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Time difference between admission offers and rejections in US PhD Admissions?
Being that I am currently awaiting offers of admission/rejections for some of my PhD applications in the US, i regularly frequent the website http://thegradcafe.com, which, if you've never heard of it, has a forum where just about any subject relevant to graduate students is being discussed, and, most importantly, maintains a database of admission/rejection dates for various programs at various schools (see http://thegradcafe.com/survey/index.php).
While discussing with other members of the forum and browsing through the database myself, I have noticed the following pattern: For many PhD programs, year after year, all the offers of admission (the ones added to the database, anyway) will be made on a single day, and then, some time later (often 2,3 weeks or even almost a month later), all the rejection notifications are made.
Of course, it should be said that this "data" is fairly unreliable, since it is all added anonymously and most likely very fragmentary, but assuming this is actually a trend, here is my question:

What is the explanation for such a long delay between offers of admission and notifications of rejection in (some) US PhD admissions?

The possible explanations I have in mind are the following:

The candidates that are assuredly admitted are sent offers as soon as possible, and then the admission committee takes a lot more time to choose a few more candidates within the (probably very large) sample of not-so-surely admitted students. (This could possibly not be reflected in the Grad Cafe's database, as very few candidates could be admitted this way)
Universities wait to see if some of the strong applicants will answer positively or negatively to their offers before deciding to reject other applicants (but then, why not waitlist them in the mean time).

However, I would be very interested in hearing about anyone who has been in (or knows about) an admission committee that operates like this, and the reason behind this.

Both your reasons are in play, although the second far more so, in the math dept at my "R1" university in the U.S. That is, we make a certain number of offers to well-qualified people, expecting a certain approximate rate (perhaps 50 percent or more) of acceptance of our offers, with considerable variation. We cannot risk far too many acceptances, because of funding limits, but, at the same time, we need a fairly precise number of TAs for the following year. So after we receive some rejections from that clear-first-round bunch of offers, we can (and must) make the corresponding number of second-round offers. Inevitably the number of such is not zero, but is unpredictable, and the financial set-up is such that we do not want to risk over-committing... and under-committing for too long risks students already being informally (if not formally, since nothing is set until until April 15) committed elsewhere.

That's how it works in the departments I know too

At most neuroscience (and other life sciences) Ph.D. programs, all of the offers to interview go out on one day, usually in late December. Rejections at my program don't go out until March.


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What are the 'objective circumstances' that one young researcher should take into account when choosing a research topic?
Premise: I originally asked this on MathOverflow, but it was pointed out to me that it could be better fit for Academia Stack Exchange.
Note: I have received extremely varied advice on the following matter by various students slightly older than me, so I post the question here in the hope to get an objective 'technical take' from experienced researchers.
Assuming that there are several topics which are equally attractive to me and that the prospective advisors are all established researchers in their fields and "nice people", are there any objective circumstances that I should take into consideration when searching for a topic for an undergraduate research project
(clearly, this question naturally generalize to the choice of Ph.D. dissertation topics and general research advice, about which, if you please, you are free to elaborate) to maximize my chances of making an "optimal choice" (e.g., in terms of mathematical results achieved, possibility of getting a good recommendation afterwards, personal growth, etc.)? Clearly, referring to research papers in mathematical education that partially support your remarks will be highly appreciated (although it is not necessary).

Side note: Just to clarify a little further: I've only said that the mathematical aspects and the advisors are equal to me, and what I'm asking is what else I should take into account when choosing a research area.

I understand the scare quotes around "objective circumstances", but why around "researcher" and "research topic"?

As explained here, this site is meant for questions about graduate and post-graduate academia, not undergraduate.  So it is actually more appropriate to ask about what you mention in your remark.  Perhaps you want to edit your question.  It would also be good if you elaborate on "optimal choice."  What are your goals?  Optimal for what?

You cannot maximize your chance of making an optimal choice.  Your chances of making an optimal choice are zero, because there is no optimal choice.

How young is that researcher? Bachelors students, masters students, PhD students, Postdocs and assistant professors may all be young researchers.

Vote to close as 'Unclear what you're asking". Please explain what you mean by to maximize my chances of making an "optimal choice"? Optimal in what sense? Better chance to publish? Better chance to get into graduate school? Better chance to have your own satisfication?

@EnthusiasticStudent, as I wrote in the body of the question, this question refers to an undergraduate project in particular.

@TrevorWilson And this is why I wrote "young researcher": most people in my university may feel offended if someone without a PhD and a post-doc position referred to himself as a researcher.

@JeffE Technicalities concerning the language used aside, I guess you got an idea of what I meant. If you didn't, could you suggest a better wording?

The current version is too broad. You still don't tell us what you want by "optimal".

@scaaahu Is "mathematical results achieved, possibility of getting a good recommendation afterwards, personal growth" not specific enough? Well, maybe it's because I've never had an advisor before: if I had, I'd have known exactly what to search for and I wouldn't have asked this question. Could you may an effort to suggest an edit?

I'll tell you what I would do if I were you. The topic I am most interested in would be the one I choose.

Perhaps list the "several topics"? More information is generally better.

I guess you got an idea of what I meant. — I understood exactly what you meant; my response stands.  Every choice involves tradeoffs.

@JeffE, sorry, now I realize I misunderstood your previous comment. Anyway, could you elaborate a little more on what you mean by tradeoffs in this context?

There is no "optimal coice". Getting "good" results, and recommendations does certainly not only depend on the choice of the topic, but more on yourself and your motivation. And that is the point. If all possibilities seem to be equal I would apply for the group in which I feel most welcome. It is so important to be in an environment in which you are allowed and encouraged to fail often (and early); where people leave titles at the door; where you can build on ideas of others and people dare to be wild and have fun !
Forget the results and, the recommendation afterwards. Do what you like to do, together with people you like and the results will be good automatically. You will find opportunities for future projects you never thought of yet. And to be honest, I do not think an undergraduate research project will change your life. Explore your style of work, your weak and strong sides and be open for ideas. I would not expect too much at this stage ("in terms of mathematical results achieved").
OK, that was a statement based on my personal opinion, but it is based on my personal experience as a PhD.

+1. I'd make a slightly stronger statement for the OP: pick the project working on which you'd enjoy most.

Thank you for your suggestion. However, as I said, the people and the topics are equally interesting, so I was looking for some other points to take into account before making a decision.

Use the numismatic determination principle (flip a coin)

Funny. But really doesn't help.

@Dal What do you expect? You're basically asking, "If I have X perfectly equally attractive options in all the dimensions that matter, which one should I pick?"

Maybe you should trust your decision-making bit more. You ask for advice but at the same moment you make it impossible to give one.  And the points is. It is on you to turn the decision you made (!) into a good one. Basically, trust yourself.

@RogerFan and Moriz, I see your points, but I've only said that the mathematical aspects and the advisors are equal to me, and what I'm asking is what else I should take into account when choosing a research area.

I choose downstream processing and for some time I thought I should have chosen Nanotechnology. But actually it does not matter because I like what I do and had chosen what I liked. So I started from a different point but at the end I do equally interesting work like my colleagues from the nanotech dept. It is more about your supervisor, the group and you, than about the research area. It is an under-grade project. It will not predefine your career.

By far, the largest determinant of success is a person's personal interest and dedication in a subject.  If there are several subjects that equally interest them, they are probably equally likely to succeed in any of them.  Now, there are things that happen with "hot subjects" and "bubble bursts," and so on, but it's very hard to predict what will be going on in five to ten years from the beginning of a Ph.D. program.  If you pick subject A over subject B for such a reason, then you are likely to be disappointed, and to have a lower chance of success because you haven't followed your heart.
Now, there is one major exception to this, and that is if you want to work outside of your home country and your field interacts with national strategic interests.  For example, if you are an Iranian student in the United States and you want to study nuclear technology, then you are likely to come under close government scrutiny even as a graduate student and there will be many jobs that are simply unavailable to you unless you become a citizen.  It is possible for this to go the other way as well: you may find yourself with some difficulty moving your work abroad from a country if it is considered sensitive.  This can affect some unexpected areas: see, for example, the battles over cryptography in the 1990s.
So, in short: if you want to change nations, it's much easier if you stay away from anything that the military or intelligence communities care too much about.  Other than that, follow your heart.

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Specifically academic alternative to LinkedIn
It is well-known that LinkedIn is used by scholars too, but I think that the business-friendly structure of your profile-page makes it markedly less suitable for academic purposes. Is there a specifically academic website that includes the same characteristics as LinkedIn plus the possibility to add some more scholarly elements in your profile?

Yes.  Your professional academic web site.  You know, the one with your university's web address, linked from your department's home page.

Yes, it's called: Academia.edu Furthermore, it has some cool analytics features that LinkedIn doesn't.

ResearchGate is more academic. It allows you to add your research publications, not just papers. It also has a stackexchange like section and a Jobs section, that features listings to research and advanced positions (PHD, Post-Doc) in academic institutions and in business.
As @StephanKolassa noted you should scout Research Gate before joining (follow the link in his comment), as any other alternative.

+1. But note that ResearchGate is somewhat controversial.

You are right, but part of it is just reading the information that goes into publications and linking it. The only real issue might be that they use you as if you were a member, when you are clearly not (as stated by the person whose question you linked). Other than that it is a valid alternative and your link is a plus to complement the answer.

RG is indeed the perfect academic analogue to LinkedIn, in the sense that LinkedIn's value to your career is also vastly overstated.

One must never forget that you register to be a product more often than to be a client.

@PedroDuarte I don't like Research Gate. Do you have any other suggestions?

@Dal there is also Academia.edu

@PedroDuarte, I'm sorry, but I don't like that either (indeed, I've asked a question about alternatives to those two). Thank you very much for your effort, though.

You could look at the aggregator/identifier system ORCID. I strongly recommend ORCID if you apply for US federal grants, as the writing is on the wall regarding needing an ORCID to do so. A few journals are starting to require ORCIDs for authors as well.
You could also consider a profile at an alternative-metrics aggregator such as ImpactStory.
(Disclaimer: I have an ORCID and an ImpactStory subscription, and consider one of the ImpactStory founders a friend. Nobody pays me to recommend either, however.)

I think Academia.edu has surpassed Researchgate in terms of uptake, but sometimes it seems more papers are uploaded to Researchgate.
I would not overlook Linked In - a lot of academics us it.

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How are scholars supposed to use LinkedIn?
I've recently realized that a professor, who is an extremely renowned researcher in mathematics, added Mathematics, Mathematical research, and similar "skills" to his LinkedIn profile. My question is:

Is that how LinkedIn is supposed to be used by scholars?

Put differently, I realize that the business-friendly format of LinkedIn leads to some oddity in the profiles of academics, but is there a way to use sensibly the "skills list" without stating the obvious (in this case, that a math professor is "skilled at maths")?

I guess this question is impossible to answer without knowing what you are trying to achieve with LinkedIn. But yes, listing that a math professor can do math is stupid, but that's pretty much how all LinkedIn profiles within and outside of academia work (xLeitix - Occ: Software Engineer - Skills: )

Seems good to me.  People may search LinkedIn for certain skills, and this guy can now be found with a search for "mathematics".

@GEdgar although people can list many skills it does not necessarily mean they are really good at those skills and I don't know whether endorsements made in the linked in can be fully trusted.

IMHO the "skills" listing on LinkedIn is pretty much devalued and pointless, partly by the binary way that it presents things. In the example above, sure the professor has maths skills, but do does the engineering undergrad. And so does the waiter in the cafe who works out change.

(also partly by the "gamification" aspect. I've been "endorsed" for plenty of skills by people who have no way of knowing whether I have them.)

I think that this use is fine, and some professors may add their subspecialties to these skill lists (e.g. Algebraic Geometry). I think that being prescriptivist about how a social networking site is used is a bit fallacious in the first place. Professors may use LinkedIn to find connections that lead to work in similar ways to non-academics. There is no "supposed to be" in this context.
For example, at most US universities faculty are responsible for finding funding for their summer salary. That might come in the form of teaching summer courses, finding grant funding, or working as a consultant to a business or national lab. Putting oneself out there on LinkedIn might be a great way to find or be found for consulting gigs. Also, not all profs are permanently committed to their current jobs, so being on job-based social networking sites may lead to their next opportunity.
I agree that it's a little silly for senior people to be listing skills like this and farming endorsements, but I think this is more like the future than it is like the past. I wouldn't be surprised to see LinkedIn add features that make it more attractive to academics to use. The site is already an online resume for non-academics, adding academic-style publication references, grants, courses taught, etc. might allow us to use LinkedIn as an online CV. The site already has publications, but they don't really support them like ResearchGate, Google Scholar, or other academic publication aggregators (yet).


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Should I retract an article published in a disreputable journal?
I was published by the IJARCS in 2011 (International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer Science) and was wondering if I should retract my article due to the journal being disreputable.
I am under the impression this journal is hurting my CV more than helping it, but to have it removed I need to show that it has a serious flaw in the research.  The article can be found here:
http://www.slideshare.net/IanMalloy/l-2213-321470
Should I list the publication in my CV or not and if it comes up, it comes up?

Possibly relevant: My paper was withdrawn from predatory journal... and What should I do if... predatory journal? and Is it ethical to withdraw a paper after acceptance...

So I checked the site for the journal, and the exact journal does not appear.  This article was published in 2011, so it is beyond the ability to simply withdraw...I would need to demonstrate that there is a significant error in the research...

If you're asking us to review your work to find a flaw, that's off-topic for this forum. But if you want general advice on how to handle the situation, we may be able to help.

General advice would be perfect.  And I appreciate the link.
I am guessing I cannot just "gloss over" this publication in my CV?  Would it be better to own the mistake and list it or not reference it at all in my CV?

I've adjusted the question to reflect the comments.

Regarding the CV listing, one thing to consider is that there is a presumption that papers listed in a CV are peer-reviewed.  Typically the main problem with a disreputable journal is that its peer-review process is a sham, so if you believe that to be the case here, one could argue that you should omit it from your CV as it is not really peer reviewed.

Fake journals will not withdraw your publication, regardless of the reason you give. They have no monetary interest in doing so, and probably need your paper to lure other researchers into their scam. There is no problem in not listing it in your CV though.

I don't know of any journal that one could expect to accept "I don't like your journal any more" as a legitimate reason for retraction: a good journal would probably just scoff at you, while a crappy or predatory journal is unlikely to meaningfully respond to any request for retraction, no matter how legitimate.
Therefore, I don't think you should try to retract it, but simply to drown out your early mistakes over time with subsequent good work.
As for whether to leave it on your CV:

If you have reason to believe that this journal is a sham that does not actually peer review, then I think that @NateEldredge is right: you can leave it off of your CV entirely or (better), move it to a section on published non-peer-reviewed work, much as you would list an arXiv publication.
If the journal is simply crappy, however, I think you're stuck with it.  You really did publish there, and no matter how crappy, it's still an archived journal publication.

If it really is not peer reviewed, but it would be unethical to claim that without proof that it is so.


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Academic Curriculum Vitae Template (possibly in LaTeX)
It seems that I'll have to prepare my first academic curriculum vitae within few weeks. However, I lack a good template to use to organize it.

Question: Could you suggest an easy to read yet somehow elegant,
  "professional" (according to current standard) template for an academic cv (possibly in LaTeX)?

I see that there are many cv templates available online, but very few are specifically academic and even less in LaTeX; plus, this is my very first time, so I'd really appreciate experts' suggestions and some guidance.
Thank you.

I feel like this is a duplicate of: http://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/80/latex-template-for-resume-curriculum-vitae

I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because this is answered on another stack exchange site: LaTeX template for resume/curriculum vitae

Q says possibly in LaTeX but implicitly open to other alternatives, so different scope to tex.se

@EnthusiasticStudent, I apologize for my ambiguous wording: by 'template' I didn't mean only LaTeX class or a sample MSWord file, but also some guidance in choosing what an undergrad student (prospective graduate) should list in his cv.

There are several packages/classes in LaTeX available and you can find a list of many on CTAN (Comprehensive TeX Archive Network). There is no preferred package since CVs can be constructed in many ways, some of which may be specific to fields or academic cultures. The moderncv class is quite popular and may be a good starting point but you need to figure out if any one format suits your particular needs best.


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How can I get a Copyright Transfer Form without notifying my advisor?
My case is that we already have an adviser. She's not allowing us to register for conference (rank B). We have prepared everything after getting acceptance letter. Now she's telling us to submit the work to another conference (ranks A*)! We are pretty much sure our paper will surely be rejected if we submit it there and since our undergraduate study will be completed within 2 months we may not ever get this chance to publish a paper!
What should i do? She's simply not ready to listen. As she was the one submitting everything program committee will send eCF to her only. Should I write to the program committee so that he sends me an eCF? I don't want to change author names... just want to publish the paper!

Is she a co-author of your paper? If so, do not try to circumvent her; it would be unethical to submit anywhere that she does not agree to. Why is it so important that you get the paper accepted somewhere before you graduate?

What do you mean by We? Are you Msc or Phd ?

Suppose you got the copyright form. It is going to say something like "For jointly authored Works, all joint authors should sign, or one of the authors should sign as authorized agent for the others." IEEE COPYRIGHT AND CONSENT FORM. How do you plan to get the professor to either sign, or authorize you to sign as her agent?

Have you tried explaining your situation to your professor? This sounds just as likely to be a communication breakdown as it is a disagreement.

What benefit do you expect from a paper published in a lower-ranked conference that you would not also get from one in submission, on your professor's advice, to a top ranked one?

Life is full of risk. It can't be avoided. A top-ranked conference is far more likely to accept a completely original paper than a warmed-over version of something already published. If you did not have your professor's consent before submitting the paper, you took an enormous risk.

If you are thinking of submitting to both, read Can a conference paper be an extended version of a previous conference paper? Will it face copyright issues?

I'm a bit confused.  You must have had your advisor/coauthor's permission to submit the paper to the first conference.  Right?  But why would she give that permission if she had no intention of letting you actually publish there?

I'm also confused. Do I understand you correctly that the paper has already been accepted at the first conference? If so, submitting it elsewhere is a really bad idea - is your advisor saying you should do this?

There is one key question that may be contributing to confusion: Did the professor consent to submitting the paper to the conference where it has been accepted?

This makes me sick (sorry). While I may understand your motivation and enthusiasm. But   betraying your co-author is not an acceptable solution. All co-authors need to agree on when and where to submit. Most likely, she knows better than you where the work should go. Moreover, If you planning to continue research after graduation it is better to keep good relation with her (at least you will need a recommendation letter written by her). You can continue your hidden game but no one would guarantee the outcome. She may even ruin your graduation. You need to have an honest discussion with her and make a decision. Tell her why you want to publish. No games. People tend to publish years after doing research/graduation.

You keeping her as a co-author. And co-authors have responsibilities and rights. Publishing without their consents is what I see as betraying them. You may go along the copyright thing. But still this is not ethical.

Even if your PI were not a co-author many research facilities will most certainly file internal documents ("permit of publication") to confirm that the publication follows the code of conduct/ethical code (or whatever your institution claims to follow). Those are typically to be signed by the PI. Failure to follow this is not just betrayal but may earn you a written dissuasion. Most certainly not the way to start a scientific carrier.


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What is the official way of addressing a lecturer/tutor in an English speaking university?
What is the official way of addressing a lecturer/tutor in an English speaking university?
If it helps, I will be studying in an Australian university. In my country, we would address a lecturer/tutor as "Master" (English translation of the word in my language) so I was wondering if I could address lecturer/tutors at my Australian university as "Master"?

Out of curiosity, where are you from? "Master" would certainly look very strange, and raise a few eyebrows. In fact, it would seem so weird I am sure no one would find it offensive.

You are studying in an Australian university. Why not address the lecturer/tutor in the Australian way?

In italian, elementary teachers (if it hasn't changed in the last 20 years) are addressed by "Maestro", which originates from the latin "Magister". However, the correct translation would not be Master but Teacher.
In an university, I would address lecturers as Doctors, if they have a PhD.

Unless you're an orc addressing Sauron I would be inclined to avoid "Master".

As @scaaahu says, it's not the English speakingness of the university that counts. In the UK it would be typical (everywhere I've been) to address a lecturer by their first name. In the US, it would be typical to say "Prof/Dr X".

@AvengerDr: No, it hasn't changed in the last 20 years, but from lower secondary school (age 11+), you would address a teacher as "professor" (or simply "prof" in modern age).

@Miguel To be fair, a derivative of "Master" (i.e. "Mister") is a very standard way to address others.

I'm from New Zealand, where "Master" is used to address young boys, often by a doctor/dentist etc. I guess that it's the same in Australia and the UK. Do not address an adult (in any situation) as Master Smith. Conversely (as suggested in the comments), addressing someone as "Master" without being followed by a name, such as "yes, Master!", sounds like you're addressing a slavemaster.
The formal and safe way is to address them according to their rank - Mister Smith for teaching assistants who are Master or PhD students, Doctor Smith for postdocs and staff who hold a lecturer position, and Professor Smith for associate or full professors. The abbreviation Mr. is fine for emails, as this is commonly understood as the abbreviation of Mister, not Master.
However, Australians are generally quite informal, so the younger staff in particular may prefer to be addressed on a first-name basis. Calling your TA Mr Smith might come across as a bit fusty, so they might tell you to "just call me John". If in doubt, just ask how the lecturer wishes to be addressed.


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Is the postdoc salary negotiable in Canada?
I'm a statistician being offered 45k CAD for a postdoctoral position in Canada. I have a few questions:

Is this number negotiable at all?
Is it rude to ask for extra money to cover relocation expenses (US to Canada)?
The cost of a parking pass is 1000 CAD per year at this place (compared to 200 per year for faculty at my current university). Is it weird to ask for this to be compensated?

Hi, and welcome to Academia! As your question may be very specific to Canada, I took the liberty of editing this into the title and adding the [tag:Canada] tag.

Welcome to Academia. I think that your post contains two separate questions.

"Is this number negotiable at all?" The answer to that is usually "it depends". What can you bargain with? Do you have better alternative offers? If the answer is "it just seems very little", then don't bother.

I've never heard of someone bargaining salary on a postdoc offer (in math).  As for 2) you can try asking.  As for 3) yes, because presumably cost of living is built into the salary.

Are you talking about parking at the university? I've never heard of anyone at my  university being compensated for parking. We are encouraged to use public transit.

related question outside of SE network: https://www.pubchase.com/career/question/how-negotiable-are-postdoc-salaries-lets-assume-that-at-7-502

I have never heard of a compensation for parking, some faculty have a discount on a parking spot, some institutions also give discount if you ride-share with partner. Forget about any parking benefits as a post-doc.

In my experience, postdocs are grant-funded with a nonnegotiable salary. It doesn't hurt to clarify though.
The department chairs I have known would not have considered this rude. Reimbursement for moving costs is often offered as a sort of signing bonus.
Reimbursement for parking is unheard of in my experience. Again, asking politely shouldn't be a problem, but I wouldn't get my hopes up.

I didn't negotiate a Canada offer and declined. After the fact, I was told it was negotiable once the colleague became a collaborator, but this was only because my postdoc was funded by an institute and he would have been sweetening the pot using his research funds in addition to the institute's money.
You can always ask. Some postdocs do have moving expenses covered.
I don't know.

+1, For my Australian post-doc (which I'm moving to early next year) I basically told them no at first, because the salary was too low. They came back with a higher offer...so sometimes it is negotiable, it depends on the circumstances.

Q: Is the salary negotiable?
Short answer:
Yes, it is,
because principle investigators have some discretion
about how to use their research funding.
Let me illustrate this point by sharing my experience.
A few years ago, I applied for a postdoc at a Canadian university.
I was originally offered a stipend of 36K CAD.
After speaking to the principle investigators,
they decided to increase the stipend to 38K,
and to pay for my medical insurance,
which brought the total to about 40K.
(I suspect that the reason they increased the offer is
that they learned that I was married with kids,
and my wife was not working,
so they were compassionate.
However, they did not explicitly state why they increased the offer,
so take this only as my best guess.)
Q: Are moving expenses covered?
Short answer:
Maybe. You need to ask.
It also depends on the type of postdoc.
It can depend on what type of postdoc opportunity you have.
I had a friend who took a 3-year postdoc at Berkeley
and his job offer included relocation expenses.
In his case, because the job was for 3 years,
it made more economic sense for the job offer to include relocation.
But if your job offer is only for 1 year,
it may not normally include a relocation package.
Incidentally, tenure-track job offers usually include
some amount of relocation allowance.
Q: Can I ask for compensation for parking?
Short answer:
You can definitely ask, but I wouldn't get my hopes up.
If the price for parking is 1000 CAD per year,
it is possible that most students and even some faculty
may take public transport to school.
You should investigate the public transport options.
As a postdoc, I took a bus to and from school every day,
which took at most 30 minutes if there was a long wait.
In fact, at that university,
riding buses was free with a university card,
which was a nice perk.
Conclusion
In the end, I declined the offer from a Canadian university
and accepted a postdoc at another university.
The main reason why I chose a postdoc at another university
is because I felt that the project was more interesting
and a better fit for my skills.
Personally, I did not think that salary was that important as a postdoc.
My mentality as a postdoc was that my postdoc was a temporary position,
useful as a stepping stone to a permanent tenure-track academic job.
While a bigger postdoc salary is nice,
the most I could get might be 5K more a year.
If I instead focused on getting good research experience,
and landing a tenure-track job,
at that point my salary would be at least 80K a year,
which is approximately double my postdoc salary.
If for some reason having a high salary in the short-term
is important to you,
then you shouldn't be looking for postdoc jobs,
or even tenure-track jobs,
because they don't pay that well.
In that case, it may be more expedient to get a job at
a bank, hedge fund, or in consulting,
or even at a company like Google, Microsoft or Apple.


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Choosing a second option choice
I am currently applying to MSc pure maths/maths courses.
One the universities gave me the option to fill out a second choice program. My first choice was pure maths but I put my second choice as applied maths.
I was wondering, could putting applied maths as my second choice hurt my application because they might think I am not committed enough or 100% sure of doing pure maths?
The university says on the application form that if you are unsuccessful they give you the opportunity to submit a new personal statement for the second choice.
I am considering ringing up the university and telling them to remove my second choice.
What shall I do, does it matter?

Possibly related, at least tangentially: https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34471/how-bad-does-it-look-if-i-asked-the-director-of-graduate-studies-if-i-can-change

Admissions committees have been in the business of matching grad students with classes and advisors for a long time. To provide the best fit, they have asked students for their specialization preference knowing that while some students are sure of their path (pure, applied, or statistics), others will change their mind with a broader exposure. Listing a second option should increase your chances of acceptance, for it gives the admissions committee more options.
While I cannot imagine an admissions committee penalizing students listing a secondary option, they will likely be displeased with wishy-washy students calling to change minor application details.

ok, I think you are right.They asked second for a second choice for a reason. Also I have done both pure and applied at undergraduate.  I suppose that is why they give the opportunity to produce a second personal statement.

It sounds like you have made the best decision. Hopefully you expressed both your passion for pure math and your honest feelings towards applied math. Universities especially value students who are good communicators.

By the way, consider creating an account. StackExchange is kind of like a game: you earn points based on the quality of your questions & answers. With more points you gain more powers (access to features like the ability to up-vote good answer).

yeah I was really honest with applied math. To be honest I dont think that it matters, I was just being paranoid. I mentioned I struggled with some applied maths topics but they have absolutely nothing to do with the applied msc course. I should be ok

also some maths is better than no maths :)

In the United States most would say, "Some math is better than no math" ;)


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Can I have multiple research jobs totalling > 1.0 FTE in the United Kingdom?
Is it permitted in UK academia to have more than one Research Associate post which totals greater than 1.0 FTE? *. What's the general opinion if no definitive answer is possible.
Obviously 2.0 FTE would be a stretch, but I was thinking more along the lines of 1.2 FTE or 1.3 FTE.

FTE = full-time employment.

It's basically not allowed in the US to get more than 1.0 FTE from the federal government in grant funding. The rest depends on each local institution's rules for outside work. No single institution that I know of will give you more than 1.0 FTE worth of salary, though the workload may seem higher than that!

I don't know if you can, but are you sure it is wise? If people being paid for 1 FTE in practice end up working 1.2-1.3, you would be putting yourself at 1.4-1.7 FTE!

@BillBarth Re No single institution that I know of will give you more than 1.0 FTE worth of salary - Not necessarily. I am currently employed at 1.14 FTE (1.0 FTE as a research assistant and 0.14 as an adjunct) from the same department. (None of my current salary comes from federal grant funding.)

@ff524, huh. Your profile says that you are a  PhD student. Is your assistantship 20 hours/week or 40?

@BillBarth (nominally) 20 hours

@ff524, that is not an FTE. In this context, one full-time equivalent would be 40 nominal working hours a week. Now as a student, the other half of your time is probably supposed to be as a full-time student (9-ish credit hours for US grad students). So that might make you "working" in some sense 40 hours a week, but you're only being paid for 20 which is 0.5 FTE. Adding your 0.14 adjunct position makes you 0.64 FTE.

@BillBarth This is my payroll profile for the research assistant job. The payroll/HR system considers it to be 1.0 FTE

@ff524, that's unusual for a 20-hour a week appointment. Your university appears to be an outlier.

In the UK, how many hours you work can depend on grade, e.g. Higher grades state 35 hours whilst lower grades are 37.5 or more :-O

Generally in UK academic institutions, you are paid based on your "grade" on the pay scale (for posts up to but not including professor). If you were asking if you would receive more than 1.0 FTE in pay, I believe the answer is no, as you would no longer be on the regular scale. Your pay is based on your post, and the research funding would contribute to the University's costs and overheads, as well as your pay. The HR office would not let you be paid more than you should receive according to their calculations.
If you mean holding more than one Research Associate post, while still receiving the same pay, this depends on your institution. I have many colleagues working on multiple projects simultaneously. They're putting in more than 1.0 FTE of effort. As to their official FTE, I believe thy are officially 1.0 FTE, and they are a Research Associate "for" a given member of staff. Their time is then "unofficially" (for want of a better term) split between multiple projects.
I am sure this will vary between funding sources and institutions, as to what is tolerated/the norm. In this case I reference, however, this is not a case of holding multiple RA posts; rather holding a single post, which works on multiple projects. Since their post is not tied strictly to a single project, the FTE is perhaps not the best metric to gauge them by.

It seems quite common at UK institutions to offer a 20% FTE position to non-UK academics to beef up the REF return. These people have at last 1.2 FTE employment, and possibly have more positions.
When academics are evaluating or reviewing for funding agencies (e.g. European Commission) or engage in external examination duties, they also have a (limited time) contract with other employers taking them over 1 FTE. This is often explicitly allowed in the employment T & Cs, as activities comprised within the university's core business.


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How to pick a PhD topic?
I have been offered an opportunity for a part time PhD in Computer Science. I have had brief conversation with the person that would be my advisor. He has suggested that I start to think of a topic/proposal.
I literally have no idea where to start, what level of detail I should be looking at for a proposal?
I have read a couple of the articles on this site like: How to find a good topic for a PhD research proposal?
These all offer great advise. Maybe I'm missing something but I am starting to feel a bit overwhelmed already!
One idea I have had is modelling student success based on different factors like: home environment, past student success, etc.
All I keep thinking of is the advisor said "It needs to be something new".
I guess any advise on creating a research proposal, picking a topic, where to begin... would be great.

Part-time PHD, you have no idea about the topic, no suggestions by your advisor. It does not sound like a recipe for success.

A large part of "think of a topic" will be done in discussions with your advisor.  You can start to think on your own, but that is only a start.

You mentioned the problem: "It needs to be something new". That's not only highly unspecific, but also extremely hard to gauge by a prospective PhD student.
Sure, you can start reading articles/conference proceedings and try to find interesting questions (e.g., what these authors mentioned as open questions). But in my experience, you need to be working in a domain/field to really get an idea which questions/problems are interesting and worth-while to answer/solve. After all, the research the papers are based on is usually at least a year old and conferences proceedings aren't that much up-to-date. So the person who likely can tell you whether something is new is your adviser, if s/he is actively doing research. A good adviser, who is part of the research community (visits conferences, works with other researchers, does peer-reviews for journals and conferences) should know what the other researchers work on (and thus reduce the risk that you get scooped half-way in your thesis) and guide you where you can make a contribution.
If you really want to work with this adviser, one way would be to check his/her publications and look for interesting topics/open questions. You could go from there and state your interest and ask him/her for possible directions where you can take his/her previous research. While the work has to be new and it must be your work, in my opinion it really helps to have a content expert to get started and to get good feedback. After all, I would consider a PhD an apprenticeship, not something you should do solo.


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Is it a mistake to fail to mention future career plans in an application for admission to an MSc in pure mathematics?
I am applying to various universities to study for an msc in maths or pure maths.
After sending of my application I have realized that I have not mentioned anything in the way future career plans.
Was this a bad idea?

I don't think so, unless they specifically asked for it.
This is not a doctorate- research is not the only goal of your masters. You are still a student and you will probably have to take courses as well, and you are there for the education. Your time at the institution is limited (one or two years). I doubt that anyone cares or expects you to know "what you want to do when you grow up". This is hardly significant for PhD applicants, let alone for masters.
You do not need to worry.

Actually your masters are a great time to find out for yourself where you want to take your professional future. Be it a PhD and research or the industry.
Some purely research oriented masters may expect that you continue with research, but still it is your carreer and your life. A master that is well balanced between research and the industry will not have such expectations of you.
And as Michael said, the short answer is you don't need to worry about this.

Those in or applying to PhDs should or should have already found out for themselves where they want or would want to take their professional future?


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How are interactions with professors on postgraduate open days taken into account in admissions decisions?
I am applying for a masters in the UK and I attended an open day where I met various professors. I met with a professor who also happened to be the postgraduate admissions tutor. We spoke for a while and we really clicked and got on really well. We email each other and he has given me his thoughts on my suitability. He  identified areas of concern but he said he may be able to make me an offer.  It has become really clear to him that I am really passionate and enthusiastic.
When he is looking through the applications and he comes across mine, will he take into account how much we clicked and how we met on the open day?
Is he allowed to take into account things about me outside of my on-line application? Or is that unfair?

Objective criteria (such as grades, test scores) are often used to make the "first cut" of candidates. At the second and final rounds,  admissions decisions are made holistically and subjectively. 1 It is there that your being proactive and going to the Open Day, talking to professors, and the postgrad admissions tutor become things that  count in your favor.
How much they will count is uncertain and unknowable. Ultimately it is your suitability to the program that is most important.
1. In the United States, the use of objective criteria such as race  has been cause for lawsuits and scrutiny by the Supreme Court.

For a masters application here, It is just one round. The admission tutor looks at your application and decides id he wants you or not.


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Will writing MSC instead of MSc in an application count against me?
I am really stressing out over masters applications and I have realized I have stupidly made a minor error. Instead of writing MSc I wrote MSC and I was not consistent.
Would the admissions tutor care?

Almost certainly not.

That's good to hear. The stress of trying to get into a MSc program is killing me :(

If they do, do you really want to go to such an institution?

@user99865 The stress of trying to get into a MSc program is killing me :( If you want to be successful in your academic life, first learn to be relaxed instead of being this much nervous. Calm down and relax. Nervousness will not help you find better programs and it will not help your application progress.

While it is possible for an applicant to be harmed by sufficiently bad grammar in a personal statement, I cannot imagine something on the scale that you describe -- writing MSC instead of MSc -- having any impact whatsoever on the evaluation of your application. Bad grammar can count against you because it indicates that you are not be a poor writer and/or you didn't take time and care with your application. Switching between MSc and MSC signals neither of these things, so you should be fine. There are so many ways to sell or sink an application that something on this scale is miniscule noise compared to the other signals that an application provides.
Note, by the way, that there is some variation allowed in this abbreviation, though I don't think MSC is among the accepted forms.


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Meaning of "recommend with reservation"
In my reference my tutor has put down that he recommends me with reservation.
Is that a good thing? What does "recommend with reservation" mean?
Thanks everyone for your help.
I spoke to my referee and he realized he had made a typo. I have contacted the universities and told them. They have given me an email address for my referee to submit his reference again which I have passed on.
The rest of the reference letter was amazing and I am sure that the admission tutor would have picked it up as a typo and would have rung up my referee.

That sounds like a horrible thing to say in a letter of reference.

This is absolutely not a good thing; reservation means that the tutor has reservations about your qualifications, but sees potential. Therefore, he recommends you under the assumption that you can be qualified for a position, but asserts that you are not yet qualified.

"reservations" means "concerns"

with versus without - close enough?

No, it's not a good thing. With reservation means that there is a some reason not to recommend you.
However,  "recommend with reservation" is an odd turn of phrase. I suspect it is a typographical error and should read  "recommend without reservation" - which is a good thing. If this is a typo, it is a seriously unfortunate one and you should definitely ask your recommender about this (particularly if you don't know what his reservation could be).

How do I approach him about this?

Aha that is a more tricky question. I guess it would depend on the relationship you have with this person. Especially if the rest of the letter is positive (which I am assuming it is), you could say "Thank you for the writing this letter for me. I see you "recommend me with reservation" on line X. I am wondering if this is perhaps a typographical error, and if it is not, would you be willing to elaborate on your reservation?" If the letter is not generally positive, you should bin it and find someone else as this will tank your application.

The rest of the letter is good expect for the reservation bit

@user99865 then I am willing to bet it is a typographical error. It sounds like the type word omission mistake I would make. Because "recommend without reservation"  is such a common phrase, I read the title of your post  wrong the first time I saw it.

He has already submitted my reference to other universities and I bet he has made the mistake for f**k sake. I may need to ring up the universities

I think if the whole letter is positive, the readers of other universities probably would also guess that's a typo and they may contact your tutor directly for clarification. But normally blind reference is much preferable, so if you have read the reference letter, that seems the university you are applying to do not consider the reference super important...

I have certainly heard the phrase "recommend with reservations" used, so in my opinion this is quite an unfortunate and dangerous typo.  If every single other bit of the letter is positive a logical reader will have to suspect it's a typo or that the writer is not so reasonable....but this would be well worth arranging to get fixed if possible.  (It's also not worth stressing out about: this is obviously not your fault.  See if it can be fixed, but don't lose sleep over it.)

By the way, the phenomenon of someone who should know infinitely better putting a stupid typo into a highly important (to the recomendee) letter: so much more common than you might think.

One way to approach the letter writer would be to ask what is meant. If "with" was intended, the student needs to know the nature of the reservation to see if it is fixable. If it is a typo, asking the nature of the reservation would caller the writer's attention to it.

It was so so lucky I found that typo. Should I also phone the university up and tell them to destroy the previous reference letter?

The only place I've seen "recommend with reservation" in connection with recommendations is not in the letter but in the list of options on a recommendation form, where the recommender is supposed to check a position on a scale from "strongly recommended" to "not recommended".  Here "recommended with reservations" would be the next-to-last item in the list. If, when reading a recommendation, I saw this option checked, I'd ordinarily look in the letter for an explanation of the reservation; if there isn't one, I'd probably assume it's a typo.


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Ramifications of withdrawing publication offer (question from student editor)?
I am the editor of a student-edited journal at a graduate school. We extended a publication offer to an author that has published with the journal in the past, and with whom I do not wish to burn any bridges. The normal process of an offer goes like this: (1) extend the offer, (2) author either accepts or rejects, (3) send copyright agreement, (4) author signs and returns copyright agreement, (5) we edit and publish the article.
The author accepted the offer within the time frame (step 2), but we have not progressed beyond that. I have to withdraw/rescind the offer because we have maxed out our page numbers for this year. I tried telling the author that I would be happy to work with the incoming editor in chief to see if they want to make him an offer to publish next year, but he insists that because he accepted the offer we are now obligated to publish it next year. I reminded him that we have not sent him a copyright agreement or entered into a publication contract, and even if we did so the journal reserves the right to terminate the agreement at its sole discretion. He essentially said that his acceptance of the publication offer formed the publication contract and now we have to publish him or else (said he turned down other offers, etc.).
I feel terrible about the situation (we've tried our best to never put authors in this position, and have never had to rescind/withdraw an offer before). Since I've only experienced this from the editor's point of view, I'm wondering what published authors have to say about the situation? Is it your understanding that once you accept an offer you've formed a contract with the publication, and they are obliged to print it? Have you ever had an offer withdrawn, and did it burn all bridges with that institution/publication?

Absolutely, and offer is an offer, and after its acceptance "to rescind" is to "go back on your word", that is, to abrogate a verbal (or in-writing) agreement. As in the answer, you were/are only an agent acting on behalf of the journal, so the fact that you'll not be editor is irrelevant: the journal accepted the paper. Done.

It sounds to me as though you not only accepted the paper, but you also originally solicited it from this author. Retracting your offer at this stage would be grossly inappropriate and could cause significant damage to the reputation of the journal if the word were to get out.

I believe the author is in the right here. Accepting an article is morally binding and should commit the journal to publish it, barring exceptional circumstances. Authors should be entitled to rely on that commitment.
Although you may not have any legal obligation to publish the paper at this point, to refuse to do so would be extremely unprofessional and reflect very poorly on the journal. Given the deadlines, you can't publish in the current issue, but you should queue it for publication in the next issue with available space, ahead of any other articles not yet accepted.
Your idea seems to be that the incoming editor should have sole authority to determine the content  of the next issue, and as such that he should have the right to decide not to publish the article if he so chooses. I would disagree with that. I believe the incoming editor has a  professional duty to treat your acceptance of the article as binding on him as well. If you want to think of the journal as a continuing entity, rather than a sequence of unrelated anthologies, there needs to be continuity of this kind.
It is somewhat awkward for the incoming editor, as now he will have less space to fill with articles he selects. He may have a right to be annoyed with your poor planning, but that's between the two of you; you shouldn't make the author suffer for it.
I'd make exceptions only in very unusual cases, such as if the incoming editor discovers fraud or plagiarism in the article, or finds that your review process grossly violated the journal's stated standards.

The situation is a bit unusual, as it's common for an editor to work on more than one issue, and it's common for journals to have a note that says "This paper was accepted by the previous editor" on some articles. I think you need to accept that you (Student Editor) have screwed up, and you need the incoming editor to get you out of the mess. You're going to owe them a favor or two.

I can say as a former editor that what Nate Eldridge said is correct. The missing link here is that the journal is not the personal property of the editor; rather, the editor has custodianship over the journal. Thus the journal accepts the author, and the editor is the agent who makes that decision. It is completely standard that some papers are "in the pipeline" for the upcoming editor, like it or not.

I presume this is a law review. If so, you should really talk to your faculty advisor, who is, presumably, a lawyer. From my non-lawyer perspective, where is the consideration necessary to form a contract? What are his damages if he were to try to sue? Specific performance doesn't seem likely if he were either.
The legal publishing world is very different from the typical academic publishing community. He probably shopped this article to lots of different journals, and he strategically chose among several offers. There's always a chance something could have fallen though at any stage after your verbal/email acceptance. He might have not liked your edits or some other aspect of your (now unsigned) publishing agreement.
Reneging on an agreement certainly agreement isn't professional. I presume there were some extenuating circumstances that caused the delay in the process. Is there a reason the page count cannot be extended?

Oh, interesting thought; in particular the mention that the author "turned down other offers" suggests we are in a field in which multiple submission is acceptable, and so other norms may also be different from my experience.

@NateEldredge, I think this is really important. Also, what other field besides the law, has a tradition of student-edited journals?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Academic_journals_edited_by_students lists a number. I believe that "publishing X" and "X to be published" constitute the consideration, as with all royalty-free publishing. The best legal hope may be that there was no meeting of the minds, based on the journal's unannounced (?) intent to assert in the future a right to terminate the agreement at its sole discretion, and that seems a bit sketchy. "Turned down other offers" points to damage, so the question would be, how much.

@user6726, I doubt other offers count as quantifiable damages in a US court, but IANAL. How much money did the prof lose as a direct consequence (not some future failure to get a raise, etc) by the failure of the journal to publish? I doubt seriously that this journal is going to get sued if they don't publish, but they should talk to their attorney. Everyone agrees that this is bad behavior, but I don't think the prof can force OP to publish. There's plenty of discussion on the opposite problem out there, btw.


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How to proceed when denied co-authorship for a research paper?
I have contributed significantly to the paper and I was not listed as co-author instead I am listed in acknowledgement section in the end saying that thanks to my preliminary studies. I had sent the data to my supervisor before I left the lab and I have all evidences of work reports and weekly meetings. They repeated my experiments with my optimized conditions and produced their results in the manuscript and included few new data. I could not find much difference between my results and results obtained from their repeated work.
I am really disappointed with whole situation which I feel went against ethic science for a significant contributor to be dropped from the list of authors. There was no response to my e-mails from corresponding author that I asked for justification. Please suggest me accordingly, what can I do further, the manuscript is already in ASAP.

What field is this in.  it could be that the data is similar, but their interpretation of the data is what the paper is really about, and in that case you may not deserve authorship.  In addition, some conventions require you to have read and written at least part of the paper before it was submitted.

They repeated my experiments with my optimized conditions

It sounds like they repeated the work you did and acknowledged you for running the preliminary experiment. While it sounds like you could have been included to a greater extent in the "new" research, they decided for whatever reason to not include you. By recollecting the data, they have essentially eliminated your contribution. In addition to the acknowledgement, providing a reference/citation to your "preliminary" data would not be out of place, but if those data are not publicly available (and in some fields in a peer-reviewed and/or archival form) providing a reference may be out of place.
There are really two things you can do. The first is talk to your former supervisor, not the corresponding author, about authorship on the current work and any other work you were involved in while working in the lab. It is quite possible the corresponding author does not really know who you are or what your role in the preliminary studies were. The second thing you could do is attempt to publish your data first. You would of course want to include everyone who deserves authorship (which likely includes your former supervisor) and this could get messy. Getting to the finish line first could be difficult. You may be able to get the work "published" on a non-peer-reviewed preprint service (e.g., arXiv) first, but the value of those types of preprints are very field dependent.

I agree with the comment given, contributing data doesn't qualify you as a co-author. However it would, most likely, be good practice of them if you would have had the opportunity to contribute enough of to the paper to meet the standards. But, of course, if this is possible also depends on the circumstances you left the group in.
If you still work at the same institution you could contact the ethical commission (you could also try if you do not work there anymore).
How ever adding an author after submission is not something most journals would consider

My view is that more important than co-authorship is an adequate recognition of your contributions. From what you have written, an honest statement about your contributions may show that it was actually your work which was more important than that of the other authors.
(I am not able to address the issue of the coauthorship itself as such -- as important/practical as this could be in real life).

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