text:
How do I motivate myself to study a subject when the teacher couldn't care less about teaching it
So I am a Computer Science major final year under-graduate student.
I am studying 4 classes at the moment, and sadly, don't feel really good about any of them. The subjects are good, I love Computer Science, in general, but the teaching has been below average. The classes only consist of teachers coming to the class, reciting bullet points written on the PowerPoint, and leaving.
To make things worse, almost all of them expect us to write exactly as the prescribed text-book, even a different notation is frowned upon.
This is really getting on my head, because:

I am trying to learn (cram?) what is required for the exam, and I kind of suck at it.
I feel like I am ditching myself - because I learn nothing out of it.

I am starting to develop medical problems, like headaches, high blood pressure because of all the stress - the stress of doing things exactly as in the text book.
So I want to ask what is the most appropriate step to take in such a case? Have you experienced anything like this before? How did you cope with it?

This question will probably be closed as off-topic, but you should consider seeking help through your university's student health center. They should have resources to help you with your medical problems and stress management.

Depending on the number of units associated with each, four CS classes sounds like a pretty heavy load for anyone.  Could some of your problem be fixed if you cut back on your course load to something you could be successful at, even if the instructors aren't as helpful as you'd hoped?

@NicoleHamilton Cutting back doesn't seem like an option right now. I have been a decent student till now btw, GPA 3.6/4.

Because you'd rather fail by a certain deadline than succeed at a slower pace?

Learn in your spare time what you like most(and beyond the courses), and at a constant rate what you should learn In this way, you combine what you need to learn with what you want to learn.

@Ric Notice that in some countries universities might not have any student health center.

Question for those voting to close: What about this question could not happen to a graduate student?

@PatriciaShanahan I've never heard of a graduate program that was devoted to the kind of rote learning that the question describes as the main problem.  If it's about how to deal with stress and discouragement, on the other hand, we've got a bunch of good Q&A about this already.

@jakebeal I'd argue that a university like the OP's, which has such a bad undergraduate program, probably has a similar graduate program as well.

"almost all of them expect us to write exactly as the prescribed textbook, even a different notation is frowned upon." Conventions in Computer Science are important. They make it easier for your instructors, your classmates, your future coworkers, and yourself to read code (or even scan that code and those notations visually because the human mind has a very powerful visual pattern recognition capability).

Today is September 16.  If you move fast you may be able to switch to some better-taught classes.
My guess is you are past the drop-add deadline.  You may need to get approval from someone quite high up.  You may need to assert yourself.
Step one is to look at what other courses are being offered this semester that would fit into your program of studies and your interests.  Step two is to visit those classes.  You should arrive five minutes early, introduce yourself to the instructor before class, and give some simple white lie such as "I'm thinking of signing up for this class next year; do you mind if I sit in today?"
If you fall in love with the class and the instructor, then at the end, when you thank him or her for letting you sit in, you should come clean and say that you would like to add the course to your schedule.  Don't say anything about the other course you would be dropping.  Say, "If I can get administrative approval to add this class after the deadline, would that be all right with you?  I would work very hard to catch up on all the material that's been covered so far.  I have a such-and-so GPA."
If the instructor seems pressed for time, just say thank you and ask if you might contact him or her later with a follow-up question.
It's your education.  It's fine for you to be pro-active and advocate for yourself, with polite persistence.
Edit: I just re-read your question and saw that you are an undergrad.  I will now have to vote to close.  Sorry.


text:
Should I quit my undergraduate project?
I am doing an undergraduate project on matrix analysis which mostly involves functional analysis(but not a lot of heavy machinery) but I realize I don't really like the area very much and my work isn't particularly non-trivial. I have an excellent and patient guide.The alternative is that I can instead read a bunch of graduate texts in analysis over the next year.
Here are the pros and cons of quitting the project I could come up with:
Pros:
1. If I quit, I will be reading some graduate texts.
2. I will be reading something I like.
Cons:
1. I will lose out on valuable research experience. I am concerned that the lack of it will render my applications to graduate schools in the US rather ordinary. 2. I have an excellent relationship with my guide.I am a little concerned she might be disappointed with the switch.
(I can't work under someone else for various reasons.)
Any help is appreciated. Thank you.

In my opinion it is definitely worth considering quitting an undergraduate project that you have tried and don't like in favor of doing more reading that you do like.  Indeed you should talk to your advisor about it.  To be slightly more specific:

Pros: 1. If I quit, I will be reading some graduate texts. 2. I will be reading something I like.

Reading graduate texts is a great thing for a would-be math graduate student to do, especially if you really like them.  If you can acquire graduate level knowledge mostly independent as an undergraduate, that will be strongly beneficial in your graduate applications.

Cons: 1. I will lose out on valuable research experience. I am concerned that the lack of it will render my applications to graduate schools in the US rather ordinary. 2. I have an excellent relationship with my guide.I am a little concerned she might be disappointed with the switch. (I can't work under someone else for various reasons.)

Doing some undergraduate research is not what will make an application to a US graduate school stand out.  A lot of students have done this, and it is not necessarily very impressive.  If you do research that is sufficiently good and sufficiently independently done then that will grab people's attention but (i) that is very rare and (ii) most undergraduates who are in a position to do that had excellent applications anyway.  In your case, it sounds like your research is not going anywhere exceptional.  (But you could be wrong, and this is worth talking to your advisor about.)
You're right that your advisor might be disappointed.  When a student strays from the path that you've laid out for them, it is usually a bit disappointing at first...but it happens frequently, and most advisors are used to it.  The real question is if it's disappointing enough to have a real negative effect on you (or your advisor, but I am less worried about that), and the way to find out is to ask.  It is much better to ask than to just stick with something that you don't like, I think.

I just asked my advisor if I could drop the project and instead read a few graduate texts. She happily agreed to that. Thank you, especially for comparing reading graduate texts to doing a not very ambitious project as an undergrad.

Well, I believe you should not quit your research right now.
In my opinion what you said about your research situation was very good. You should know that the purpose of B.Sc. project and research is to get familiar with research world and to do something real in the Correct Way.
I think a helpful, devoting professor is like a gold in these situations. She can help you throw your bright future. It does not mean you should stick to this field for the rest of your life! Take it as a start for your future more professional research experiences.
Also, you can talk to her about different fields which you like. She may find you a combined nice problem to work on.

Can't you do both? You may be able to do the reading and work on the project.
If you dislike your project, then try speaking with your advisor/mentor. You never know if they might be able to help you find something more aligned with your interests.
Aslo, I would say that for undergraduate research, it isn't really about your project, but more about getting some experience, networking, and resume building.
But like I say in most of my answers on this website: try talking to your mentor about this issue!

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text:
Will minor mistakes in my bachelor's thesis harm my future career as a researcher?
I'm in a total disaster right now because it feels like I have no chance of being a researcher anymore. Months ago, I submitted my Bachelor's thesis. Days later, I realized that I printed a wrong version of it (the version before the final) so I asked permission from my adviser and the librarian if I can replace the copies because of the mistake. They allowed me.
Weeks later, I realized that there was a term in my abstract that might need to be cited. But for the record, I cited this term in the body of my research. I consulted my adviser whether or not I violated something with that. She said that it was okay because I already cited it in the body of my research. However, I insisted and ask if I can add a citation just to be sure. She said okay. So I had to replace my copies of thesis again.
Lately, it occurred to me again that there was something wrong again. I think that I failed to cite a secondary source in the 'limitations' part of my thesis. Although I already have cited this secondary source as a secondary source 2 sentences before the sentence in question, I still feel that it was not sufficient because we had another similar quotation from an author in the sentence in question. I don't remember exactly why I failed to cite the secondary source in that sentence again. But as far as I can remember, I accessed the primary source. Maybe that is why I did not cite the secondary source.
But it still bothers me because even if that's the case, it might still look like I copied that part of my thesis (although not verbatim, but it totally bothers me still). That's the only problematic part of the whole research. I would like to correct this and give a more sufficient citation  for the secondary source, but as I have mentioned, I already corrected my copies twice and they might not allow me anymore. I am so devastated right now, I am afraid that this might bar me from doing research again. Or worst, they might take away my degree which I really worked hard for.
How do you think will my adviser react to this? The last time I amended my thesis, I said that it will be the last time. But this mistake is unbearable and I can't live a day without thinking about it. What if the other faculty members will know? What will be their reaction? I have a perception that academicians are perfectionists and might persecute mistakes like this even when done unintentionally. I don't know what to do, I really don't know what to do.

The vast majority of published research articles--let alone student theses--contain minor errors. 2. No one cares about a few minor errors. 3. What you describe barely even counts as an error.

Do the errors in these "vast majority of published research articles" contain citation errors too?

@Grimacese: more than you would think. While one should try to get things right before the first submission, these seems to be so minor that what worries me more is your attitude. If you can't stand such honest mistakes, will you stand being proven wrong? It is very rare for a researcher to never be proved wrong, so if you consider a career in research you need not to let your emotions be out of control -- but still care enough that you do things the right way.

No worries. Bachelor's theses are rarely read by anyone, and even then it's usually not in detail enough to notice any errors. Learn from this for next time, when you write your PhD thesis, which might be read more widely (for example, five people instead of two).

@BenoîtKloeckner: Indeed, one of my concerns right now is how to deal with my attitude. Something about your comment confuses me, though. You said that "It is very rare for a researcher to never be proved wrong." It is somehow equivocal. Did you mean that despite minor honest mistakes, researchers will still be proven wrong and may be persecuted?

@Grimacese: I just mean that it happens that one's error is pointed out by a referee, or that one's published result is later shown to be an artifact. This is not about persecutions, it is about the normal process by which science progresses, which includes mistakes, some of which take time to be acknowledge.

Relax. Many Nobel-winning scientists have published papers with shockingly bad errors. No-one cares about a bachelor's thesis.

True story: about a year after I finished my graduate degree, I was reading over the printed and bound copy and noticed that my introduction—you know, the first page of actual text—is only half-written. The last sentence just stops right in the middle and there's no concluding sentence at all. I checked the LaTeX source... no error, I just never wrote the end of my introduction. Whoops.

At the level of fixation on these errors you're describing, I would strongly advise you to seek serious help before further pursuing a career in a field like research that naturally encourages people to be so self-critical. If you have been this fixated on issues in an undergraduate thesis, you will have serious trouble functioning well through the process of writing paper for publication, reports, proposals, and a graduate thesis. Please talk to a trusted mentor and/or a mental health professional about this before charging forward and figuratively impaling yourself.

@Novelocrat, I was trying to find a nice way to say it, and then you did. Grimacese is going to have quite the wake up call if they actually make it to grad school.

@Sam They are new, they will learn...

I think your biggest mistake is worrying too much about those tiny mistakes (so tiny that they might not be mistakes at all).

My very first paper has a typho on the first word of the abstract. That was more than 10 years ago, I do call myself a researcher and I'm getting paid for it, so...

@Grimacese, is it possibly that you're dealing with excessive anxiety in the sense of OCD/scrupulosity? I've got some experience with this and I wonder if this isn't what you are struggling with. I don't really enough to go on from your words, but if you worry about other things in your life this way, you might consider speaking with a mental health professional. No more shame in doing that than seeing a doctor for a broken ankle, and it can help immensely.

@Grimacese - Let's be perfectly clear here.  Nobody is persecuted in academia unless they willfully, knowingly, and purposefully produce fabricated research, or plagiarize others work, with the intent of deceiving others.  If you are not trying to do any of these things on purpose then you really, really don't need to worry.

Persecuted or Prosecuted?

@J... This could be an answer.

@Crowley that's the problem, that "they will learn" is taken for granted, with an assumption that any issues students may have are categorically sub-clinical. A disturbing fraction of my friends and colleagues had or developed real, clinical-grade mental health issues over the course of their graduate careers, in many cases spurred directly by the environment in which they were immersed. I'll assert that addressing these issues systematically would result in lower incidence, greater productivity, and lower costs/impacts on students, faculty, and programs.

@Novelocrat I have never heard a teacher saying "You've made a mistake, never mind, that happens". Neither verbally, neither in body language. But I know a lot teacher saying "How dare you submitting such foolish scrap to me?" If one have too much stick and very little carrot the can easilly prsume, that the "high-rank academia" is this unfriendly.

Striving for perfection is NOT a mental disorder, people.  Stop suggesting he has issues.  Please stop encouraging laziness.  If you are unable or refuse to see the difference between striving for perfection and a legitimate case of OCD, you are not very scientifically minded.

To be honest, as a grad student I read this and immediately thought, "Man, I wish I had written a bachelor's thesis..."

My bachelor's thesis has something in it that's completely wrong. However it doesn't invalidate any proofs (it's math), and nobody reads bachelor's theses anyway, so I never had a problem. I got my PhD.

@Grimacese "Did you mean that despite minor honest mistakes, researchers will still be proven wrong and may be persecuted?" Another thing to reflect on as far as your take on this goes is why you implicitly connected "being proven wrong" with "being persecuted". Those are two completely different and independent things. You certainly have a lot to think about! :)

take a deep breath.

@Physics-Compute Sentences like "I'm in a total disaster right now because it feels like I have no chance of being a researcher anymore" go way beyond striving for perfection and into unwarranted anxiety. In my experience anxiety disorders are common among successful academics and mean time between onset and diagnosis is over a decade. Talking w/ a mental health professional is no sillier than getting your eyes checked if you don't yet wear glasses. I stand by the advice to at least consider whether this could be part of the issue.

Please don't vandalize your post. See I've thought better of my question; can I delete it? for further details.

All of the researchers have errors on their writing.
If you carefully read the theses or papers, you can see a lot of errors and typos in them.
Also, it's not your problem solely, but it is related to your advisor too for not remarking you the elements of technical writing.
Moreover, if the hard copy of your work won't be allowed to change again, simply add a report paper on the thesis hardcopies devoted to the errors and typos in the thesis. (common approach for published textbook)

I have a perception that academicians are perfectionists and might persecute mistakes like this even when done unintentionally.

I am pleased to report that your perception is wrong! Academics are human beings who tend to be rather understanding of other human beings who, like themselves, occasionally make mistakes.  In fact, if you browse other questions on this site that are tagged errors-erratum, you will find that mistakes happen quite often in academia, just as they do everywhere else.
One slightly ambiguous citation in a thesis is

not going to bar you from doing research,
not cause for taking away your degree, and
not even cause for anyone to think poorly of you, assuming the rest of your work is good.

If it bothers you, put a corrected version of your thesis (and/or an erratum) on your personal website, just to set the record straight. (And realistically, if anyone happens to read your thesis in the future, they are far more likely to read your easily accessible online version than a printed copy in the library.)

Hello. Thank you very much for your answer. Somehow I felt reassured. I have another concern about erratum. Should I proceed to that (publishing an erratum online) without the knowledge of my adviser, or should I let her know about my case again. She kind though and has exhibited very deep empathy for students. My problem is I think there was no similar case in our college before, and I do not exactly know if publishing an erratum online is acceptable for them. I am also particularly scared about how other faculty would react to this case if they knew.

@Grimacese I think there was no similar case in our college before - I am sure there have been other minor errors in theses in your college before. Humans make mistakes, and nobody - including other faculty - should expect 100% perfection. I suggest you speak to your advisor, if only because she is going to tell you exactly the same thing, and that may be reassuring to you :)

@ff524 in fact I bet most bachelor theses contain minor errors.

I think that to a close approximation all bachelor theses contain minor errors. Of course there's a fuzzy line between "minor" and "trivial", but it's rare for a substantial work to get through proofreading to publication without still containing at least one typo, and that's with the aid of professional editors. So it's pretty well certain that a bachelor's thesis contains trivial errors, then it's just a matter of whether you think minor errors are all that much easier to catch. I think not.

It's bachelor's thesis. After it is approved, no-one will read it. Ever.

In this Internet age, it's hard to say nobody reads anything ever. For instance, I just came across somebody 's LinkedIn profile. The person received MSc between 1991 - 1998. and then received B.Sc between 2006-2011. I was wondering what happened. Did that person study masters degree before  he/she studied bachelors?

@scaaahu: who knows, but noone read the thesis. Even reference-checkers don't read bachelors' theses.

Actually, some people do read other people’s bachelors’ theses. Mainly other researchers at all levels in the same lab (but only the experimentals). Occasionally other bachelor’s students who want to get inspiration on how one is written.

Somebody might, just might, page through, but really read, with so much attention to detail that the person would find a citation error, no. That will never happen. As said in other answers Grimacese can stop worrying.

|'ve occasionally come across rather useful BSc theses online while researching computer vision problems.

@Jan An all the people are reading it to a) find out how the experiments were held (how to make the *** stuf working), b) how they should write their own bachelor's thesis. None of them have power to bump the author off, unless the thesis is ultimate fake. and such people usually did that for "the letters on visitcard" and leave the academia the very same day, they entered it. Appropriate scale: minutes.

@scaaahu maybe they did their masters in Engineering and Bc in Physics? (whatever unrelated pairs will work).

This answer is simply not true, even if for nothing but the fact that I read a particular bachelor thesis and a related master thesis while writing my own bachelor thesis, because I built upon what they did, and it was useful to avoid problems they already solved.

@Crowley True to every point. Just still an invalidation of nobody as this answer suggests ;)

@smci agreed, basically no one will read it, though it's no excuse to do a poor job (though a valiant but imperfect one will do). I did a research thesis as part of a paid project for a major public works group, on a new (to the region) technology that could potentially save them millions a year. Based on the project wrap-up process, I seriously doubt even the people who paid for the project read my thesis/report.

@Jan Why would any researcher read a bachelor's thesis? If there's anything worthwhile in it (and that's already more of an exception than the rule), you'll find the condensed 10-15 page version published somewhere without all the useless filling. The only reason I can think of to read bachelor's theses is if you're writing your own or because you're new to the field and need some gentle introduction (some theses contain good literature reviews). But if you're working in the field I can't think of any good reason.

Well that is in my opnion a very bad way to think about these things.

Well that is in my opinion a very bad way to think about these things, "because nobody reads them, it doesnt matter that it contains errors" is like the yardstick for people that are not serious or have severe imposter syndrome. The errors are not inconsequential because nobody reads them. They are an indicator that the person writing the thesis was a human. Some people here stated. It's a bachelor thesis, therefore it's bound to have errors. well Candidate thesises, Phd thesises, Books by the foremost researchers, papers by the foremost researchers has errors in them.

@cognacc, you are absolutely right, this is a very bad way to think about these things. However, this was a response to a person who is in "total disaster", and hence I think it was a good idea to put things into a perspective.

You're worrying too much. :)
It is uncommon not to have a minor mistake in a work of dozens of pages. It is very likely that you yourself will always be your worst critic. What will happen is:

Most likely nobody beside yourself would notice the error
If someone noticed, they would recognize it for the minor issue that it is

You've submitted your Bachelor's thesis and it was accepted. While it is fine to provide an updated version on your website as ff524 suggests, or even to have a look at previous projects sometimes, continually obsessing about past work will drain you. Do everything as good as you can, but once you've delivered it, it's time to shelve it and move on to new projects. ;)

Well, You are defending Bachelor thesis now. In two years you will write your masters thesis. In six years, or later, you will write your PhD thesis. Around this time you will start to publish papers and participate conferences... In analogy, you are 5 years old and learning how to ride a bike. This was your first fall. Do you think it prevents you from winning Tour de France some day?
I cannot read my bachelor thesis, it is awful and there are mistakes. But it was accepted and I defended it. I fear reading my masters, because there are mistakes, weak spots, etc. But it was accepted and I defended it. Maybe you tolerate others' mistakes but overestimate your own mistakes.
You made a mistake(s). Nobody is perfect. If you realize the mistake and do try to replace it (new copy, ask for reject, ask for update), it is totally acceptable and even welcome. If you do not realize the mistake, but try to replace it, when been informed about it, it is totally acceptable. If you realize the mistake and resist to replace, defend your flawed results, humble your "opponents", then you shall be expelled.

I have found that the best way how to defend a thesis is to read it many times before printing. Let some people to read it as well, your schoolmate, your friend from different field. They will find errors and typos for sure. Correct it. Then read it through once more. When you get it printed, add there your signature, enclose the CD, if needed, submit it and never ever think about reading a single line before the defense. In the very first line you will read, you will find total flaw or demeaning typo.
There is rumour, that in one masters thesis there is "Transistor will be made of oak wood, because nobody reads it anyway." This statement was false, obviously. The one who read this was the author who read it day after his successfull defense. He had written it as a desperate joke while writing the manuscript and forgot to delete it...

@scaahu Thanks for the edit, but the typo in the last paragraph was intended pun.

A bachelor's thesis is, by definition, a "first effort." It would not be surprising for you to make mistakes on it. In fact, it would be surprising if you didn't make mistakes.
Every full fledged researcher, even the best ones, will make occasional mistakes. That just goes with the territory. In your case, what you most need to do is to learn to deal with the inevitable, and yes, I mean inevitable, mistakes, you will make in this or any other career. Then you'll be fine.
Many of the most accomplished people on the site can tell of more serious setbacks than yours. No one's career is going to be derailed by an early setback that isn't even particularly serious.
The one thing you want to avoid is something like "plagiarism." An incomplete citation doesn't count as such. That would be a "retail" error that many people make. You do want to avoid "wholesale" errors, like copying multiple paragraphs or even pages without attribution.

Your problem will not be one of failing to live up to the standards of all us perfectionists—with that extreme level of conscientiousness and attention to detail, you'll be a very good researcher in one sense. No, your problem is going to be that you'll never allow yourself to finish your graduate thesis/-ses. Or you'll burn out. Or both.
So: chill. And remember (sadly I don't know who said it first, but I've never forgotten my bachelor thesis adviser saying it to me): a thesis can never be finished—only abandoned.

Don't overthink, you seem to be a good researcher, just try to work on the proof-reading side. Read your thesis, article or whatever 100 times before submitting.
It is human to err, and the thing you are worried about is not worth noting even. Same thing happens with good researchers even, and the academic people are not that rude that they might put a full-stop on you, they do know that such small mistakes happen and is not an issue.
Cheer up, focus on work but do a good proof-reading next time.

You might also benefit from proof-reading before submitting. ;)

@Murch hahaha using mobile plus non-native english

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Identifying the common online source of mathematical work
Students A and B in my physics class turned in identical solutions to certain homework problems on two problem sets in a row. My policy is not to give credit in situations like this. The similarities are far too extensive and idiosyncratic to be explainable if the students had really done their work independently. Normally this kind of thing is not a big deal, because the assignments are only worth token amounts of credit. The students get the message and change their behavior.
But this particular case is becoming more of a big deal because A acts very upset and claims he did the work totally independently. I asked B what happened, and B said he found a solution online and copied it down. This seems plausible: A and B both copied the same online solution.
How could I determine/prove whether this is what happened? I have heard that there are web sites that students can use to access materials like these. Is there a small enough number of such sites that I could check each one to see if this work originated from materials provided there? To gain access to these sites, would I have to upload materials that they wanted, which could be onerous or unethical? If this was an English paper, I could google for the plagiarized text or use a service such as turnitin. There are also tools for use with computer code. But AFAIK there is no way to do this with mathematical material.
Please do not post comments or answers about whether it is a good idea to count homework in students' grades, or whether I can really tell that two students' work is too similar to be explainable if the work was independent. These could be worthwhile things to discuss, but they are not the subject of this question.

Have you tried to plug in your assignment questions, or the solutions themselves into search engines? You'd be surprised at what is available on the internet.

@SrihariYamanoor: Good suggestion. Googling on the text of one of the questions doesn't turn up anything relevant. The solutions the students turned in are basically just equations with no surrounding explanatory text.

Very interesting situation. The only other thing I can think of are homework forums or physics forums that simply lock you out unless you join them or something. But that leads you down the path of all kinds of sites from phpbb sites to facebook groups and so on. I will watch to see what you track down to be the solution to your mystery.

Did B refuse to disclose where they found the solution?

Have you asked student A to explain how it's possible that student B turned in an identical assignment, if student A really did all the work? Maybe student A did post his solution online for whatever reason and would be willing to tell you where (with a way to prove that they were the one to post it online, before the day they were supposed to turn in the assignment)...

Most likely, you have enough leverage with B to just extort the source from him (the "academic honesty rules" are usually pretty strict and if you invoke them at full swing just literally following the procedures in the written university regulations, he may lose a lot more than a few points. On the other hand, he doesn't have much to lose by spilling out the source to you at this point). So, if you are really interested, just fry him and you'll get the answer. On the other  hand, I would not pursue the issue beyond giving both A and B zero score and letting them have a headache over it.

Most solutions to book problems are found on Cheg or yahoo answers. I would ask them for the source and then tell the class that going forward all answers for full credit require a written explanation of their reasoning. In the long run it will be better as it will get them thinking beyond plug-n-chug equations.

Another possibility is that B copied from A, with or without A's knowledge. A is truthful in claiming independent solution. B is protecting A by claiming an on-line source.

@PatriciaShanahan Meaning B is not only too stupid to solve the physics problem himself, but also too stupid to realize that such "protection" actually frames A as a "direct cheater" rather than just "a person who lets others cheat without his knowledge"?. Anyway, as I said, there is no need to guess when you can extort answers... Also my main point was that the task is not as much to seek the truth as to make it someone else's headache. So, if A makes a lot of fuss and B doesn't show the source, I would just pass all evidence to proper authorities and suspend the grades until their verdict.

@fedja I don't, in general, agree with avoiding responsibility by making my problems someone else's headache. In this case, passing it up the chain may be all the OP can do.

@PatriciaShanahan Neither do I. However, it is not my (or Ben's) responsibility to find out the ultimate truth in such cases, so if I can settle it on the spot, I do but if one party makes too much fuss and another refuses to cooperate, I send the case up the ladder as the regulations require. Of course, if B does show the source, the evidence sent up the ladder will be just the printout of the online solution and the A's paper ;-)

"How to prove it" depends heavily on who has to be convinced, and what burden of proof is required; this will be a function of your university rules.  In some places, the professor has unilateral authority to judge academic dishonesty, so the only person you have to convince is yourself.  In others,  there might be a panel of faculty / students / administrators to judge such cases, either from the start or upon appeal by the student, so you'd have to decide what evidence would convince them.  I would tend to expect such panels to be very skeptical of claims of coincidence.

Whether or not you decide to pass this up the chain, you should definitely discuss it with the appropriate administrator in your department (undergraduate dean?).  Also consider what your take-home messages could be from this experience.  Would be interested to hear your thoughts about that, as an update/edit to the question.

Disclaimer: The answer below is based on my experience, but I'm not in the US.
I'll try to address this question:

Is there a small enough number of such sites that I could check each one to see if this work originated from materials provided there?

Along the years, I have seen students searching for solutions online in at least three different places: newsgroups (Usenet is agonizing, but not definitely dead), forums, specific repositories and -- last but not the least -- Stack Exchange.
Exercises are usually reported in the form of plain text, text with LaTeX equations, an attached PDF file, or a picture taken with the smartphone (sometimes the picture is taken after having printed the PDF file. Gosh).
Moreover, exercises might not be reported in the original language: a student knowing a second language might ask for help on a foreigner forum, translating the exercise (I saw it happening).
From the above points, I think that the general answer to your quoted question is no, and trying to identify an online source might be a hopeless task. Of course, strokes of luck can happen and at a local level there might exist communities of users of a specific college or university.
Therefore, I strongly support alternative strategies, like that suggested by Patricia Shanahan in her answer.

From a comment:

The solutions the students turned in are basically just equations with
  no surrounding explanatory text.

Ask student A to produce the explanatory text for the equations in the common answer. If A indeed worked out the answer independently, A should be able to explain the reasoning leading to each equation. If A just copied down a solution that only contained the equations, that is less likely.


text:
Is it "vita" or "vitae"? Why?
I recently attended a "preparing for the job market" workshop for PhD students where the speaker instructed us in no uncertain terms that we should always refer to a "curriculum vitae" and never a "curriculum vita." Following the workshop, I made sure to replace all instances of "vita" with "vitae" on my website.
Today, though, the professor of a class I'm taking asked me why I had the word "Vitae" (on its own, without "Curriculum") on the menu of my website, suggesting that "Vita" might be more appropriate. I looked around this website to try to get some clarification and noticed not only that there didn't seem to be anything on this topic but also that some people use both spellings in the same sentence (e.g., "A 'vita' is just a short term for a curriculum vitae").
So, is it "vitae"? "Vita"? "Vita" when the word is on its own but "vitae" when it's "curriculum vitae"? Also, is there any reason (based in Latin or something else) for these distinctions?

for your website I suggest"CV", the standard abbrev. for curriculum vitae".  Your prof is right, "Vitae" alone isn't quite right.

fwiw,  US government funding agencies often ask for a "biosketch", but that has a specific form, depending on the funder.

This could have been answered by consulting a dictionary. I know, I am old-fashioned.

I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it's about the proper use of Latin grammar and thus not specific to academia.

Oh dear...Romanes eunt domus.

You should probably accept David Wallace's answer because of his table of translations of multiple Latin phrases and accompanying illustrations.  He's got 14 up-votes to Andreas Blass's 59 only because Andreas Blass answered first.

@MichaelHardy, thanks for the suggestion. However, while I appreciate the table of translations, I find AndreasBlass's answer to more succinctly get to the answer I'm looking for. Despite comments from Cape Code, Carsten S, and others, I'm more interested in language conventions within the academy than how these terms would appear in a dictionary or Latin grammar. Hard to pick between good answers, though :)

I propose migration to english or ell.se

@cat All those words are Latin. Why migrate to English SE?

@scaaahu or latin.se, but it's used in English so maybe OT at E.SE. Either way, not OT here

Just want to mention that I've seen a few people use Academic Vita in place of Curriculum Vitae.

Vita means life. Vitae is the genitive (possessive) form, of life. Curriculum means something like course.  So Curriculum vitae means the course of one's life, and makes good sense. Vita by itself also makes good sense, though it's perhaps less accurate as a description of the document in question. Neither curriculum vita nor vitae without curriculum makes sense.
Addition, suggested by Patricia Shanahan: All the words in bold italic are Latin.

Not sure if it is worth adding but "vitae" is also the plural of "vita". So, one might say "I am reading the vitae (of the candidates for a job)" although I am rather doubtful if this is common. Though maybe more so than curricula vitarum?

Absolutely, if you have to write or pronounce "CVs" (of multiple people) in full, it's "curricula vitarum".  Or if it's multiple CVs belonging to one person, it's "curricula vitae".  Which is why we just say "CVs".

Two things: 1) the complete form would be curriculum vitae et studiorum (course of your life and studies) 2) @quid The correct plural (in Latin) would be curricula vitae , not vitarum. Using vitarum would mean that each curriculum was about multiple lifes (i.e. persons). Then depending on the language you are using this term in it may simply be nideclinable (e.g. in Italian we never decline words from other languages, but some people still decline Latin words for no reason at all)

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

"Vita" is an American English term, synonymous with "Curriculum vitae".
If your web site targets only Americans, then "Vita" is fine as a label.  If you wish to appeal to an international audience, you'd be better to call it a "CV".
The phrase "Curriculum vita" is an error, and makes no sense.  That's what the speaker at the workshop was telling you.
About the pluralisation - my instinct would have been to give "vitas" as the plural of "vita" (on the grounds that if it doesn't mean "life", it's not Latin, and therefore shouldn't get a Latin-sounding plural).  However, Merriam-Webster gives the plural as "vitae".  Since Merriam-Webster is a greater authority on American English than I am, I defer to its judgement.  I am not a native speaker of American English.
The origin of this term appears to be the Latin "vita", meaning "life".  Just to clarify the variations on this term in Latin ...
life           = vita
life's         = vitae
life's course  = curriculum vitae
life's courses = curricula vitae
lives          = vitae
lives'         = vitarum
lives' courses = curricula vitarum

If I have multiple CVs on my computer, which I use when I apply for different types of job, these are "curricula vitae", because only one life is involved.
If I have multiple CVs on my desk, because I am about to interview several applicants for a job, these are "curricula vitarum", because they are the courses of several lives.
Update
In response to someone asking me to support my claim that "vita" is an American English term.
"Vita" is found in Merriam-Webster, which is the canonical dictionary of American English.  It is not found in the Oxford English Dictionary, which is the canonical dictionary of Commonwealth English (the edition I checked was published in 1971).
Most tellingly though, it is found in Oxford's online dictionary, where it is labelled as US.

This answer will be improved if it is clearly explained that the difference is a result of the grammatical structure of Latin.

Wouldn't both stack of your CVs and stack of your employees' CVs be translated as curicula vitae, because each CV contains one life's description? I'd decompose curiculum vitarum as description of lives, for example chronicle of one House (for example House of Windsor). Several chronicles would be curicula vitarum.

@Crowley that's the same discussion as on the other answer, but maybe it is more fitting here. If we take up the analogy brought up by somebody that agrees with you then let us check. The wheel of the bike. The wheels of the bike. The wheels of the bikes. If there is more than one bike involved you'll use the last (though each wheel is of a unique bike). Thus,  if there is more than one life involved you do the same. Contra the claim made. But I consider it as plausible that it should still be curricula vitae (maybe as  it's  "essential one word" I don't know the actual grammatical notion).

The Oxford English Dictionary, nowadays, reports both BrE and AmE. In my version (the smartphone app), it reports: "vita > noun US a curriculum vitae".

@Crowley The example that many grammar textbooks give is the distinction between "the man's coats" (which means all the coats that belong to a single man) and "the men's coats" (which means that there are multiple men, even though each individual coat belongs to just one man).  The phrase "curricula vitarum" is just like "the men's coats".  We say "vitarum" because there are multiple "vitae", even though each "curriculum" belongs to only one "vita".

Theoretically it could be different in Latin. Somebody claimed it was. FWIW I asked this general question on [latin.se]

Yes, theoretically it could.  I only gave the English parallel to clarify what I was talking about, not to prove that it must be the same in Latin.  It seems that we've strayed a long way from the point of Spencer's original question, which was whether to use "vita" or "vitae" on the menu of his web site.  Thanks for asking the question on the Latin site.  I have upvoted it, and we'll wait to see what the experts think.

The others have already explained the latin, but if you're still looking for what short word to put in your menu instead of "Vitae", I'd like to suggest just 'CV'.

Another option is using the 'æ' grapheme at the end, like so: "Curriculum vitæ". This is also valid and shows interest in latin ligatures, given the archaistic nature of the term. More conservative or classic reviewers will appreciate this detail, particularly if coming from the humanities, as it is often the case (i.e: psychologists and others). Under no circumstances is "Vita" to be used, for the same reason. Also do remember that the plural form is: "Curricula vitarum".

Also, I would like to add that most people doesn't construct the correct plural form for "Curriculum vitae". While they write "Curriculums" the correct construction for more than one CV is "Curricula vitarum"

In Latin it may be, but in English plurals are formed by adding an 's' at the end of the word.

@NajibIdrissi the plural in English of curriculum is curricula and  not curriculums. At least this is what my spell checker thinks, some dictionaries give both. But I think the former is more common. [Whether it's vitae or vitarum is less clear.]

@quid Both are used. If you look in a dictionary (e.g. Merriam Webster), you'll see both forms (there's even a short passage about it on that webpage). IMHO it makes no sense to use the original plural for some words but not all (when you go to a pizzeria, do you order pizzas or pizze?) and besides it causes confusion sometimes (like the infamous ""scenarii"", ""viri"" or ""octopi""), so I never use them since both forms are acceptable.

And in any case since both forms are correct, this answer is at the same time pedant and wrong, not a very good combination.

@NajibIdrissi yes, as I said in my comment. Though it was not in the original version. Sorry about that.  But then your first comment is misleading too, so I guess we are even. :-) And, the dictionary gives -a as plural and only as "also" the +s. What is common in a language is to a large extent determined by usage. Do you say datums or data?

@NajibIdrissi on the second comment, as far as I am concerned I find it  mostly redundant with other information aleady given.

@quid If talking about "data" I would just use data because that's what the English word is. If talking about "datums" as in "several pieces of information", I think I would just use "pieces of information" (and if pressed would say "datums", yes).

@NajibIdrissi while by now the plural of datum has a bit of a life of its own, I am pretty sure it arose just as the (English) plural of datum. What about matrix? More to the point I would be actually curious  what exactly you propose for the plural of "curriculum vitae" Where do you place the "s" on the first the second or both?  Also do you refuse to use irregular plurals  in French too?  I mean "journals" be fine why "journaux"? if not, why in English?

@quid When did this turn into an interrogation...? For the plural of CV it's probably curriculums vitae if I understand English rules for plurals of compounds nouns. When speaking French I obviously use the correct irregular plural  "journaux". In English I use "journals" because that's the plural in English and because I'm not sure that people would understand what "journaux" means.

@NajibIdrissi I wanted to understand your position on this. There are people that make a point of not capitalizing things because they think it is unnecessary hassle. You could be somebody that forms the plural with "s" as a matter of principle  as everything else is a hassle or it could be something specific about English. Thus my question for French. I mean one could decide to use journals as the plural for journal in French to simplify things; it is consider as wrong now but  if enough people do it for long enough it'll become correct or at least "also" correct.

Curriculums vitae it may be correct in a way but still I find it atrocious. From the sound of it I'd find curriculum vitaes better but this is likely impossible. Not to drag this on too far, but beyond the specific example I think it is just not true that the plural in English is always formed with an "s"  or "es." This also replies to your initial remark. I think in English the plural  of words than end in "um" of Latin origin is usually traditionally just formed with "a" and this is part of English (contrary to arbitrary imports of plural from some other languages).

But we are veering off-topic sorry. Still I'd be curious how you pluralize matrix. If you want to be consistent it seems to me you should use matrixes and not the "Latin" plural matrices. I never saw this but just checked it appears it is also correct. @NajibIdrissi

@quid I'm not a perfect man, I write "matrices". I didn't even realize it came from Latin, I thought it was an English rule about plural of words ending with an x. Is "matrices" how the plural is formed in Latin? Basically my position is this: I find it inconsistent to use the original plural of borrowed words for some of them but not all, so I try to never do it, whether on French or in English. Both forms are correct anyway.

(it probably also doesn't help that in French we say matrice/matrices)

@NajibIdrissi yes, matrix in Latin, following third declension, has matrices as plural. And I think this is the reason for the plural in English. Contrast it with, e.g., one fix yet many fixes (not fices). My position is that there are just some words where it is common and others where it isn't (and others were it is mixed). Recently I was on the other side of the argument when somebody  used genii. I find specifically curriculum vitae an extreme case as the Latin origin is so strongly visible. If it were about curriculums of some courses, alright.


text:
LoR from postdoc or PI?
I am applying to PhD programs in astronomy this fall, and I will need letters of recommendation. I have been working with a research group for about a year, have done a poster session at a major conference based on work I have done with this group and have written a piece of software that will be used in a collaboration with another group at a different university. In these examples I worked most closely with a post doc in the group, but the PI was aware of what we were doing. The PI is well respected and widely known in the field, and the post doc recently received a prestigious and well known fellowship.
I am unsure whether to ask the post doc (who knows me better) or the professor (who knows me but is also more established in the field) for a letter of recommendation. I am in the fortunate position that I have more potential letter writers than I need, so I would prefer to have only one from this research position to show the breadth of my other research experience. Would I be better suited by asking the PI or the post doc? Is it common to have jointly written letters?

Why don't you ask both ?

I have additional people that I would like to write letters for me and my understanding is that grad apps accept three letters.

As far as I remember, though it can vary institution to institution, you have to provide at least 3 recommendation letter.

you should check this kind of obligation before applying for the program.

Also see http://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20274/can-i-ask-a-postdoc-who-has-closely-supervised-my-research-to-write-me-a-letter

Ask your PI to write the letter, and consider suggesting that the postdoc consult with the PI or even help write the letter. That way, you get the best of both worlds: the reputation of the advisor, and the specifics from the postdoc (who could be named within the letter).

It's not really the place of the student to tell the PI how to write the letter.  Maybe the PI doesn't like working from someone else's draft and would rather talk to the postdoc.  I agree with you that this is the best outcome, but it's not clear how to ask.

Good point - I have updated the answer.


text:
Different research area in undergraduate and graduate
I am in my last semester of a double degrees in the bachelor of electrical engineering (honours) and bachelor of mathematics in Australia. During my studies, I watched a series of video lectures about convex optimization by Stephen Boyd from Stanford university and I got very interested in control theory however my university does not offer research in control theory. As a result, my honor thesis is about signal processing and not control theory.
I am thinking of doing research in control theory for my PhD in the US. Will the graduate admission committee look down at my application because all my research experience is in signal processing but I wish to study control theory as a graduate student?

Will the graduate admission committee look down at my application because all my research experience is in signal processing but I wish to study control theory as a graduate student?

No.  Many undergraduate students in the US don't have an opportunity to be involved in research.  Those who do don't necessarily write a thesis or a journal article.
So in that sense, having written a thesis at all will strengthen your application.
If you had studied biology and wished to switch gears completely, with a jump over to engineering, then an admissions committee might be concerned about you.
Looking at it from their point of view -- they want to be pretty darn sure their incoming grad students have the necessary mathematical background to be successful in their beginning level graduate coursework.  With your background it is clear that this will not be a concern.

1) Bachelor's degrees in the US are generally less specialized than those in other countries (though this is less true in engineering).  It is quite common for people to enter graduate school without well-defined research interests at all and to make decisions only after a year or two of coursework and trying out different labs.
2) Any large department at a large major research university in the US (such as the University of Michigan) will have experience with graduate students from Australia and may very well have faculty who were undergraduates in Australia.  They will evaluate the University of Wollongong as comparable to similar caliber universities in the US.  It is true that, because some (but not all) funding streams and accounting mechanisms give priority to domestic students, that US citizens or permanent residents may have an advantage in admissions, but that has nothing to do with where you were an undergraduate.  (In particular, if you are a US citizen, having gone to the University of Wollongong wouldn't hurt you.)


text:
Asking the other professor (as other paper's co-author) to cover the conference expenses
I've just prepared a paper in cooperation with my own supervisor, in addition to the other faculty member at our department. Recently, my supervisor has just declared that he can not cover the registration and travel costs to attend the conference. Furthermore, I have no chance, currently, to apply for any financial fund from the university.
My last chance is asking that faculty member (is who the paper's coauthor) to pay for, but I am not sure about the credibility of such request. Is it?!
I am also concerned that if I ask the co-author such a thing, she might think that our cooperation with her was just solely due to finding someone else to pay for the paper (which is a totally unfair and wrong argument.)

Any chance your supervisor may ask that co-author?

@CaptainEmacs: Actually, he is something swanky and working with him has just proved me that if I want him to do such thing, he may feel that the people consider him as the person who is not able to handle his students, properly. The bad thing is that he may expect myself to pay whole the thing!

That's a conundrum. You probably should signal to your supervisor that you are unable to pay the trip (you do not have to give a transparent picture of your private finances - who knows, perhaps you've just spent all your money on the burial of your cat? This is nobody's business but yours) and ask how to proceed in case the paper gets accepted. If they really expect you to pay out of your own pocket, then you have a more serious problem on your hand than just this one conference.

You are in a pinch.  Your advisor waited too long to tell you he couldn't pay your way, and now you can't apply for financial support through other means.  (Except there is still the possibility of the co-author.)
However, you are not comfortable asserting yourself with your advisor, and requesting that he sound out the co-author; and you feel you have good reason to feel that way.
So you had the idea of sounding out the co-author yourself, and are asking whether it would be a faux pas (i.e. if it would look bad for you to talk to her about the problem).
Well, it looks a bit brash.
If I assume all the premises as you laid them out -- here's the best I can come up with for you:
Speak with Ms. Dr. Co-author in person.  Explain:

Mr. Dr. Advisor and I had a bit of a misunderstanding, and I just found out he doesn't have any funding for my trip to such-and-so.  I am concerned that it may be too close to the conference dates to apply for funding through such-and-so.  But I wanted to ask your advice.  It is a very awkward situation for me, since on my graduate stipend I just don't have the funds to finance a trip like this.  Do you think I should still apply?

If Ms. Dr. Co-author listens with her heart, she will get the message.
Listen carefully to her when she responds, so you can gauge whether she got your meaning, and to get a feel whether she might be annoyed, offended, shocked, or whatever, if you were to ask her more openly.
That's the best I can come up with.  Your system is somewhat over-constrained.

Hmmm, 'listens with her heart'? I've run into many difficulties with colleagues who failed to do that, so I never rely on someone getting my message by reading between the line.  I'd suggest being explicit about asking - academics have a rep for being direct!  In which case Captain Emacs' suggest for the sup to ask instead might be more diplomatic.

@Deleuze - Clearly, that would be the right thing to do (for the sup to do, I mean)....  But will he?


text:
Religious supervisor wants to thank god in the acknowledgements
My PhD supervisor and I are co-authoring a paper. We have an excellent relation, and he is both a well-regarded scientist in its field and a deeply religious person. In our co-authored paper, he wants to include, for the first time in his career, a perfunctory thanks to God in the acknowledgements. Nevertheless, our field has an ongoing and widely publicized scuffle with intelligent design and I am afraid that such statement might hinder the paper's credibility or insult some readers.
Although not religious, I am a strong defendant of people's (and my supervisor's) freedom of belief as long as their doctrines aren't violent or discriminatory, which his aren't. It is, for me, a matter of tolerance. He also is very respectful of my position and has made clear that he didn't wanted to sneak the sentence without my consent. Furthermore, he is not trying to push any religious agenda, it is simply something that has to do with his personal beliefs.
The paper is sound from a scientific stance, no single word in its body hints anyhow to God to fill gaps in the argument and he isn't planning to include a grandiloquent dedication, but I am still afraid that squeamish readers would take matters personally and discard the paper without a second reading, affect my career in the long the long term or, even worse, we might hit the news ("see these people, they are thanking god in their paper").
Am I risking something big if I say "yes", go ahead? Should I refuse to let him put the word God in the paper? Is there any precedent of a paper in which God was thanked by the authors?
EDIT: This questions has been flagged as duplicate. I would like to clarify why it's different:

The authorship of a thesis, including its acknowledgements, belongs to the student and is not shared with the supervisor. It is (explicitly or implicitly) understood that everything that goes into a thesis was written by the student and approved by the supervisor, but, in regards with the acknowledgements, it's the students choice who to thank and the supervisor has no voice or vote on that matter. Have you ever seen thesis acknowledgements written jointly by supervisor and student? Can a supervisor ask a student to thank his wife (or his God)? Probably not. On the contrary, authorship and responsibility is fully shared in papers.
Theses are more of a formality and can be stored for decades without much attention. Papers, on the other side, are meant to reach the large amounts of readers and it is very likely that someone, sooner or later, will spot the dedication.
I wasn't clear enough about a key point in my question and will expand here. I wouldn't mind saying "yes" to my supervisor or following @Ritz recommendation if this was a paper in, lets say, accounting, business administration or even engineering, but my field is in full confrontation with intelligent design and some people might read the acknowledgements as a nod to the movement. (I see my supervisor as a good example of NOMA. Some people can do excellent science and be religious. So far, in the scientific realm, we are doing pretty well, but the reader is not going to care about that.)

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

On a coauthored paper, it's perfectly reasonable for the acknowledgments to specify who is thanking whom when it's just a subset of the authors, and this is not uncommon (e.g., "X and Y are grateful to the A Institute for hosting their visit" or the like, when author Z wasn't actually there).  This is the approach Ritz suggested in the comments, and I'd strongly recommend it.  For example, in this paper one author thanks God, without including the others.
I'm sure nobody would hold this against you personally, and I can't really believe anyone would discard or disbelieve the paper because of the acknowledgments.  It might indeed get some attention: even in mathematics, I've heard people comment on an author's tendency to thank God (nothing negative, just a "gee, that's unusual"), and I can imagine it might get more attention in areas where religion is more contentious.  However, I don't think you need to worry that your career will suffer because your coauthor thanked God.

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

I think there's no universally right answer, but you should try going through some steps for your situation:

Does it conflict with your beliefs?  Personally I would be adamantly against such a thing in a paper I was a coauthor on, but that's my personal belief.  I'm guessing it clashes at least a little with your personal belief or you wouldn't be here asking us about it, but that's a question you should think carefully about.  Your opinion matters on this, and if you feel strongly then you shouldn't let someone else override your feeling without due consideration.
Is it likely to conflict with your audience?  Look at some other papers, see if this is done anywhere in your field.  Your adviser can afford not to worry as much about this because they're established; you may need to pay more attention to it.
Will it upset your adviser?  There's a clear power problem here, with your adviser asking you casually about this - can you afford to say no to their requests?  Would they take it well if you said no, and would that affect you later?  Conversely, would they be very appreciative if you said yes?

For two and three you could try asking someone else you trust in the department what their opinion is on the matter.  For number one, you'll just need to do some, dare I say, soul searching.
Good luck!
Edit: Another thought I had later is to consider why your professor is interested in doing this for the first time, now.  Did they only recently become religious?  Or did something hold them back from doing it before, that they now feel secure enough in their position to cope with, or religious enough to make it worth the cost?  This may suggest that there's something there worthy of your concern as well.
Also, given that you've clarified that your field intersects with the intelligent design movement, number 2 may be a particularly big concern.

His religious believes haven't change in decades and probably at this stage he cannot secure his position even more (tenured). He went away with a bad situation (professional and familiar) and wants to thank for that. Point 2 is what particularly concerns me. Although there are a few religious people in my field, they mostly keep it underground because the scientific community has grown wary of the topic.

@je_b From what you're saying, this seems like something you should feel comfortable asking him to do on his next paper, and not on your first foray into academic publishing.  I would approach it delicately so he knows you're conflicted; you want to respect his beliefs, but in the end you have to be far more concerned with what others will think than he does.  That way you frame it as being about "others" and not about you.

"Your opinion matters on this, and if you feel strongly then you shouldn't let someone else override your feeling without due consideration." This is an interesting turn of phrase. Wouldn't it go both ways? How do you come to an agreement if the other party takes this approach as well? Does not seem to be the case here, but certainly could happen. The other points are good, though.

@jpmc26: "Wouldn't it go both ways? How do you come to an agreement if the other party takes this approach as well?" - if you extrapolate this further, another co-author might have felt the very god that one co-author wants to thank to have been a real hindrance throughout the research. The only way such positions are reconcileable seems to be to focus on tangible, direct contributions, and then only acknowledge contributors that have, as a whole, provided sufficiently many of these contributions. Maybe the described situation needs to be tackled in a similar way.

If I were in your position, I would feel a little uncomfortable about acknowledging God (for God, read "a god", "the God", "Gods", or whatever) in a paper as well. Not, I hasten to add, because I have any problem with a scientist believing in God, but just because I don't think that is really what the acknowledgement section is for.
Most journals ask for acknowledgements to be kept brief and specific. I interpret this to mean that they are for acknowledging a specific contribution to the paper that was not sufficient to merit co-authorship. Therefore, they should acknowledge someone for something, not just acknowledge the person in general. What would one acknowledge God for? If it's anything specifically related to your work, then it will be controversial in your field, but if it's for something more vague like "comfort and support" then I don't see the need. Similarly, if I read an acknowledgement along those lines to someone's spouse or partner in a paper, I would consider it ever-so-slightly unprofessional. Certainly not a huge deal, but it would jar a little.
Perhaps you could use a similar argument with your supervisor - play down the personal aspect (that you yourself feel uncomfortable about it), and focus on the fact that it's just not really the done thing. If you can quote something from the "instructions for authors" for your target journal (they often make a brief mention of acknowledgements) then so much the better.

You say, "I don't think that is really what the acknowledgement section is for." For a person of faith, as John Lennox points out, God isn't viewed as a "God of the Gaps", but rather the "God of the whole thing". In other words, nothing... not even the universe... would be possible without God. If gratitude is due to anyone, surely it would be due to any person without whom the enterprise could not have happened. I don't see any logical reason for a person of faith not to acknowledge this. Likewise with spouses; if you've been working on this 80 hrs/week, your spouse deserves thanks!

@TerryLewis. Sure, absolutely! But it doesn't necessarily follow that the acknowledgement section of a scientific manuscript is the right place for either of those things.

I'm not sure I understand your reasoning... it seems to me that an acknowledgement section would be where you acknowledge ANYONE you felt significantly contributed to your completion of the work, in whatever capacity. I'd think persons would be included solely at the author's discretion. They are the only one who knows what they impact they had on the process. I don't see the reason to leave out someone just because they didn't directly contribute to the final output, unless such a citation is expressly forbidden. Rather than finding it unprofessional, I would consider it gracious.

Thesis acknowledgements often run to a page or more. The trouble is that journals are pressed for space (though perhaps less so now that things are moving more and more to online, so maybe the culture will change) and if each of maybe five or more authors gives a long Oscars-style speech of thanks then the paper will become considerably bloated. It is for this reason that acknowledgements are generally restricted to those who have made a scientific contribution. Furthermore, there have to be better ways to thank one's spouse, or indeed one's God, than a tiny footnote in a paper.

@TerryLewis: "If gratitude is due to anyone, surely it would be due to any person without whom the enterprise could not have happened." - I think what the answer is trying to say is that the acknowledgments section should be restricted to acknowledging the most specific and direct contributions. That sounds logical, for any more general or more indirect support can either be deduced from that, or will be the same for several works, at which point the public acknowledgment may happen at a higher level (PhD thesis, author's website, author's memoirs, etc.) to avoid redundancy.

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

We could go on and thank the inventors of computers for enabling us to typeset our articles. Or paper, pens, food, the atmosphere etc., without which the article couldn't have been written. The point of acknowledgements in an article (not a thesis) is to highlight benefactors that helped this particular article in a specific way, and not the authors in a general way.

"The point of acknowledgements in an article (not a thesis) is to highlight benefactors that helped this particular article in a specific way, and not the authors in a general way." @Turion, is that an academic standard, or your personal opinion?

@TerryLewis, it's what I perceive to be customary.

I don't think you should approach it as "do I refuse it or allow it?", but rather as "let's talk about it."  Try having a friendly, respectful conversation which addresses:

your concerns about how it might affect the perception of the paper
why he wants to include this acknowledgement in this paper specifically

It sounds to me like he is trying to be gentle about this, and there's a good chance when he hears your concerns he might just say, "Okay, don't worry about it.  I'll put it in my next paper."  Or he may be able to allay your concerns.  Also, he may have a specific reason wanting to acknowledge God in this paper.
If such an acknowledgement were included, the wording might also affect how it is perceived.  If it is of the form [supervisor] thanks God for..., there will probably be no impact on how you are perceived.  Or if it is something that might be read as being clever, like We thank God for providing intelligent arguments against intelligent design, I don't think it would engender any bias against your paper.  (In fact, I personally don't think most scientists would read a low-key thanks to God as an indicator of unscientific work, but I don't know what things are like in your field.)

I do not recommend to put a thanks to God in a paper's acknowledgement.
I think a very strong point against it which is still missing is the purpose of a scientific paper.
A thesis is your own creative work which you worked years on and you did it to show scientific ability and (ideally) for your own character building. So many companions and circumstances have done something to help you...so it is quite normal that people are very thankful to exactly those companions and circumstances to complete the work and this includes the own religious convictions.
But a paper has a different purpose: It is for informing your peers about the results of your work. You do not inform them

that you are blonde and have green eyes
that you enjoyed your holiday in Greece 2 days before
that you are a avid reader
that Prof. Dr. Miller trust you and have very much confidence in your result

Why ? Because it has nothing to do with the result of the work you are trying to communicate and defend. Your peers are interested in your experiments and arguments you bring forward, nothing else. The acknowledgments are strictly for exactly those people which made your results possible.
It is the point of methodological naturalism: Imagine you have different people with vastly different worldviews. Your only chance to convince them all is that you put exactly those arguments and evidence forward which cannot be denied by any personal conviction which is not based on evidence. For example Mr. Miller may trust you, but some people may point out that there is no way we can check out if Miller is mistaken and some people may go so far that they personally do not trust Miller. So the point of a scientific paper is exactly to do that: Present your case so that you can assume nothing about the person you are trying to convince and still convince them.
So privately you can still believe anything you like, but when writing your paper you only present your case from a strictly neutral viewpoint.

IF you believe that God has helped you in your work, then it would be right to acknowledge that.
If you are saying that no-one can have that belief, then you are sounding a little bigoted.
Going back to the original question - I think a good solution would be "Author X would like to thank and acknoledge the help of God in his work" or similar.

@PaulHedderly: Consequently, IF you are convinced that God has helped you considerably in the work, is it justified to add God to the authors list? How do you deal with the case that one or more co-authors disagree with that?

@PaulHedderly I think you still understood me wrong: I did not say that no-one can have the belief that God helped him. I said that it does not matter what one personally believes, the only thing important are vaild arguments for the case. I can believe that my tincture cures cancer and it may even so, but I need to convince others with tests that it really does. If you mention someone giving you resources or advice, I can ask him. I cannot ask God (well, I can, but I will not expect an answer). So, how do I as neutral observer can retrace that God helped you in your work ?

I made the comment that "Personally, if this is a secular paper coming from a secular environment, I view the request as inappropriate and less than professional"  and feel like I should expand on this as an answer.  At least in the US, injecting religion into the secular workplace is not a normal thing to do.  If your supervisor questioned you on your religious background when deciding whether or not to take you on, that would have been illegal.
I think you have to look at this as a possible religious test on you.  Just the fact that you're asking about it shows that you are uncomfortable with it.
It's hard to say what I'd do in your situation, but I hope that I would choose to approach my supervisor, and say "This topic is making me uncomfortable, and I would prefer to keep our secular paper secular".
You have every right to feel comfortable in your workplace, and every right to complain about it loudly if you don't.
Lastly, as you're launching your career, you don't need to stand out as the guy who's papers acknowledge God.  Frankly, its odd.

" At least in the US, injecting religion into the secular workplace is not a normal thing to do" - That may have something to do with your definition of "secular workplace". In quite some countries, government is considered a secular workplace, yet in the US it seems almost obligatory for government (at least the head of state) to inject religion.

"If your supervisor questioned you on your religious background when deciding whether or not to take you on, that would have been illegal." - interestingly, this could have been one of the best ways to preemptively "solve" (read: avoid/circumnavigate) the situation at hand, along the lines of agreeing on conventions for working together (e.g. what requirements must be fulfilled for someone to be included in the acknowledgments?) before starting to work together.

@O.R.Mapper -- some things are just never discussed because the behavior is just so inappropriate.  Picture going into a job interview at a university and being asked "how do you feel about a clothing-optional workplace?"  It just isn't done.

@ScottSeidman: Absolutely - and yet, also in this case, I would probably be happier had the issue come up in the interview than being surprised by the colleague who opts against the optional clothes after starting my job.

I disagree here, because there is a big difference between a religion-neutral workplace and a secular workplace.  Most workplaces in the US are expected to be religion-neutral but not expected to be secular.

Although not religious, I am a strong defendant of people's (and my
  supervisor's) freedom of belief as long as their doctrines are non
  violent or discriminatory, which his aren't.

Your tolerance is laudable, but tolerance implies not trying to coerce other people into professing a belief in a religion that they don't actually believe in. That is exactly what your supervisor is trying to do to you.
This whole thing is wildly inappropriate. Suppose, for comparison, that Mrs. Ramakrishna hires Mr. Martinez to come and do yard work at her house. He shows up, pulls weeds, prunes fruit trees, and mows the lawn. Then, when he's all done and the yard is looking really spiffy, Mrs. Ramakrishna says that before she writes Mr. Martinez a check, she would like him to walk out in the middle of the street with her and hold up a sign saying, "Thank you, Lord Brahma, for creating the grass and the trees." After displaying the sign for 15 minutes to every passing motorist, Mr. Martinez will get paid.
Now Mr. Martinez happens to be Catholic. This is not OK with him. He is being forced to profess a belief in a religion that he does not believe in. He didn't know when he signed up for the job that this would be a requirement. The whole idea is outside the norms in his field of work. And adding to the inappropriateness of the situation is the fact there is a power relationship here. Mrs. Ramakrishna has the money and the power, and Mr. Martinez is screwed because he's the low man on the totem pole.
Ritz suggests in a comment:

Instead of saying 'We would like to thank God ...' you could ask your supervisor to write 'The second authors wants to thank God ...', where your supervisor is the second author.

To continue the metaphor, this kind of thing could be a survival mechanism if Mr. Martinez is desperate for the money and Mrs. Ramakrishna is a nasty, vindictive person who will not respond well if he straightforwardly points out how inappropriate her idea is. The fact that it might be a successful survival mechanism does not in any way mean that Mrs. Ramakrishna's actions are OK.
Some might reject my analogy-fable as a false analogy, because Mr. Martinez fears for his soul if he professes belief in Lord Brahma, whereas je_b merely says s/he is "not religious." The trouble here is that religious beliefs are not just warm fuzzy feelings, they are serious belief systems that have had serious consequences historically, including some that were truly horrific.

This is a poor analogy. As many other answers have already mentioned, the authors do not have to thank as a group.

I like the analogy, notably the part about the nasty, vindictive person.  If OPs supervisor is such a person, it would be beneficial for OP to know it as soon as possible.  If the supervisor does not back with such a simple workaround in this case, i'd be worried about what may come next.

I think this is not a bad answer, but the final paragraph seems incomplete, as the point 'whereas je_b merely says s/he is "not religious."' does not seem to be elaborated upon. The way the question reads to me, at least personally to the OP and their advisor, their faith, or lack thereof, are "warm fuzzy feelings" more than anything else.

That is a classic "straw man" analogy.

Just for the record, I define myself as agnostic and was raised as such. My supervisor is very disciplined in his beliefs, though; but nothing close to nasty or vindictive. The analogy is out place either way.

I completely agree about the inappropriateness of such an acknowledgement in an academic journal. As a journal editor, I would definitely ask the author(s) for the removal of such mentions.

This is the worst analogy I've seen in a long time. It's as if you're feeding blueberries to a rhinoceros but the radio is playing Beethoven.

Religion is a personal thing. It is perfectly fine for your supervisor to have his beliefs. However to acknowledge God in a scientific paper is not appropriate, and will almost certainly harm his (and your) credibility. I believe you can be respectful of his beliefs without agreeing to this.
If he presses the issue. You could perhaps ask him exactly why he wants to do this? What could be the positive outcome? It will not be well received by your peers, and he obviously can thank God personally without making a public acknowledgement.

Half a year ago, in March 2016, there was actually a quite similar incident involving a paper in the PLOS ONE journal, where the authors flatout stated that:

[The] mechanical architecture [of the human hand] is the proper design by the Creator for dexterous performance of numerous functions.

This raised a large uproar in the scientific community, leading to debate over proper reviewing ethics and ultimately the retraction of the article by the editors of PLOS ONE.
Now, this wasn't in an acknowledgement, but in the paper proper, but the situation is strikingly similar. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if a second paper with overt references to religion might lead to a similar result with widespread derision and debate followed by editorial retraction, especially considering this is most likely in the same field (biology).
If you made this paper a year ago, there probably wouldn't be much ado about it, but considering the event mentioned above, it might not be prudent to make this acknowledgement.

It is not strikingly similar. It is completely different. In the PLoS case, the authors were claiming that god is the science; in the question at hand, one of the authors wishes to thank god for helping them do the science. If religion helped that author feel better about themself, then that probably did help them do the science. I don't think that's something that should be acknowledged because it's a contribution to the person, not directly to the research (and we don't acknowledge our spouses or favourite coffee shop). But it cannot be compared to the incident you describe.

That case seems more like somewhere that a reviewer should have handed out an xkcd.com/285

The interesting irony is that you seemingly can assume various theories about opportunistic evolution as fact without proof and even directly state belief in such without at qualms now.

You can consider doing what they did in Israel's declaration of independence. It references "Tsur Israel" (צור ישראל), which is one of the names of God but can also simply mean "the strength of Israel". So everybody can interpret it however they feel comfortable.
If you can come up with a way to acknowledge God indirectly and your supervisor is ok with it, it might be the best compromise.

@AnonymousMathematician's answer is the canonically correct one and essentially solves the problem, but an idea occurred to me that complements it a bit. My thought is that both of the coauthors have the right to include individual acknowledgements in the paper, so certainly if your coauthor would like to acknowledge God, he must likewise allow you to acknowledge whomever you want. This could enable you to distance yourself further from his acknowledgement (if you feel that doing so would be to your advantage) in several creative ways. For example:

Author A acknowledges the support of the National Science Foundation through grant X, and thanks his colleague Professor Y for a suggestion that improved the proof of Lemma 7.1, and God for his guidance and inspiration. Author B thanks The Flying Spaghetti Monster for helping him overcome his addiction to Netflix, which was crucial to the timely completion of this work.

Or:

Author A is thankful to God. Author B thanks Charles Darwin for inspiring him to become a scientist.

Or:

Author A thanks God. Author B is thankful to Author A for providing him a useful lesson regarding the value of ideological tolerance in acknowledgements sections.

And so on - Author B can insert an acknowledgement to the laws of quantum field theory, to "my Creator, who gave birth to me 43 years ago last July", or any number of other entities that he factually is grateful to for existing and facilitating his scientific journey. If this is executed in a tactful way that doesn't sound too passive aggressive, and the acknowledgement is factually correct, the readers will get the message and the religious coauthor should not have any cause to be offended (although he might regret bringing up the idea of acknowledging God...).

"If this is executed in a tactful way that doesn't sound too passive aggressive" - That's the problem with your suggestions: all of these sound passive-aggressive to me to some extent. Though perhaps the Charles Darwin one would be reasonable. I can't see mention of the Flying Spaghetti Monster being anything but negative for the relationship with the co-author.

@user2390246 I'm not sure I agree (though I'm not sure I disagree either). More precisely, why is it any more passive aggressive for OP to acknowledge the Flying Spaghetti Monster than for the coauthor to acknowledge God? The point of my answer (which I admit is somewhat tongue in cheek) is that there is a symmetry here, and that if the religious coauthor wants to thank an entity whose existence is not universally agreed upon, he has no moral right to object to, or express indignation about, OP acknowledging other such entities. Hopefully he has a sense of humor and can take the joke.

I agree in principle that there is symmetry, but in practice it clearly looks to Author A, and to most readers, like a dig at Author A.

"why is it any more passive aggressive for OP to acknowledge the Flying Spaghetti Monster than for the coauthor to acknowledge God" for one thing, because the former is in all likelihood not sincere, and this will be clear to everybody. This even leaving aside that, to my understanding, the entire point of that narrative is to make fun of religious believes.  I find this one a complete no-go. The others, or something up-front, maybe. I believe there is an actual precedent of something like this. I believe I saw it on MO but cannot find it.

@user2390246 and quid, good comments, thanks. I agree there is a chance of causing offense. To clarify, my intention with the Flying Spaghetti Monster example was not to make fun of the coauthor's religious beliefs per se, but rather to distance the OP from those beliefs in an unambiguous, good-natured and (hopefully) inoffensive way. However on further reflection I can see that there is a good chance that this subtle distinction will be lost on the coauthor and/or the paper's readers, so probably you are right that using this language is inadvisable.

You should consider talking to the graduate program supervisor in your faculty/department and asking for their thoughts/advice. Regardless of whether you agree to this or not, your supervisor is pressuring you through his position of authority - which is inappropriate.
Also, I would try talking to other former or existing supervisees (is that a word?) of your supervisor, to determine whether this actually is the first time he has wanted to do that.

It's very low, running to authorities because of a personal disagreement that you have not tried to solve yourself and is not yet of any consequence.

@Karl: I didn't say file a complaint, maybe I should make that clearer.

What's the basis for inferring that OP is being pressured?
OP said, "He also is very respectful of my position and has made clear that he didn't wanted to sneak the sentence without my consent. Furthermore, he is not trying to push any religious agenda."

Yes, you are risking something and should refuse. Regardless of whether he personally owns the acknowledgement to God, your content will be "guilty" by association to some, and you too, by extension. You have explained that you fear this, and it is a reasonable fear. You have said he respects your position and would not do this without your consent, so he is already prepared to omit this, and has less to lose by doing so. God knows his mind--He does not need to be acknowledged publicly on a paper to feel appreciated. Be honest with your supervisor.

authors: Xi'an ні війні


text:
What can I do, for I cannot read documents on screen for long times, but my required readings are too heavy?
1) My degree demands me to have around 50 lbs. of new books and reading each year. Second-hand books are not possible for my subject that changes every year.
2) The total cost of all this material is around $5000 USD.
3) I must have all this material with me while I travel repeatedly between North America and England during my degree, and I cannot afford exorbitant shipping or airline baggage fees each time.
I suffer from an eye condition that forbids reading on screen for long times. Thus buying the PDF versions for these books is not a possibility. What else can I do?

Buying two sets of the books is probably much cheaper than shipping them around the world repeatedly. Especially if you can buy them used, and if there is a resale market for the books so that you can sell back one or both sets afterwards.

@ff524 Thanks. I just added that gloomily "Second-hand books are not possible for my subject that changes every year".

If you bought the PDF versions you could print out just the pages you are planning to read this week.

Find a library in both locations that has some or all of the books (or that you can convince to purchase the books). (Or a friend or colleague). Not sure what kind of solution you are looking for....

Invest in a Kindle or other similar reader device. It has no backlight so it is easy on the eyes.

What degree program has these requirements?

I can't remember what they're called but there are some filters you clip in front of the screen, usually giving it a yellowish hue, which theoretically ease the burden on the eyes, and they seem to be relatively cheap and effective. I've also seen this filter implemented in glasses, though I'm not sure if it's more comfortable.

Your "degree demands ... around 50 lbs. of new books and reading each year." One estimate puts a 460-page book at a little over 1 lbs and a 735-page book at just under 2 lbs. Thus, based upon a three 12 week semesters, you're required to buy and read (or, at least, skim) some 500-600 pages per week. That seems excessive. Out of curiosity, what are you studying? (I completely understand if you don't want to disclose!)

I dont see anything specific to academia in this question. "I need to do heavy reading for some reason, but can't print it all because it's too much paper to handle. I have an eye condition that prevents me from reading onscreen. What can I do?" would get the exact same answers.

Related: http://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/8410/any-pointers-for-reading-articles-digitally-on-screen

I suffer from an eye condition that forbids reading on screen for long times.

The weight and the travel are not the primary problem here.  The eye condition is the primary problem, and this way of looking at the situation will give you the key to finding a way to work more comfortably.
In the U.S. the people to talk to are the Student Disability Office at your university.  I don't know what the analogous office in the UK is called.
You will be asked to document your eye condition.
Once you're set up with a Section 504 accommodation plan, your university will find solutions.  Obvious first choice, audio recordings, if they already exist.  To some extent, it would be good to be able to work with digitized PDFs of these readings, which you will keep on a special laptop whose display has been optimized for your particular eye condition.
It used to be, a human reader would record texts for the low vision student.  Now, they will set you up with software that reads the text out loud to you.
You need not be legally blind to be in need of accommodations.  They will take into account that you can do some reading, but tire more easily than the average student, and need support.
I suppose it's possible the publishers will lend you a second hard copy so that you have one copy in each country.  You just have to talk things over with the disability office.  You will work together as a team.

e-ink
As also suggested in comments, a quality e-ink reader as (for example) the better Kindle models will provide a paper-like experience for your eyes at a limited weight.
PDFs are not the optimal form for that (ebook formats allow re-flowing to have screen-sized full pages at a font size tha't best for your eyes), but it will certainly work; reading hundreds of pages on that is more like reading a book than a screen.


text:
Can I report my math GPA instead of major (CS and math) GPA when applying to graduate school?
So I'm a combined Math/CS major wanting to do grad school for pure math. My GPA my first 3 semesters was terrible, and I got my shit together after that.
While I have all A's in math courses, my major GPA would include CS courses as well, and those are my worst grades. I estimate I can't raise it above 3.5 by next December.
I would like to know if I have any flexibility in how I report my GPA, i.e. if I can report a math GPA instead of a major GPA.

See How do you get a bad transcript past Ph.D. admissions? and How does the admissions process work for Ph.D. programs in the US, particularly for weak or borderline students?

Regarding GPA cutoff, see Is the minimum GPA required for Graduate school a cut-off criteria or a general guideline? and Do all universities have a minimum required GPA for graduate school application?

Regarding recovering from a poor first year, see Is there other way to get into more advanced study of math, with a low GPA? and Bad first year marks?

Thresholds are hard to determine. Check out grad cafe and get an idea of the GPA of the accepted students.

Report the GPA they ask for. Anything else is basically fraud.
If you're unclear what GPA they require, look up their requirements, and contact them if necessary to ask. They may allow you to do your major GPA, or they may require your overall GPA. They may allow just your Math GPA.
At some point they're going to see your whole transcript, so there's no way to "hide" your past. But, many applications have a section for you to explain extenuating circumstances, where you could explain that you had difficulty with the CS materials and excelled at math.

ah, ok. i'm mostly concerned that a low enough GPA on the first page might mean only a cursory glance.

@PhillipHarris Yes, and if you fudge your GPA, they'll take a closer look  see you've fudged your GPA, and reject you.

at no point did I intend to "fudge" anything. Rather I don't know what a typical grad school application system looks like or what precise requirements they have for such things. please don't be so uncharitable.