious error that I would think he/she would have gotten instant questions about this in class, or at least a huge number of student emails after class (assuming this was after email was in common use).

@DaveLRenfro: Fair point. I'm quite sure I remember it correctly, but let's assume that the situation is as presented (i.e. how to challenge when a large error is made).

As a student, I probably would have raised my hand in class and asked about it if a small class, say no more than 20 or 30 students, and I might have spoken to the teacher afterwards if a large class (and if I didn't think anyone else was going to say anything). As a teacher, I would have gotten several incredulous questions from students immediately in class, because in my experience in sometimes misspeaking, that's what happens when you inadvertently say something this incredible. However, student-teacher interactions are likely to be very dependent on the customs of where you are.

If I saw someone make such an insanely mangled claim I would have close to no hope of any rational interaction with them thereafter. I might likely drop the course. (Not that I ever had a math instructor say anything so patently in violation of the terms being used.)

When I was a student I would have raised my hand and said out loudly: "Hey, that's wrong! Because etc.". But I have to recognize that when I was a student I was particularly good at alienating the sympathies of the professors, so I wouldn't call it a successful strategy ;-)

@Dave L Renfro I suspect that in most countries it would be illegal to exclude certain combinations because people are more likely to pick them.

I have found the best way to handle that requires that first the student realize a few things:

the professor has a great deal of discretion to determine how to grade and mark things
professors are humans and make mistakes, and most are aware that misunderstandings and miscommunication can occur, and
like all other humans, being directly and publicly challenged or put in a position of being told "you are wrong" tends to evoke defensiveness which is rarely helpful to anyone in any situation

What I've found works the best for most situations is to meet the professor at an office hour or immediately after class (if they stick around for a few minutes), and ask about the issue. Go in with an open, learning attitude clearly wanting to understand - not trying to make a point or prove someone right or wrong.
To avoid defensiveness as well as allowing the person to "save face", you can put your question something like this: "I have a question about this homework problem, as I think I'm misunderstanding something." You are asking the professor for their help in understanding something important to the course, rather than framing it in a way of "defend your wrongness", and usually this results in a more pleasant conversation.
It can also be good to explain your reasoning clearly in answering the question, such as: "based on the principle we talked about in class a few weeks ago, of how all possible combinations of numbers are equally likely with a true lottery draw [showing you were paying attention to other things in class], I figured {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6} must be a possible outcome. I looked up combinations and lotteries in the textbook, and rechecked lecture notes, and I haven't found anything that indicated otherwise [shows you did due diligence in trying to figure out the problem without just asking, and thus aren't wasting their time]. Am I misunderstanding something?"
Then, the most important part: listen carefully to the explanation. If they don't explain and direct you elsewhere, such as to the book or part of a previous lecture, then make sure you have enough information to do that, such as indicating you absolutely will do that right away and, "just to make sure, we are talking about chapter X on combinations, right?" Then go do that.
If you don't find out you were mistaken, then take the materials back to the next meeting time and show them again. "I did what you advised and I read this part here in the book, which seems to support that the combination is equally likely. Can you please help me see where I'm going wrong?" Polite persistence is incredibly difficult to defend against, even for very cranky people.
Alternatively, you can be more direct and try to handle this in class respectfully. Doing this in class varies much more by professor, your developed social skills and attitude, your standing in class, and your local culture, but at least in my part of the US I've rarely had a problem. You just politely ask, at an appropriate time, to go over the homework problem, and ask for an explanation of what it is. If it contradicts what you thought you learned, then you bring it up and say so. "I thought that principle X meant that...how does that effect this problem?"
One or both of these methods has resolved every problem I ever had in classes that were worth the effort, and the remaining ones were so minor (a few points here or there) I just didn't bother if a the first thing tried (usually a quick question or asking for an explanation) didn't work. A more extreme situation might call for more, but that should only be after you tried all of the above and no resolution was reached of any kind, and the result is so dire to you that it's worth trying to go farther.

Another reason to be polite and approach it as "Please help me understand"---it's always possible, in principle, that you're actually wrong, and they're right. If so, this approach allows you to save face.


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Ethics of deadline enforcement under certain extenuating circumstances
Suppose a certain undergraduate course in computer science is given at a university which has a mandatory project part, requiring teams to be formed of two people. Student A forms a team with another student, B, but the cooperation is very difficult. Student B never shows up to work on the first assignment, contrary to a made appointment, citing illness as the reason. After that student A never hears from student B again, nor sees her in class anymore. Student A has to do all work now, which is meant for a two-man team, and therefore misses deadlines (she has other courses too which require attention). Student A leaves no stone unturned to get a new partner to form a team, but to no avail. The penalty on handing in work past the deadline is severe, so this causes the student a lot of stress. The quality of the work is not an issue, and she has done "her best" on the work like she normally would.
Is it unethical for the professor to continue to enforce the deadline and associated penalty (significantly reducing student A's grade and grade average) under these circumstances?
An additional difficulty is that student A really likes the professor and has for that reason some difficulties talking to him about these issues.

The student A should have solved this by contacting the professor the moment student B did not show up. Once you (I assume student A is you) are near the deadline the options open to the professor to solve this problem are a lot more limited. This probably does not help you now, but it may help you in the future.

@MaartenBuis The issue for student A has been running for a few weeks. The teaching assistants gave some options, they were tried but to no avail (no one was available at that moment, since pairs has already been formed). Student A maybe should have communicated more with the professor, but was afraid to look like a nagging individual. But she would not really know what could have been communicated anyhow.

You have to take responsibility for your own learning. If you are in a team and a team member isn't living up to their side of the deal then you need to contact the professor as soon as possible to indicate there is an issue and asking for guidance. The deadlines are clearly posted and abiding by those are not "unethical". Rather than waiting until past missed deadlines you should have asked to reduce the scope of your project due to team of 1 well before the due date. Take it as a lesson learned.

In teams of two in Computer Science, most of the time only one person ends up doing most of the work anyway. Next time, expect this from the very beginning. In my opinion, your excuse is not an extenuating circumstance. An extenuating circumstance, in my opinion, is a close family member dying, not a partner flaking or quitting. But then again, professors differ in their styles, so you just ask, and see what he/she says. There is no harm in asking.

Everybody handled this badly. B shouldn't have created the problem in the first place. A should have been more pro-active. The TAs should have treated A's problem more seriously. The professor shouldn't have set an assignment that allowed one student to screw another over so badly (for example, one flake in a group of five only increases the others' work-load by 25%, compared to 100% in groups of two).

Is it unethical for the professor to continue to enforce the deadline and associated penalty (significantly reducing student A's grade and grade average) under these circumstances?

First, I think it's quite misguided to frame this as an ethics question. If the professor is creating course policies and enforcing them in good faith, with the goal of achieving certain educational outcomes, then, even in the event that the professor makes a mistake or does something that most reasonable people would disagree with, it would be hard to argue that the professor is behaving unethically. Thus, the correct thing to ask IMO is not "is it unethical" but rather "is it appropriate" or "is it the right thing to do".
With that said, I think the best thing that the student in your question can do is argue her case to the best of her abilities and allow the professor to make a decision to the best of his ability, and respect whatever that decision ends up being. Bringing ethics and accusations of unethical behavior into the debate is counterproductive in my opinion and may backfire by causing the professor to become defensive and entrench himself further into his punitive position. Personally I think that given the student's lack of timely action to communicate the nature of the problem to the professor, which resulted in missed deadlines, enforcing the course policy would be a reasonable decision. On the other hand, making an exception to take into account the allegedly extenuating circumstances would also be reasonable. To my mind it's simply not a black and white issue.
As for the student's supposed difficulty to communicate with the professor because she likes him... well, not sure what to say about that. People have all sorts of difficulties in life, but ultimately the question is, is the student willing to make an effort and take proactive measures to overcome her difficulties so as to achieve the outcome she wants to achieve? If so, there are any number of steps she can take. She can write a letter instead of speaking to the professor in person. Or she can recruit a friend to come with her to a meeting with the professor and help her overcome her shyness or even speak on her behalf. Etc etc. It's all a question of will. And if she lacks the will to confront the problem, she has all my sympathy, but nonetheless I don't see that as an "extenuating circumstance" and she should not be surprised if the outcome is not what she wished it to be. In any case, best of luck to her.

"I think it's quite misguided to frame this as an ethics question": well, you know that in many questions here the word ethics is used quite randomly, to say the least.

@MassimoOrtolano precisely, so I'm calling it out in this instance.

Yes, sorry, I recognize that my comment is unclear but I was really appreciating your starting statement.

I also am not certain this is an ethics question, but more one of practicality. This situation happens often enough that professors probably already have a process for dealing with it; I for one don't want to change deadlines every semester.
Your best defense here is data. Keep a record of things like attempts to contact/schedule with your partner, deliverables completed by you/your partner, dates/times partner ditched you. If you show clear attempts and do the work you can, you'll make a strong case for leniency.
Though you seem to be unwilling to talk to prof about this, you need to. Coming to him at the very end with a plea isn't going to help as much as early warning.


text:
Should grading take all students' performance into account?
This question is partially related to this question.
By trying to understand which one is the correct way to grade an exam I came out with this doubt. Should each exam be considered as independent or should a mark be assigned based on the other students' performance.
As an example

if all the students final exams are from 80% to 100% correct should be considered the fact that the exam was too easy while grading it?
if all the students final exams are from 30% to 60% correct should be considered the fact that maybe the exam was too hard while grading it?

To resume, while preparing/grading the exams should the results respect somehow the normal distribution or should each one be graded independently?
EDIT:
Based on my career as a student for every exam we had statistical results from all the students (min, max, avg) with the grades distribution. Most of them respected the normal distribution. So what it is not clear to me is if it depends on how the teacher create the exam, on how it is graded or just on how usually students perform.

Why do you think that a grade distribution should possibly normal? Not all phenomena yield a normal distribution. Actually, a lot don't.

Because most of the general results of the exams I did in my career respected the normal distribution, so I don't know if it's a matter of how the exam is prepared, of how it is graded or just of how usually students perform.

Both of them. you need to evaluate the students independently, However the overall statistics of the students "may" give you hints on the overall difficulty of the exam.

@newbie: What evidence do you have that the exams in your career (in what?) were normally distributed?

Most grade distributions I get are much closer to bimodal or multimodal than normal.

Any grade, high school or grad shool, should be based on the question "how good is this guy prepared to take the next course in the same subject?". Wether he will take it or not. It should never depend on his own past or anyone elses present performance.

If the goal is to help students learn, then you should grade against an absolute standard (often called a rubric), and you should not grade by comparing students to each other.  Experimentally, it has been found that if students believe their grades are under their own control, they will learn more.  If students believe they cannot control their grades (because it depends on classmates' performance) then they will learn less.  The difference in attitudes is known as a locus of control in psychology.  According to the locus of control research, grading against an absolute standard will help students.
If you goal is to limit the number of students who pass, you might chose differently from what I suggest.  But I don't agree with that goal.

I agree with several of the answers so far but I have different reasons.

I'm going to give this from a student perspective, so take it with a grain of salt. But I can say that I would hope I was graded independently of any of my peers on a given assignment*. Simply put, I want to be evaluated on my progress relative to the course objectives. I'm not interested in my progress relative to everyone else's.

* That being said, once the independent grade is assigned, I don't care about or mind any post-grading corrections (a.k.a. "curves"). But again, that's after my exam is independently graded - so I can at least see the raw grade first.

It sounds like you are describing a grade curve. That would mean you adjust everyones grades to reflect their performance relative to the rest of the class. Grade curves usually only skew upwards (IE you wouldnt lower someones grade because everyone else did well, but you would raise it if everyone else did poorly.) Whether or not this is right for you depends on the course, your tests and your students. I can say for sure that this is a common thing to do and would not be at all out of place if you were to make that choice. However unless an unusually large number of students is failing your course, it probably isnt necessary if you would rather not do it.

In the ideal situation, exams should be graded independently. There should be an established, fixed threshold or rubric for demonstrating acceptable or mastery skill in the subject, and each student's assessment should be measured fairly against that for feedback and certification. (Some instructors claim that setting this threshold is overwhelmingly difficult, but I do not find that to be the case.)
Whether the whole class or none of the class meets that threshold does not change the fact that certain students have or have not achieved the necessary skills. Research shows that we should not expect skill levels to be normally distributed (e.g., see Gould's Full House: The Spread of Excellence from Plato to Darwin). For example: A few years ago I had two sections of the same algebra course (with identical schedules, lectures, exams, and meeting on the same days) in which on the final exam one section had a 48% median score, and the other section an 80% median score.
Unfortunately, many institutions politically find themselves pressured to show certain success/certification rates, and so mangle actual scores to match a normal distribution of values (with most in the success/passing region), regardless of actual student proficiency. This may be done to "smooth out" passing rates between semesters, instructors, and/or different sections of the same course. I maintain that this is effectively fraud and should be resisted as much as possible.

Grading should never take all students performance into account.  Course curriculum design and placement procedures should always take all students performance into account.  Anyone can design a course or design a placement system where all students put into a given course pass or where all students fail.  If you have absolutes like that happening that cause you to want to resort to a grading curve then the course curriculum or the placement procedures are at fault, NOT the grading.

You didn't specify the motivation for your question.  If I assume that you are a TA getting the hang of your job as a grader, then it would be safest to follow instructions given by the professor you're grading for, or your department -- unless you haven't been given any, in which case the safe thing to do is to ask for guidance, in general terms (not as specifically as you did here).
You can certainly have your own opinion, though, and once you have tenure in a department you can try to influence department policy.
Sad to say, I have seen an Ivy League math department shoehorn the final course grades in undergraduate courses into a bell curve.  They do it openly and unapologetically, as department modus operandi.  I heard this from department administrators.  Student reports suggest that other STEM departments in the same university do the same.
I suppose they think they are upholding the quality of a Bachelor's degree from their institution.
Said math department additionally provides no discernable departmental quality control over the teaching quality of lower level math courses required for STEM degrees.  The department turns a blind eye to disastrously poor teaching, and then quietly offers one well-taught catch-up section during the off-semester, by a known and proven instructor.
It would appear that the existence of the large number of throw-away sections is inextricably tied to the bell curve assignment of final grades.


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Is it true that students from European countries have had many more advanced courses in mathematics when they arrive to Grad school in the US?
This question is inspired by what Steven Krantz wrote in his book "A mathematicians survival guide."

If you are an American student, educated in the USA, then you may
  find that the international students in your graduate program appear to be
  way ahead of you. First of all, students in Italy, France, and other European
  countries often specialize much earlier than we do in the United States. They
  have had many more advanced math courses than you will have had. [I was
  once told that a typical Italian math student graduating from college will
  have taken 22 year-long math courses. I have not had 22 year-long math
  courses in my entire life.]

If this is not true, then in your experience, from which countries/universities do you get the most advanced graduate student?

I have to admit that the introduction of the bachelor degree, following the Bologna process, spoiled a lot the quality of the mathematical preparation in Italy, but having taught to many students coming from different countries (but not the US) both at the bachelor and master's levels, I recognize that Italian students have generally a better mathematical background (but in many cases I consider it still too low).

I have read that Scuola Normale Superiore offers a pretty strong program in Mathematics. Is that right?

Yes, the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa (SNS) is excellent: I met several graduates from the SNS, and they showed really excellent (and I mean, excellent) preparation, both in mathematics and physics. But SNS is really not for the faint of heart, or at least, it used to be: I heard that they had to lower a bit the standards too.

Western european students are bloody amateur mathematicians when you have seen people from the good (high) schools in Russia or Persia. ;-)

Depends on the county and university. At my university measure theory is a 3rd semester compulsory course. In the US it's not even required at most universities.

@Supermario yeah its good, only Cambridge, Oxford, Imperial, ETH, ecole polytechnique, and bonn university are better in europe

Relevant background: comparing MA/BA/PhD programs in the US vs Europe: http://academia.stackexchange.com/a/9505/31917

My impression is that the German system and the US system don't match up year for year, in the sense that a German STEM student of the same age will have done more math than the US counterpart.

@TryingToGraduate which university are you referring to?

Technische Universität Dresden

I once worked with an Austrian graduate engineer at a USA university who could not integrate an exponential. So generally speaking I don't think this is true anymore.

@DBB Or he specialized too early to learn how to integrate an exponential?

that is calculus 1. But I get what Stephen Krantz is saying. Greek engineers especially of a certain age in my experience were PDE wizards. I would put it as for a long time USA research was better funded so people there got good at playing with expensive toys. Euro researchers had to be better at paper science to stay competitive. Nowadays with EU mobility and multinational research centres I feel this is no longer the case.

First and foremost, it is a important to note that there is a vast amount of variation between institutions and individuals, so generalizations are not terribly helpful here.
That said, historically there have indeed been differences in the philosophy and organization of European and American approaches to education. European education has tended to put more emphasis on knowledge, where American education has tended to put more emphasis on creativity and communication.  As a result, many European students are already specializing in high school, while many American students are required to remain generalists until university and may in fact still be taking classes outside their "focus" all the way through the end of their undergraduate studies.
This does not, however, provide any clear advantage to one group or the other when it comes to doing a Ph.D.  At the doctoral level, one needs both knowledge and also creativity and the ability to communicate well with colleagues. Thus, while students educated in one tradition are more likely to enter graduate school being able to prove Urysohn's Lemma, students educated in the other tradition are more likely to be able to effectively communicate why that proof is interesting.
In short: the word "appear" is in the original quote for a reason.

American education has tended to put more emphasis on creativity and communication [citation needed]

@DanRomik jeff schmidht, book disciplined mind.

@DanRomik Consider the prevalence of core curricula and distribution requirements at US institutions vs. "focusing" requirements such as the A-levels in the UK


text:
Would it be looked upon negatively to intentionally employ a writing style uncommon in my field to express what I see as key values in the field?
I am interested in answers to this question particularly as it pertains to mathematics.
To be more specific, I am interested in using the passive voice in mathematical proofs as I feel that this reinforces the objectiveness and universality of the proof as opposed to the specific instance of the proof or my own self. However, it is my understanding that the first person plural present tense active voice is the norm in mathematics. I want to use this uncommon style in papers and other proofs for these reasons. However, I am concerned this may tarnish my reputation. Would it be looked upon negatively to intentionally employ a writing style uncommon in my field to express what I see as key values in the field?

I realize that this is not well phrased. However, I lack ideas as to how to improve it and would appreciate an answer. I am also open to suggestions and assistance in improving this question.

Providing an example would be nice. I'd also recommend providing a reason as to why you feel this unconventional writing style is necessary. Basically: fill in the background of what you want to do and why you want to do it.

This is so so vague. What is a "writing style uncommon to mathematics"? (Why not just tell us what writing style you plan to use?) What do you mean by "express key values in the field"? (Why not just tell us what values you plan on expressing?) Negatively in what context? (Why not tell us where you would be writing such a thing? Is it for a thesis? A journal article? A blog?) etc.

@tonysdg I believe I have addressed your concern.

@AntonioVargas Is this specific enough?

If you question is "Is it ok if I use the passive voice when writing proofs?" then my answer is "Yes because it's very common." Then again you should understand that some readers are bored by things written in the passive voice, so you may be deliberately limiting your readership.

@AntonioVargas Not only that because I know there are examples, but would it be seen as unbecoming of me to break the norm?

Passive voice is so common that I disagree that active voice is "the norm". Active voice is advised by some style guides, yes, but there is absolutely no way choosing passive over active would be perceived as "unbecoming".

@AntonioVargas Okay, that wasn't my understanding, but that could form a part of an answer.

There's something missing from the sentence that begins with "however." // Could you please give us a short paragraph from your draft so we can see what you're getting at?

@aparente001 I would rather not, but I will fix the problem.

Without an example, it's very difficult to help you.

You are not very specific: on the one hand, there is more than one kind of mathematical writing; on the other hand, you write "I am concerned this may tarnish my reputation" and that depends (a little bit, at least) on who you are.
I will assume that you are a junior mathematical writer, i.e., that you have not yet published many (or any) mathematical papers.  (If you have already written a few dozen papers, you have not only a lot of experience but have gotten a lot of feedback, so you know what kinds of writing variations referees, editors and other careful readers will pay attention to.)
Let me begin with some (unfortunately rather conservative, but still inherently sound) advice for the journeyman writer in any academic field:

Don't try to be innovative or different in your writing style in your first papers or first years of writing papers.  First learn how to write acceptably -- or better, well -- according to the most standard norms of your discipline.

It takes a while to master the standard conventions of academic writing.  When I look back at some of my earliest papers, I see some weird stuff.  In a few cases I was trying to be innovative, but most of the time I just didn't know what the standard convention was.  About 50 papers in, I am still learning new things about the standard mathematical style.
What's so great about standard mathematical style?  Nothing inherent.  But as a culture, we're used to it.

The cardinal goals of mathematical writing are precision and clarity.  After that, the next goal is unobtrusiveness: good mathematical writing does not call attention to itself, because attention that is diverted to the writing is diverted away from the mathematical ideas and reasoning.

Again, what is unobtrusive depends on the culture.  For instance, there are some mathematical turns of phrase that would be pretty weird in ordinary writing but are not weird in mathematical writing because they have been done so many times before.  Examples include: "in the sequel," "by abuse of notation," "a trivial case"...And of course the best example is the use of "we" in mathematical writing.  It looks pretty weird the first N times you see it...and then it doesn't.  It is an entirely standard convention of mathematical writing, as can be seen by its approved use in virtually every mathematical style guide but even more strongly by its almost universal use in published papers.  You don't have to use "we" in mathematical writing -- e.g. this style guide contains some tips from Paul Halmos on avoiding it -- but I can think of no good reason to avoid it.
Every mathematical style guide known to me denigrates the passive voice in mathematical writing in the majority of instances.  So for a journeyman mathematical writer to insist on using the passive voice would be a violation of both of the above pieces of advice: on the one hand you are not learning to write in the standard way, and on the other hand you are writing in a nonstandard way that a lot of your readers are going to notice, get mildly distracted by, and therefore in some cases get moderately annoyed at you for writing in this way.  Why do you want to risk this?  You say:

"I am interested in using the passive voice in mathematical proofs as I feel that this reinforces the objectiveness and universality of the proof as opposed to the specific instance of the proof or my own self."

Honestly, I am very unsure what you mean by that.  In case you are suggesting that there is some logical or ontological difference between

We will show first that A implies B and then that B does not imply A

and

It will be shown that A implies B and then that B does not imply A

I can assure you that there is not.  More to the point, readers of math papers are not going to be critiquing the proofs for "objectiveness": I don't even know what it would mean for an otherwise satisfactory mathematical argument to lack objectiveness.
Moreover, what are you actually trying to accomplish by using the passive voice in your math papers?  It can't be to make your work easier and more pleasant to read...as you seem to understand already.  You write

"Would it be looked upon negatively to intentionally employ a writing style uncommon in my field to express what I see as key values in the field?"

What "key value" is expressed by using the passive voice?  I don't think there is one.  But if people get wind of the idea that you feel like you, as a junior person, are in personal possession of a clearer understanding of the "key values in the field"...Well, since you asked for feedback, my honest appraisal is that you sound a little nutty and a lot inexperienced.  So it is a bit of a negative, yes.  Of course, all mathematicians start out a lot inexperienced, and many, many of us are a little nutty, so your eccentric-sounding ideas about writing and mathematical values will not be a major sticking point in your career.
The largest issue I see, honestly, is the impediment to learning good writing that you've placed on yourself.  Without meaning to be harsh: parts of your question remain obscure to me after repeated readings.  The comments show that other readers feel the same way.  This is a real example of your writing not being properly understood by others, perhaps to the point of your overall message getting lost.  That's the risk you incur by not placing a premium on clarity.  It's a big one.

Actually, you seem to have understood my question well, thank you for the advice and feedback.

Some style guides (e.g. Knuth et. al. [PDF link]) advocate using the active voice over the passive voice. One reason for this is that some readers find the passive voice boring.
There are, however, many examples of mathematical writing using the passive voice, both in books and papers. If the goal is that mathematical writing should be engaging and lively then the use of the passive voice could be seen as a bad habit among some mathematicians.
That said, there is absolutely no way choosing passive over active would be perceived as "unbecoming". You may bore your readers (so much so that they don't even care to read what you've written), but that's about the worst you could expect.

Thanks for this, if I haven't accepted an answer in a few days, you may want to remind me.

@Benjamin I feel that asking Antonio to remind you of accepting his answer is sort of impolite. If you don't want to accept his answer right away, you may set yourself a reminder.

@lighthousekeeper I am not asking him to remind me, I am saying that if I have not, I may have forgotten. However, I also have a timer for myself.


text:
How to steer a research fellowship back to the main initial focus rather than the supervisor's programming needs?
Currently, I work as a part time (0.2 FTE) fixed-term (1 year) Research Fellow in the field of public health - this is not my primary area of research or expertise, but the project looked interesting and had some mutual research interests - primarily the data analytics aspects.
However, as time has gone by (half way), all I have done is programming the primary tool for data collection (Android based), and now the supervisor is started to strongly go on about loosely-relevant web design for another one of her projects.
I have declined to do the web design, as I am not proficient in it and simply not interested - also reminding her that web design was not part of the original plan, nor do I possess the qualifications or experience.
She has mentioned that she has collected data for the main project and in her words 'to save me time', has had a grad student analyse it.  When I politely reminded her that this data analytics was what I was employed to do and are qualified in, she ignores the email and goes on about the web design (and about superficial improvements to the Android program).
How can I steer a research fellowship back to the main initial focus (data analytics) rather than the supervisor's programming needs?

Related: My job responsibility is more than is noted in job description. How do I decline these additional responsibilities?

This fits in the standard mold, I think, of "How do I assert myself with my advisor?"
You wrote one assertive email.  At this point you can choose between a more strongly worded (but still polite, of course) email, and asserting yourself in person (preferably in a special appointment).
Personally I would choose the latter in most cases.
Asserting oneself works best in a stair-step escalation.  Each step up must be discernably stronger than the previous, but it's best to avoid going from zero to 60, to save face.
Keep the conversation as neutral in tone and as brief as possible.


text:
E-assignment submission system made my effort go to nothing
My assignments deadline was due to March 13, 00:00. I uploaded my assignment half a day earlier, but did not confirm it, because instructions said we do not have to (last uploaded version always gets saved). But, stupid me, I confirmed my assignment after the deadline, without uploading new version, and that overwritten my original submission time.
Now it looks like I was late with my assignment. By 15 minutes.
What to do in such situations? I was thinking of writing to a teaching asistent and explaining the situation.

You can explain the situation to your professor, and he/she may understand the situation and confusion. However, if what you say is true and how your last submission overwrote your original submissions - assuming your original submission is now lost, then it looks like you submitted nothing and it looks like you missed your deadline. Your best bet is to contact the professor. Perhaps he/she can see your previous submission details.

If a student told me this story I would normally overlook the late submission, the first time.


text:
How should I approach the scholarship committee for reconsideration if they have rejected my application?
I applied for a scholarship at Ecole Polytechnique in France and received a rejection early this morning. I want the committee to reconsider my application but I can't find a good enough reason apart from saying that I will not be able to attend the institution without financial support. I have been admitted to another university (HKU) with a handsome scholarship and I was wondering if informing them about this might work. Any advice about this issue would be much appreciated.

Honestly, I doubt a committee would reconsider an application once the decision is made, even with the added information that you've been offered a scholarship from another institution.

The thing is that Ecole Polytechnique will run another admission cycle from March-April, and it will be awarding scholarships to students admitted in that cycle as well. So I am guessing that there vacancies available if only, they could give me a second chance....

If you don't have a good reason for reconsideration, it won't go anywhere. Most of the applicants need the scholarship to attend - you are not unique in this situation. After all, that is why they have scholarships.

@JonCuster thank you for your comment. The thing is that I feel that the scholarship committee believes that I can manage my education without the scholarship because they've asked for my financial details. However, the details are 2 years old and since then there have been changes in my family's financial position. Do you think that this is a good enough reason for them to reconsider me?

Give Yourself another Chance
You can conduct your second try during the next scholarship application cycle - and the time frame of a cycle varies between scholarship providers. Some scholarship providers have an all-year round application cycle, which means you can re-apply for a scholarship as soon as you hear of your unsuccessful application. On the other hand, the time period of other scholarship providers' application cycles is more limited, only allowing you to make a second application a year later.
Write an Appeal Letter
While it is recommended that the next application cycle would be the time you attempt your second try, it also wouldn't hurt to submit an appeal letter to the scholarship provider directly.
In your letter, reiterate that you are trying to apply for the scholarship a second time (even you got a scholarship with another institute but you prefer this one). Make them aware that you are not one to give up after a failed attempt, and are more eager than ever to receive the scholarship in question. Apart from your determination to reach your goals, this will also speak volumes about your courageous, indefatigable spirit.
All in all, it is important to allow your humility and sincerity to shine through in your letter, or in your interview if you are given a second chance. And if, in the end, you do not secure the scholarship of your dreams, don't be disheartened - work towards your career goal anyway. You can always do well in university and clinch a college scholarship, one that comes with no bond and essential financial support. There are many paths towards your end-goal and you should never put out the fire of your hope.

Thank you very much for your reply. It's really encouraging, I'll get to working on the appeal letter.

@Supermario your welcome... No Pain No Gain ;)

Is this based on data or at least your own experience? Because in my experience writing an appeal letter is somewhere between useless and actively hurtful, especially if the best reason you can find is "but I really wanna have this scholarship". This comes dangerously close to wasting the committee's time. As for re-applying - this is certainly possible, but you should consider if the grounds on which you have been rejected this time will have changed or not.