text:
Is it appropriate (as a current student) to ask professors questions not directly related (but related enough) to course material?
I am an undergraduate mathematics major. During office hours I asked a question to a professor which was not a homework problem, but which was related to a homework problem (and I had made the connection clear). He answered my question fine enough, but at the end he said, "My office hours are for students to ask about [course he is teaching] only," and he said my question was not relevant to the course.
So, I asked (as politely as possible), who in the department should I ask if I have a question (as he was clearly implying not to ask him anymore)? He said, ask your teacher if the question relates to his class, but not otherwise.
Obviously I understand the importance of self-study, but am I expected to not ask anyone for advice on any questions that aren't word-for-word out of the textbook or problem set?
What is the typical attitude of professors toward students asking somewhat tangential but not totally off-topic questions? Is this normal behavior? I want to have realistic expectations for my professors in the future. I'm an underclassman and relatively new to the field of mathematics so maybe I just have wrong expectations right now. Hopefully some of you who are more experienced in academia can help me out here.
Edit: There was no one else in line after me to see the professor at office hours.

Try : https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/143306/72855

@SolarMike, I think this is more of an "office hours" question rather than during lecture.

One can ask questions about the course that are not about homework problems. Indeed, office hours should not be about how to do specific homework problems. That said, as an undergraduate when I had some specific math questions that came up in the context of my physics research, one of my old math professors was quite happy to schedule one-on-one time to talk to me about them. Your mileage may vary, apparently.

@Buffy I had just read the title when I made that comment - the lack of formatting made it too forbidding to read, but I did think the other post was relevant.

Your question here lasts for six paragraphs. If this is at all indicative of what and how you asked your professor....

It’s not normal, and your question was appropriate. Your professor was being a bit of a jerk and is not at all representative of mathematics professors. If it were my office hour and I was not busy answering other students’ questions about class material, I’d welcome questions on any subject whether related to the class or not. Other professors might prefer not to get into prolonged discussions about other topics; that’s reasonable if they say that politely, but even so that doesn’t mean you did anything wrong by asking the question.
By the way, no offense, but your question is too long. Try to cut down the length and focus on what’s important - perhaps you will find then that people become more receptive to your questions and don’t respond irritably.

ok, thanks for the advice (about question length). It's my first time posting on here. And I'm glad to hear that most math professors are not like this.

As a former mathematician and academic, the interaction you describe strikes me as unusual. Certainly not the norm, and not in general what you should expect! Most of us, I suspect, learned most of the math we know via self-study, with the benevolent guidance of mentors as we went along. And as pedagogues we generally like helping people explore their interests in math, even when only very loosely connected with the matter at hand.
That being said, it is worth noting that university professors' time is pulled many ways, and in many cases their formal incentives are not at all aligned with spending their time opening the minds of random students on random math topics. At research universities, their career success depends on research productivity, and they may have little time for teaching to begin with, and helping students learn outside of the curriculum may not be high on their priorities. At more teaching-focused colleges, one hopes the desire to help would be strong(er), but teaching and administrative loads may be higher and they may feel their time is limited. In either case, if others are waiting for office hours they may feel those whose questions are directly related to the curriculum take precedence; and if their office hours are poorly attended (perhaps for a reason....), they may start feeling entitled to be using that time for lecture prep or something else unless someone comes with a directly relevant question. In my opinion, they shouldn't, but they may.
The basic advice of "find someone else who is less of a grumpster" applies. Beyond that, whether with this individual or someone else you approach, there are certainly things you can try to increase the positive response you'll get for "extracurricural" questions:

Make an appointment / "ask whether you can ask" and indicate roughly what you want to talk about, and recognize you know it's past the curriculum itself. Be willing to come another day.
Demonstrate enthusiasm and curiosity, avoid projecting entitlement. Professors want to stimulate the former, but we're pretty jaded about people who come across as if they feel they have a right to answers to whatever level of detail they feel like, or get irritated that the question they asked has a more complicated answer than they were clearly hoping for.
Do some reading/research beforehand, and indicate you have done so. There is a shift from highschool, where you are taught, to university (undergraduate and graduate), where you are being helped to learn. Show you are making that shift!

All of the above may well be things you are/were doing, and you just have a grumpy professor. Sorry about that. But I'm summarizing them anyway, since any academic or ex-academic will have stories of students whose keenness was infectious, as well as those whose non-stop, entitled questions were a pain in the neck!

Thanks for your response. Especially the part about "if their office hours are poorly attended (perhaps for a reason....), they may start feeling entitled to be using that time for lecture prep or something else unless someone comes with a directly relevant question." This is a scenario I didn't consider before but which makes sense. Also, in the future, I will keep in mind your tip about trying not to come off (unintentionally) as entitled.

It is hard to make a firm judgement here, but it does seem to me, like I think it does to you, that the professor is dodging a bit. Maybe a lot. But there could be many reasons for it other than a dislike of you personally.
My own practice would be to accept any and all questions and, if I can't answer them, to say so but try to point the student to a source for an answer. But I was (mostly) never inundated by students during office hours, requiring me to ration my time.
But if the professor is untenured then time may be a very scarce resource and he may just need to get back to his own work, giving teaching a lower priority than it (perhaps) should have. The same is true for a top level researcher or one who has a lot of grad students with research to manage. Undergraduates often get the short straw, but this is an institutional problem.
But, I think that you have a right to ask any professor of math any math problem that occurs to you. The worst that should occur is that you are pointed to some resource. But you might also be told that you don't yet have the preparation to grasp a full answer and there isn't time, here and now, to develop it.
But there is another possible issue if it is just this professor. Some professors are on the autism spectrum and have a hard time in personal interactions. Maybe he just interacts badly with everyone and wants to retreat into a private world. Not ideal, of course, but some people like this have other qualities that compensate.
I would recommend, however, that you don't give up seeking his guidance altogether, but restrict it to courses you are taking with him. Seek other, perhaps better, guidance elsewhere.
But, yes, you should be able to ask any math question of any math professor, though you may need to find an appropriate time to do so. Some professors will let you schedule an appointment for discussions. You might also be successful joining with a couple of other students for a joint appointment on some topic of mutual interest.

I am glad to hear these opinions directly from your (as an older academic) experiences. It helps to clarify what my expectations should be. Thanks.


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Asking about how to say to a possible supervisor to give me some time as I look for funding opportunities
I am a masters student in mathematics at an Asian University and I mailed my CV to some professors in France for phd position in analytic number theory.

One of the professors said that his university currently doesn't have doctoral scholarship grant and said that he would be happy to supervise my thesis if I get funding from other organizations.
My question is how should I reply him to tell him to give me some time as I look for funding opportunities and ask my parents if they can fund me if I don't get any funding.
What should be my language so as to clearly tell him that I am really serious about this opportunity.

Just say it like you have here. Thanks, I'm seeking funding, I'll need some time.
The professor understands that time is needed. It would be good, however, that you say you will let him know as soon as you have more information, but in, say, three months in any case.
If you want to do more, ask him to point you to any papers that you might study during this period.

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Asking for funding opportunities for phd in France if a professor has said yes to me but his university doesn't have any doctoral scholarship
I am a masters of mathematics student in India and a professor to whom I  mailed my CV has said his Institute doesn't have a doctoral scholarship at the moment but he will be happy to supervise my thesis if I get funding from other organizations.

So, I want to ask can somebody please tell about to which organizations I should ask for funding opportunities.
My family is allowing me to self fund my phd  and after that I am thinking I would also do part time work as per my spare time. But do French Institutions allow doctorate student to work along with Phd thesis and also do phd students in mathematics get enough spare time that they can do some part time job.

Can anyone please guide me.

https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/46474/phd-part-time-vs-full-time

https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42076/part-time-phd-workload-compared-to-part-time-undergrad-workload

If they can't provide funding you shouldn't be getting your PhD there.

@AnonymousPhysicist that is not entirely true. Perhaps Dxdxdade have some access to external financial support in which case I see no reason to decline the offer.

@AnonymousPhysicist Cant I work part time in my spare time and get a part of funding from my parents ? Does institutes in france allows that?

@BoatyMcboatface Does french institutes allow me to work part time ?

@Dxdxdade probably not. I am not sure though. Do you speak fluent French? If so you can probably ask the mathematician.

Even if you can, you shouldn't.

@Anonymous Physicist Why shouldn't I?

https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29504/is-it-worth-self-funding-a-phd-to-attend-a-top-10-university

It is possible to do a PhD part time in France. Or rather, it is possible to have a full time job and do a PhD on the side. You will not get a part time doctoral contract. This is common in social sciences or the humanities. In math, this is also common when school teachers want to get a PhD for various reasons, e.g. teach in a university or in a higher preparatory school (or just for the heck of it).
One of the main downside is, of course, that your PhD is going to take much longer than the three years standard. Six years would be a more reasonable target; PhDs can take a decade to complete in humanities.
Let me mention that self-funding is not an option. If you do not have a doctoral contract (aka PhD-related funding), doctoral schools will ask for proof of income.
But you should reread your potential advisor's email. From what you have told us, it does not appear to say that he is willing to be your advisor if you do a PhD part time. This is a completely different promise than saying he is willing to be your advisor if you find funding. You should clarify this with him but I am unsure that you will like the answer.
The best person to ask about funding opportunities is your potential advisor. Without knowing details (what university, what field) it is impossible to answer beyond vague generalities. This is too dependent on local factors such as how many stipends do the ministry or local governments give out, companies that may be willing to cofund PhDs, local fellowships, and so on. You can ask your potential advisor again, but if the first reply was already that they do not have funding, then I would wager that you are out of luck.

thanks a lot for such a clear reply. I am asking that is it possible that I work at some restaurant / some other work only on days when I don't have burden of study but I only want to do a phd thesis full time ie in 3 years. I would take some part time job on weekends for some hours so that my family doesn't have enough burden because of me.

I have been offered a phd position in Jean Monett University in number theory field.

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Can I publish a source code containing potential copyright violations that someone gave me at a university (updated)?
During my Ph.D. work at a university, I followed up on someone else's doctoral work (I am no longer associated with that university). This person provided me with the source code for his work. I subsequently discovered that this source code is a slightly modified copy of some publicly available sources, which have a GPL license. The modifications are mostly some instruction toggling/rebracketing and variable renaming. Just a few instructions contain slight modifications (that I personally do not find any more justifiable than the variable renaming). Moreover, in the versions that this person gave me, the authorship headers of the original authors are replaced by his own and the copyright mentions of the university in question are also added. The GPL license notice, which is present in the original sources, is removed from all but one package.
I had reported these observations to my supervisors (who also supervised the work of the person in question), but they sought to suppress the matter and warned me of legal actions if I reported this matter any further (hence I am not reporting it directly to the university, which by the way does not seem to have an ethics committee). I'll note that these observations in the source code are part of several issues that I observed in this person's work (that involves several publications and his doctoral dissertation; I'll probably ask for advice regarding that in separate questions).
Is it legally safe if I publicly share the source code provided by this person along with the links to the online available original sources? The code was transferred to me by this person through a sharing link that is no longer available. I can only prove that I reported my observations to my supervisors as well as to this person (he responded by reaffirming that the source code was developed at the university in question and refused any further communication). I'll note that an engineer at the university trans-coded some of the source code in question for use in a commercial product for which the university had a collaboration with a private firm.
Update:
I am also a co-author of this person in a couple of publications. This collaboration was supposed to be a sort of transition/continuation, at the beginning of my doctoral program and the end of his, of his reportedly high-functioning work. When I discovered several anomalies, I requested my supervisors to get these publications retracted. My detailed response is at the  PubPeer page of one of these publications. In my response, I have also shared some of my email exchanges with my co-authors. These exchanges lend support for raising the issue about the source code, without actually sharing it.
I was quite shocked when this person suggested that he not only did not have to acknowledge the use of the existing ideas/solutions but also considered their mere mention to be optional (his exact words: "You do not have to acknowledge but you can cite them"). Concerns about the acknowledgment of the sources, the soundness of ideas, and various peculiarities in results are raised on the PubPeer pages of his several publications.
Considering my question about the legal aspect, the comments about this being a legal question are right. However, I would also like to know if publishing this source code would be objectively helpful (a part of it was given to me with the GPL notice intact). Some comments on the above-mentioned PubPeer pages compare long extracts and a large number of equations from the publications to point out something that can be noticed in a glance by comparing the source codes.
Thanks for the discussion in response to my query! Depending on the input in the comments, I might post this part as a separate question.

"Legally safe" is a legal question, not an academic one. But it all seems fairly trivial. Just use the correct GPL licensed versions exclusively. I don't see any advantage in what you're proposing.

Use the publicly available versions, no issues then.

"is it legally safe if I publicly share the source codes provided by this person" why do you want to do this at all? What do you gain by publicly posting his work?

Never having used the services of an ombudsperson before, I'd be interested to know from other community members if this is an appropriate issue to discuss with an ombudsperson (assuming one is available)

This is only tangentially related to academia, would be better for law.SE. Voting to close.

The code was given to you, likely with no intent to distribute. If neither the ex colleague nor you release the code, I see no copyright violation. Like if I doodle the logo of a famous brand in the margin of a book I'm reading.

This should perhaps be asked at OpenSource.SE. In any case, if the owner (essentially, lone writer of the code) give it to you, it's their right. But make sure this is so, and under which conditions you get the code.

With the caveat that I am not a lawyer, the answer is "no".
You have:

code A, which is GPL-licensed
code B, which is a derivative work of A and not GPL-licensed.

The GPL license requires that all derivative works are also GPL-licensed. As B does not carry the GPL license, it is a copyright violation and (depending on jurisdiction) it is probably illegal for you to distribute it.
If the changes needed are small, your simplest way forward would be to take code A, and modify it yourself as needed to make code C, while keeping it GPL-licensed, and release that.
EDIT: As noted in the comments, it is possible that A had two licenses: The GPL, and another license granted specifically to the author of B which permitted them to change the names and redistribute without GPL. This seems very unlikely, but you should consider the possibility if considering accusations of any sort.

There is an exception to this, however. It is possible that the code was originally available under another license, and then later used in a GPL project, where it also received a GPL license. In this case the code could still be freely available - you can't tell unless you know the original source of where the code was written. (And yes, I've seen instances of this in practice.)

Not only is it illegal for you to distribute "code B", it was illegal for the author of B to give you a copy (the modifications described violate all four requirements of the "conveying modified source versions" clause of the GPL), and because of that violation, the author of B no longer has the right to use it.

@Mark That assumes that the author of B had no other license to code A. That is merely an assumption.

What that person did, was not just plagiarism, but also copyright infringement. They took a GPL licensed work (legal), modified it (still legal), published it, but not under the GPL license (copyright infringement), and claimed it as their own work (plagiarism).
If you wanted to be nasty, you could tell the original author of the code about this, and if that person decides to sue for copyright infringement, that university and everyone involved is in deep trouble. I would be curious to know whether anyone ever managed to get their thesis revoked, not for plagiarism, but for copyright infringement plus plagiarism.
No, you are absolutely not allowed to use this software in any way, shape or form, unless you get the permission of the copyright holder. Or if the person producing the modified code gives you another copy including the GPL license.
I cannot understand how a university would have allowed this. Quoting some text without reference is bad enough, but actively removing copyright notices, license information, and author names, that's an entirely different level.

I would +1 this if not for "If you wanted to be nasty". You should report this to the copyright holder.

my supervisors... warned me of legal actions if I reported this matter any further - Your supervisors are extorting you to abet copyright violation. They are more despicable than the copyright violator they are protecting! - You don't need to be a hero and right every wrong but be mindful of what villainy you are ignoring.

Why is this being nasty at all? The purpose of the GPL is to protect free code from being sold by money-grubbers or used to cheat or lie. Invoking it is just being right, not to say protecting other people.

@MazurkaFahr: You should finish your PhD as fast as possible, get completely out of that toxic wastebin, and then if you agree that such unethical behaviour should not be condoned, you should anonymously publicize the university name. Just make sure they cannot retaliate at you. Sad to say, but bad people never suddenly turn good, and you need to protect yourself first. But if you can, eventually exposing them will do everyone else a lot of good.

Re “I cannot understand how a university would have allowed this.”:  While I’m aware experimental sciences have quite stringent ethics procedures, the subjects I work in (maths and CS) are essentially self-policing on ethical issues, with little or no university-level oversight, and my impression is that many researchers are much more lax about checking licensing issues than about checking academic plagiarism.  I’m confident that a serial offender would get caught sooner or later, but I can easily see how a one-off incident could get through without anyone noticing.

What that person did, was not just plagiarism, but also copyright infringement.  Well, all plagiarism is, by definition, copyright infringement.  I think what you're trying to say is that it is also in violation of the licence agreement - that has nothing to do with copyright.  GPL is a public licence - a contract - it is not related to copyright at all.

@J... it's not. I can take public domain code and report it as my own in a paper. Re-publish JF Coopers Red Rover as my own work. Clear, despicable plagiarism, but you cannot infringe a copyright that no longer exists.

As I haven't seen either code, and as a university professor myself, based on what you have mentioned, I would recommend that you consult with the GPL licensing authority.... They can decide about the proper respond both legally and ethically

There is no "GPL licensing authority". The Free Software Foundation are the originators of it, I think, but they're not responsible for enforcement.


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On answering a question that no one has asked
In historical research I came across a novel question and, after investing time in it, I have an answer. This helps my original project, but the explanation to the novel question is so substantial that I would like to  publish it separately.
It is well known that X did Y. The thesis of the proposed article is that Z explains X's decision. Unfortunately, I can't point to any publication that asks why X did Y, and Z has no obvious relevance to present day issues.
Why should reviewers want to see an article addressing an unknown problem? What can I do to justify the project?

How do other people in your field do it? Every question must have been asked for a first time.

One of the world's most remarkable scientists (Bob Langer) was once quoted "as a student you get judged by how good your answer is, as a researcher you get judged by how good your question is" (I'm paraphrasing).

If you provide enough context and frame the issue in a way that makes the question of why X did Y as a compelling one, and if the answer that the reason X did Y was Z is sufficiently interesting, nontrivial, and/or based on evidence that was hard to find or required combining information from several unrelated sources in some surprising way, well, then, to quote Rudyard Kipling, “Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it - you’ll have yourself a fine research paper.
Conversely, if the question of why X did Y is not compelling, then even if it was the case that someone had asked it at one point, that might not guarantee that your paper would be seen as worth publishing.

Thank you. Definitely Z is nontrivial; I will seek to make the why compelling.

Well, this is the core of research: You ask questions due to your knowledge and expertise that others probably cannot ask. And then you publish your results. There is no general need to justify the question as long as your question makes sense. It will be sufficient if you describe how you arrived at that question. You certainly have read some literature for that, so you will also cite some sources.
And reviewers will be happy with it if your methods are fine, your results are plausible etc.


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How bad is it to accept a competitive Fellowship, then reject it BEFORE April 15
My situation:
I applied to school A (R1 school, US News ranked, aligned research) and is nominated by POI for a competitive Fellowship. This fellowship covered tuition + stipend for a couple of years and comes from the school itself (not department). The fellowship offer is only through email, so no official signed letterhead yet. Since the Fellowship is competitive, POI urged me to accept it  "within the week"  otherwise it will go toward somebody else (one week after Fellowship decision). However, I:

Have reservation about the research group (haven't visited the place, only Skype called, their pressure for me to accept, outcome of graduates)
Still waiting on other schools, which are very promising (contacts with POI, recommended for admit) yet entirely unsure of fundings.

I know that according to the April 15 agreements, I can accept then reject the fellowship before the deadline without personal repercussion. However, I want to know:

How much am I screwing up the POI if I accept the fellowship then reject it later? I am afraid that an email confirmation then rejection would make his research lab and department looks bad to the school for losing potential spots.
With question #1 in mind, should I do it? The April 15 agreements seems to be set up for these situations, but is it selfish for me to jeopardize other people chances?

Since the money comes from the institution, it is hard to judge how to be safe here. It is hard to judge if the POI is being entirely honest. What is "reasonable" and what is possible may not align well.

You are asking several questions at once. Some of them are perhaps answerable, but some are calls for speculation. Perhaps, you can revise the question to bring forward one clearly answerable question?

@DmitrySavostyanov I revised it.

POI? Also the pressure here is odd and a red flag

@AzorAhai POI stands for Person of Interest I believe; the person who you wanted to do research with.

@I-E-Irodov Typically I've heard "principal investigator."

What are the consequences if you don't get the award? Have to also turn down acceptance? Or just work as a TA/RA through your degree?

@Buffy looks like I have to turn down my graduate school offer as well

I checked my alma mater, Ohio State, and the acceptance deadline for university fellowships is April 15. At that point,if unaccepted, certain fellowships are lost for the year. If a 2nd choice person also doesn't accept a fellowship offer, that money is lost for the year as well. Ask the university what the deadline will be.

Let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’
It may be legal to accept and then reject the fellowship, but it does not make it right (in my opinion). Academia is still very much built on trust and goodwill. People who choose to scheme their way through loopholes in the regulations may benefit in a short term. But people who stand behind their word deserve ongoing respect and make for leaders of very strong academic teams.
Don't do anything to people that you wound not enjoy done to yourself. If you are having second thoughts about this option, leave it and wait for something else which may be going your way.

It is simply not true that if you accept the offer now, you can reject it later without personal repercussions.  According to the Council of Graduate Schools' April 15 Resolution, you are under no legal obligation to respond to the fellowship offer before April 15, 2020.  But from an ethical standpoint, if you accept the offer, you have responded, which means you've given up the right not to respond.  As others have written, academia relies on trust and good will, and people have long memories.
It would be perfectly reasonable for you to thank the POI for their unofficial offer, express your interest in the fellowship, tell them that you are waiting to hear from other schools (and official offers) before making any final decisions, but of course you will answer before the April 15 deadline.  In other words, tell them the truth.
If the POI insists on an earlier deadline, you are well within your rights to push back, but I would actually take that as a sign that you should walk away.

The April 15 agreement is irrelevant.  You didn't agree to it.  The university may or may not have agreed to it, but they are not following it.
If you have reservations about the outcomes of their graduates, you should turn the offer down.
Do not accept the offer and then rescind your acceptance of the offer.  You can ask them to give you more time.  They may say no.


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Faculty interview: how to develop yourself into a national or international research leader
I was recently interviewed for a TT position, and was asked a question "how to develop yourself into a national or international research leader". It looks quite a big question. I stumbled on it, and so want to seek some ideas or inspiring thoughts to answer this questions effectively.

If there was a recipe...

Both my wife and I (in different very fields) have both bumbled around doing our best to achieve this, as well as been guilty in posing the question during recruiting.
The question operates on 2 levels.
First, how do you actually do it. This involves multiple elements:

Tailoring your research area(s)/question(s) to have national/international interest. There are many ways to do this, and the goal is not to trade off your research independence for reputational accolades. However, you do need to be focused in the right areas at the right time, and adjust the messaging of your research (at least) for what are topics of live interest. You can cynically call this "fads in academia", but it is real.
Actively collaborating. Too many junior academics treat others as either immediate-term team members/collaborators, or otherwise as competitors. You need to form a looser circle of collaborative relationships with others who work in your and related fields, where you can spark ideas, not just co-write papers. These then become the people who invite you to give talks, to write chapters for their edited books, refer students to you, etc., and thus your national/international research reputation follows.
Publish and present tactically. Too many of us choose where to submit papers based only on prestige/impact factor (or likelihood of acceptance, hassle factor, and peer review delays...) and attractiveness of the conference location. While these are important, as you mature as an academic, you need to begin to have a portfolio of publications/presentations, which cover top-level research prestige, broader dissemination, outreach to related fields, and (in some fields) public engagement. There are many ways of doing this, but don't just stumble through one paper at a time.
Get grants. Enough said -- though worth mentioning that while the process to apply is often byzantine, random, and can be demoralizing, getting funding liberates your time to be able to do more of the above, and is a good litmus test/forcing device to keep on top of the above -- as enabler -- too. In particular, any time I've reframed my research (item 1 above), it's generally been under the pressure of having to submit a grant proposal!

Second, during recruiting, the posing of this question to you is a bit of a signal and litmus test. It's a signal that we the hiring committee want applicants who will do more than publish x papers per year and fulfill departmental teaching and service requirements. And it's a test not as much of are you there yet -- your CV and letters will indicate that -- but have you started thinking about these issues in a way in line or ahead of your academic cohort.
Therefore, when faced with the question, a good answer would include:
a) A positioning of your research within your field, nationally and globally. Can you articulate how this relates to topics of interest by others? (viz 1)
b) Some evidence of having a research plan for the future. What would you like to do and why? Why is it exciting to other people than just you?
c) Especially if you're too academically young to "have a lab" or equivalent, can you show how networked you are with national and international leaders in your field? Can you show any evidence of developing a followership of juniors (and/or peers)?
And, of course, artfully point to badges of excellence in your research, and of awards/achievements/leading publications you have scored. Not as boasting of your accomplishments, but as demonstrating that you have the platform/runway on which to build -- if you're hired.
Good luck!

Thanks for the vote of confidence @jingweimo, but a suggestion to not mark this as the accepted answer quite yet. I'm sure others can chime in with valuable commentary for all of us and they're more likely to do that if no answer is marked as accepted after <1 day.

Thanks for your answers. I really learned a lot!

It depends a bit on your field, of course.
But the general idea is to write a lot of good papers that attract a lot of interest. Produce a lot of good doctoral students. Do a lot of collaboration. Build a large and vibrant circle of such collaborators.
Depending on the field, it might mean attract a lot of grant money to support a lab and/or doctoral students. It might mean presenting at a lot of conferences. It might mean being on a lot of committees (conference, professional organizations, etc.) Contribute enough so that you get invited to contribute.
But the problem is the balkanization of academia. You might be the very top person in some small niche that your maximum circle of collaborators is less than a dozen people. This can be true in math, for example. So, you need to have a somewhat wide set of interests to which you can comment (and attract students, collaborators, money, etc).
Sleeping, not included. Sorry. But you don't have to do it all in one or two years, either.

The OP's question seems a bit strange to me for a hiring committee to ask, as being a national/international research leader seems like the end result of a long climb (highly recognized Ph.D. and postdoc work, exceptional research prior to tenure, even more exceptional research the few years after tenure, etc.) that probably only a small percentage (if any) of the existing faculty have achieved (and anyone actually on track would be a shoo-in for the job), but maybe my interpretation of what "national/international research leader" means is a bit stronger than what the hiring committee means.

@DaveLRenfro, I notice you're from the U.S., so for better or worse, in many fields in your geography, "national leader"="global leader". In my country (Canada), the bar for "national" is much lower just due to size, and ditto "broader than our own country" in Europe, for instance. I've seen (and used...) similar questions in Canada and Europe as shorthand for "how will you be important outside the 4 walls of this university" where "global leader" would of course be ideal, but is not presumed as the goal.

@Houska: I actually did think about this, but outside of some very small countries (from an academic standpoint), this still seems to be a strange question to ask unless the search is specifically for someone who is eventually expected to be at least among the top of the university's researchers (i.e. not just one of the many rank-and-file faculty who are good enough to obtain tenure and contribute fairly positively to the department). It's almost as if they're saying "Although you may be better than many of us on the search committee, realize that we're looking for someone MUCH better . . ."

@DaveLRenfro, I interpret the question as a round-a-bout way to get some sense of the candidates general sense about academia and the responsibilities of academics. It is a question, I think, about attitude.


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How to answer the diversity question during faculty interview
On several occasions of my first-round faculty interview, I was asked about the diversity questions, such as:

"How do you work with diverse students?"
"How do you contribute to the university's diversity mission?"

I want to seek some insights into the questions. Which aspects I need to cover to deliver a winning answer?

Related: https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/32484/what-do-admission-committees-look-for-in-a-diversity-essay https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/32735/what-should-go-in-a-diversity-statement-if-i-believe-i-have-had-no-relevant-expe https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/142451/discussing-diversity-and-underrepresented-groups-in-personal-history-statement-f - though focused on a personal statement for a PhD applicant, the general ideas would apply to any level.

Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat. Please note the new "controversial post" notice above.

It's not "delivering a winning answer", any more than "delivering a winning answer" would make sense when talking about teaching and/or research and/or mentoring.
That is, the question should be about what you have thought about, or acted upon, to move forward in social issues in the U.S.  Yes, in some regards, it is U.S.-centric, though I am sure analogous issues exist everywhere.
In the U.S., the bias against women and non-white ethnicities in STEM (Science, Tech, Engr, Math) fields has existed for decades, and continues to be a problem. Meanwhile, the undergrad student population, and, in happy circumstances, the grad student population, has shifted to be significantly more representative of the actual population of the U.S. This does matter at least for the state universities (even while, ok, the state funding is rapidly declining...)
So, apart from truly being willing to think about and deal with a more diverse student population, at least in math there is interest in knowing what you may have already done to work for this... and, as a milder condition, how open you are to spending some energy on this.
Yes, traditionally, in the U.S. as in many places, such stuff was irrelevant (supposedly). Now, belatedly, and, formally, rather abruptly, "we" are trying to catch up to decent behavior.

The discussion about race and gender has been moved to chat. Please note the "controversial post" notice above.

If you do not toe the line, you will not be admitted. Understand that the above question is to weed-out individuals who do not lean as those in power lean.
Students and faculty who do not "see" the diversity issue, and understand "their own" biases will be shouted down and closed out.

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

I've created a meta post to discuss how this answer should be handled. Please take comments there.

Could you perhaps answer the part that says "Which aspects I need to cover to delivering a winning answer?"

@DjClayworth The OP will need to decide what is most comfortable for them. If completely comfortable, I would analyze the specific diversity statement of the given university. e.g. Tailored for each university or group of universities.
I would read articles on "How to contribute to diversity..." and regurgitate whatever would be most welcoming by committee members.
Not much difference when applying for a job. If the boss likes football and the Jets, find good things to say about football, and, if possible, something good about the Jets.

@paulj If you write that in the answer (and preferably some more detail), then this actually becomes a useful answer. (Although preferably without the stuff about football)

@paulj - yes, please consider editing your answer to provide the additional detail. Answer edits are permanent, while comments are designed to become obsolete and be deleted.

On several occasions of my first-round faculty interview, I was asked about the diversity questions, such as:

"How do you work with diverse students?"
"How do you contribute to the university's diversity mission?"

Well, how do you work with diverse students? Do you contribute to the university's diversity mission?
If you can't answer those questions right now, then perhaps the sad answer is that, right now, you're not contributing to a mission the university has decided to care about.

I want to seek some insights into the questions. Which aspects I need to cover to delivering a winning answer?

Like paul garrett says, it's not about about memorizing a "right" or "winning" answer, but about demonstrating that you care about these issues and have been thinking about them.
I don't mean to slam you here. Asking what aspects you need to look at is a good question. I'll try to help.
So, how do you work with diverse students?
Things to think about: what kind diverse students have you come across? Which ones haven't you come across - or haven't noticed? If for example you say "I've never had a trans person in my class", are you sure? Maybe they weren't out. Awareness of diverse students is an aspect here.
Do you have biases? (Be honest with yourself. Ask friends who aren't afraid to tell you things you're not happy to hear.)
What kind of issues do diverse students face in your field? Are there poorly represented groups (like women in STEM fields)? Note that some issues are due to prejudice, but others are more justified/neutral. For example, foreign students can be at a disadvantage because they don't have native mastery of your local language, or have trouble adjusting to the local academic culture. That doesn't mean anyone is evil, but it is an issue to pay attention to.
How could you contribute to the university's diversity mission?
If you've identified issues, then it becomes easier to come up with contributions.

You might serve as a role model yourself, if you fit into a traditionally disadvantaged group.
You might pay extra attention to (subtle) discrimination in the classroom and deal with it.
You may have done research about didactic technique to help foreign students adjust better.

Etcetera. The point is not to have a glib answer, but to actually be working on these issues. That takes a significant amount of work and soul-searching. Discuss with your peers. But also go out there and seek conversational sparring partners in "diverse" groups and ask them about their issues. It can be easy in the ivory tower to not see any problems, you may have to go outside looking for them.

If I were an interviewer, I would ask these questions differently. However, what I would want to hear is something like the following (and hoping you mean it, of course).
That in response to the diversity debate, you have become more conscious of your own biases and in your role as a teacher you try and compensate for them by giving people against whom you have biases based on their background, gender, color of their skin, religion (whatever it is) the benefit of the doubt - being aware that your biases as a teacher will have an impact on the learning and other opportunities of your students.
Also that in compensation for collective biases, you believe non-white-male candidates for positions like teacher-assistant (and everywhere up the chain) should actively be sought out.

I agree that this is the answer one is expected to give. But alas, I disagree with it. In my opinion, compensation for collective bias is a short-sighted (solves in the short term, creates other problems in the long term) sub-optimal (good but there are better) solution. What saddens me is that if I honestly expressed my position I would probably not considered for the job, independently of my qualifications.

@gota Well, then the interview question did its job. Diversity is a contentious issue, where different people and departments have fairly fundamentally differing opinions on what the problem is and how to best address it. If the department feels like a compensation-based approach is the way to go, and you strongly disagree with this stance, you may not be the right fit for this department (depending on how strongly they feel about this issue, of course).

The middle paragraph is sound and a good answer to the question. The last sentence is controversial, can be interpreted as discrimination, and is self-defeating if the applicant is a white male. It also does not answer the questions quoted by the OP. I think it is less risky to omit that sentence.

@xLeitix the thing is, my expressed opinion is clearly not a huge disagreement with the solution proposed, but will come across as hostile to the cause! Therefore it is safer for me to lie than to express my opinion

@xLeitix Perhaps, but it's not uncommon for interview questions to be completely divorced from the day to day work environment.

Non-white-male positions? How about non-Asian-male positions?

@xLeitix: sorry, I cannot resist: "... you may not be the right fit for this department". You mean: the department would risk getting too diverse if they hire one who doesn't fit in with their uniform characteristic?

@wimi: “…the last sentence […] is self-defeating if the applicant is a white male”.  Not at all; just because a department is filtering candidates to say “minority candidates should be preferred” doesn’t necessarily mean the department’s hiring is actually any less favourable to white men. One of the major critiques of current diversity policies from the left is that they’re all talk, no action, and may even exacerbate the bias against less-privileged candidates. (See https://ilaba.wordpress.com/2019/12/01/diversity-statements/ for a good presentation of this critique.)

A "winning answer" is much less important than having a proper and effective teaching strategy.
I give the same opportunities to every student, but I don't assume they are all alike or have the same needs. Every student is different and most of them are different from me. I won't assume that they learn just the same way that I learn. I will respect their personal goals.
I work to understand the individual needs of the students and to work to teach every student in front of me. In particular, I will try to tailor my interactions with students to their needs regardless of their current knowledge or their background.
I will treat every student with respect, treating them as individuals.
Note that "diverse students" don't have "special needs". They have the same needs as every other student.

I disagree with aspects of other answers and would like to give an answer for people like myself.
First: I absolutely do think that it is legitimate to ask for the "winning answer" in an interview. That is exactly what an interview is about. It is a competition for a job. It is perfectly reasonable to ask how to win this competition. I will also say that telling a lie in an interview, or misrepresenting your beliefs is not something that I consider a good strategy, even though it may sometimes be a winning answer. That is because you might not like what you have won. You might in fact live in agony, misrepresenting your beliefs for as long as you hold that tainted prize.
Now for the political part. I am a person who dislikes the extreme camps that sadly make the loudest contributions to the political debates about what is labelled as "diversity". Sadly, I am also afraid to speak about this without hiding behind an anonymous account, because quite frankly I find the climate of this debate threatening. From both. sides. I explain all of this because any answer to this question will depend significantly on your personal political opinion, and I feel that mine is a little underrepresented.
Here is what I would say:

Of course I follow the public debate about various topics that fit under the umbrella term "diversity", but I am afraid that I consider it largely unhealthy and already dangerously escalated. I believe the best contribution towards a better future is to exclude myself from this debate and point out that it is heated, emotional, unreasonable, and unproductive. Instead, I will demonstrate tolerance and openness in how I speak, act, and generally present myself. I will not participate in projects when in my opinion, they serve no purpose other than to politicize the issue further or escalate it further. What I will do, however, is to strongly support constructive and productive suggestions to improve life on campus for minorities, other women, white heterosexual men, or really anyone for that matter - as long as it does not impose on others, or limit their ability to live and learn in peace.

Of course you can phrase it differently, but the key point is: I think it is fair to not have an extreme opinion on the matter. I think it is fair to feel threatened by the way this debate is conducted. I think it is fair to just want to live and let live, in peace, and help students learn. Being "on the sidelines" is the only reasonable thing to do in a war where both sides shout very aggressively that they want peace.
This might not be the winning answer. But if it is your opinion as well, then you might want to give it anyway.

"This might not be the winning answer." Correct! This would guarantee the OP not getting a job in any reasonable university. It is also not an answer to the OP's question, but rather a chronicle of your own personal beliefs. That isn't what this site is for.

@nick012000 - are at this point any other universities? (I agree with "reasonable" lable rejection :)

Here are concerning things about this answer that have nothing to do with the views represented in it. (1) It starts by framing the question as political and having to do with debates/opinion-changing. In other words it's framed around what you believe rather than what you do, which is what was asked. (2) It portrays someone whose answer is closed; is not open to learning or changing in this area (note many interviewers have never even held a faculty job yet). (3) It similarly risks portraying the problem as easy or implying that there is no problem at all - interviewers obviously disagree.

Choosing to do nothing is a political act in itself as it is equivalent to supporting the status quo.

@JSLavertu, OP it is not advocating "do nothing", just working day-to-day on real discrimination issues, not making a fuss about perceived ones.

Building on Buffy's answer

I won't assume that they learn just the same way that I learn

and ObscureOwl's insight

Awareness of diverse students is an aspect here

I want to attempt to create a framework for a "winning" answer, regardless of your personal experience or the specific policies of the interviewing institution.
Delving into the chat and meta post, it is obvious that questions concerning diversity in higher education are mired in politics.  However, I think a thoughtful answer to these questions need not directly mention personal or systematic biases, as others have suggested.  In my experience, questions regarding diversity are meant to gauge an interviewee's understanding of how identity affects the ways in which different people process the same information.
That said, here are some terms that are sure to score some points with the interviewer:
Intersectionality
Recognize that each student is an amalgamation of identities, and that those identities have different weights that contribute to their understanding of and interaction with the world around them.  Moreover, each person's identities interact with one another in a way that produces a unique person with unique pedagogical needs.
Shared Experiences
For a long time, many institutions of higher learning were culturally homogenous, meaning that the teacher and students had a greater overlap of shared experiences, and thus a more uniform understanding of the world.  With greater mixing of cultures, the average overlap of common experiences between a teacher and students decreases.  A good teacher will be aware of this and think critically about the assumptions of shared knowledge that are incorporated into her or his lecture and course materials.
Equity and Inclusion
There is a perception-behavior link between a feeling of belonging and academic engagement; see Steele and Ambady 2006 (PDF).  True equality, either of opportunity or outcome, is difficult to achieve, but a teacher's equitable engagement with all students is the first step in combating impostor syndrome and promoting a sense of belonging.
Is teaching to a diverse group of students as easy as teaching to a group of students that closely share your worldview?  No.
Is it worth it to contemplate the needs of students who are substantially different from you?  Absolutely.

You are being tested on whether your beliefs align with the status quo. They are looking for answers that reflect the mantra "diversity is strength".
If you believe along these lines just answer truthfully and you will do fine.
If you do not fully believe in your countries flavour of identity politics, you have two options:

Answer truthfully:
This would be the right choice if you do not like lying, debasing your opinions for others, or believe words have a higher meaning. This will likely result in not getting hired but you get to keep your pride.
Answer deceptively:
Do some research on the basic talking points and how you would answer such a question. Political correctness is ever changing so for good reference, see the left-leaning replies to your post. You may get hired but you will also have to constantly be aware of what you say in the faculties social circles and may result in more stress compared to finding a job at another facility.

If you really don't believe in the institution's mission then being deceptive is not a good long term solution. It is often immediately detectable and will probably become obvious at some point; just before you are fired. Better to bow out.

@Buffy, thanks I've edited my answer to reflect not only the choices but the possible outcomes.

@ Buffy You are presupposing disagreeing with diversity initiatives (the part of the mission that is relevant here) will cause one to commit fireable offenses. You are also presupposing diversity initiatives aren't often enacted largely to signal compliance to a hegemony, akin to a "corporate image".


text:
Scheduled graduate admission interview never occured
I have applied for admissions in a Ph.D program in Mathematics. It's a small department at a public university.
Some time ago, I inquired the graduate chair about my application status (he/she was the preferred adviser I've put down on the application) and was told a decision was not yet made. Furthermore, I was asked to attend an interview session, so I agreed.
However, the professor never made contact at the scheduled interview time, nor did he/she reply to my follow-up email (singular).
What should I do next? I found myself in a difficult position.
Thanks.

Which country are you in? Would help to determine the answer.

It's a Canadian program.

You say "they never made contact at the scheduled interview time". Do you mean that they set up a Skype interview with you then didn't call? This is pretty poor behaviour, even by academic standards.

Yes. That's right.

don't forget to check your spam box. Real story.

I did, it's really hard not to overthink about this. Well I guess there's nothing I can do about something I have no control over. But this does not bold well if I do become a student under his/her supervision, imho.

I would send another follow up email 1-2 weeks after the first one you sent. Inquire politely, and offer to reschedule the interview. However, do it in such a way that they're allowed to save face. Meaning, phrase things in way that don't inadvertently point a finger at them. It might sound silly to placate egos, but...welcome to academia. :-/
If nothing comes from it, I would write this program off. As Astronat said, this is pretty poor behavior, and I would add that it might be indicative of what's to come if you were to be part of that department.


text:
Should I tell a senior collaborator how disappointed I am?
I was part of a small group preparing an overview paper for a special issue, and we missed a final deadline.  All except one of us completed our assigned tasks; the last person had not touched her files for months and was frequently unresponsive with no explanation. To complicate matters, she is a senior member of the community; I'm a mere postdoc, and other members are somewhere in between.
I'm confident I did everything I could to see this paper completed on time, as well as the rest of the cooperative group members.  I've mostly accepted the pending consequences with the journal and my reputation.  I'm also determined to not work with this senior member again.  But should I express my disappointment with her directly, or just cut my losses and move on?

I could be they are going through personal problems, that you would not be privy to. It may not be something done on purpose, or because they don't care. Things happen.

What would you hope to accomplish?

@AndrésE.Caicedo I'm quite certain it's a personal problem that I'm not privy to, but she hasn't even said, "Sorry guys, something difficult happened, and I dropped the ball."  You don't have to divulge personal details to communicate or to back away from responsibilities.

@Buffy I guess that's the point, isn't it?  As I said in another comment, I would hope that such feedback causes her to treat future collaborations differently.  I get the impression that people don't express their disappointment to her often, because of her seniority, and maybe the simple fact I say something could have an effect.

Seems a bit doubtful. Seems more than a bit risky.

From your description ("final deadline") it sounds as though there is no way to fix the situation with the paper. Moreover, you say have decided not to work with this person again (which seems reasonable).
So there is most likely no benefit to be had from expressing your disappointment directly. Frustrating as it may be, cutting your losses and moving on is the better option.

I agree there would likely be no benefit to me.  But perhaps if I say something, it could benefit a future collaborator of this person?  Or do you think not?

@artificial_moonlet You'd be better off warning potential collaborators directly instead of trying to get people to change their ways. Unsolicited feedback rarely works.

Sure, it's possible that your message could lead the collaborator to "change their ways". But realistically, I would guess this person already knows their behaviour was damaging to you and other collaborators; I don't think your message will change much in that regard. Meanwhile, the episode has already cost you a great deal of time and effort.

I guess it depends on whether the person knows about how you (and others) feel about their behavior or not.
Case A) You are not sure.
When it can't harm you in the future I don't see a reason why you should not provide feedback.
As you said in one of your comments yourself: it could help others who have to work with this person.
Case B) The person is aware (but does not care to share a "sorry guys")
In this case I don't see how expressing your feelings can change anything to the good (e.g. for others).
The person already seem to have a strong opinion about this and got all the information required to understand the situation and say sorry if the person cares enough (or has the guts to do so).


text:
I wrote a report alone, but was graded identically to those who wrote it in groups of two
Our biology professor asked us to write a report. We had one week to hand it in. Groups were formed. Being in a class with an odd number of students, I was the only one left, and so wrote the report alone. I was however graded identically to those who wrote it in groups of two.
When the professor gave me back my report, he simply said that (this report) "does not fulfil the criteria. One cannot grasp the meaning of what you wrote".
I have two questions:

Is that fair?
What should I do?

It's often more work to work in a team than alone, anyways. There are benefits of course, too, but if one cannot even grasp the meaning of what you wrote it does not sound like you can attribute this simply to working alone. Maybe you'd have a better case if it was described as too shallow/not enough in depth.

Some professors will allow a group of three in that situation, rather than having a group of one. Did you ask for that option at the time groups were being formed?

If you were uncomfortable with working alone from the start, you should have inquired with the professor at the start. If you were fine with working alone at first, and only became uncomfortable with it once you saw your grade, then you have no ground to complain. Either way, there's not a whole lot you can do. Obviously you can ask the professor to re-do it or request an extra-credit assignment, but that will be up to their discretion and whatever they say is what goes.

Sorry, but yes, it is fair. It is the work that is graded, not the person. The comments are devastating, actually. I doubt that there is much you can do now, other than assure you don't get into the same situation in the future.
You can, of course, ask the professor for a second chance. I can't guess what the response will be, but I think you have the right to ask. Under the circumstances, it might be granted. It would mean more work for you, of course, but that might also aid in your overall learning.
If you didn't understand the assignment and needed help then you should have been seeking it along the way. Prior to turning it in, you had some leverage in getting help from the prof since you were working alone.
I don't know why the prof set it up this way. A single group of three might have been a better solution. Asking for a volunteer to work alone might have been a better solution.
But, for your own educational purposes, try to understand where and why you didn't meet the standard.

I had the same amount of time to do the work of what others did in groups of two in the same time. Why could I not ask the professor about one additional week to complete the report ?

Had you done that at the start you'd have had some leverage, but a report by two people isn't the sum of the individual work. The problem is that you didn't see a way to bounce ideas off of another person and reject the bad ideas, not the length of time. You can ask, of course, but at this point, I'd guess you won't be successful. If you think something is unfair, complain at the start, not the end. some people actually want to work alone and complain if they are partnered. Sorry to be a bit hard on you.


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Dealing with 'less than optimal' data or study designs
I am a PhD student in a quantitative social science field. For the first study of my dissertation, I was given the opportunity to ask some questions that could be applied to an ongoing survey. Affiliated researchers have already used some of this data for a short commentary/descriptive article, and there is interest to apply the data in a slightly different 'modelling' study.
However, the underlying study design leaves much to be desired. Although the sample is relatively large, it is a convenience sample from only a fraction of all possible survey sites in the population. There is no opportunity to expand the data collection process. The data itself is unlikely to have measurement error, but almost any estimate produced from the dataset is highly likely to suffer from sampling bias.
Nevertheless, I realize this is a somewhat 'common' situation graduate student find themselves in. There is active interest from the affiliated partners to carry out the study, the design isn't 'ideal', and there are logistical considerations of invested time (or as I see it, sunk cost fallacy).
While I have many questions, I think the most straightforward is: should I attempt to make 'lemonade out of lemons' or 'stand my ground' that such a modelling study would be inappropriate?
Other potential information:

Supervisor is 'ardent' that such a study should be carried out
I have sought out external input as to what methods would be 'most' appropriate, there are some that might be 'less' worrisome than others

You don't say anything here about the cost in money and time that would be required to do it right. How big a bind is it?

It won't compromise your integrity if you state clearly the limitations of your conclusions. And satisfying your advisor is a plus, all else equal.

@Buffy that is a fair point. There would be minimal cost, but likely significant logistics to work out. Not impossible, but tens of other out-of-network sampling points would have to be contacted, recruited, IRB'd, and data collected. Not impossible, but perhaps 2-3 years of logistics work. -Aaron Brick this is true, although I worry that simply stating limitations isn't 'enough' in the sense that this seems to be a scenario where the limitations are more severe than 'usual'.

@Buffy just wanted to follow-up on your comment (and might be useful for future users). In the end I voiced my concerns to my advisor and the project was put on temporary hold. However, I then attended a somewhat random talk and learned that the necessary data was indeed out there! Will take some time, but should be able to do it right. Future users - don't give up! And the search for the 'right' data may take a few weeks.


text:
I am nominated to Community Contribution Award. Should university financially support my travel?
I have been nominated for a community contribution award. I was thrilled to be considered for this award. The conference also has workshops hardcoded to my research.
However, while discussing with my supervisor, he seemed hesitant that my travel could be financially supported, and he said if it a publication, it would be better.
He asked to send him email, it seems disappointing his reaction seemed disappointing. He said you cannot travel to all-conference, although I did not travel to any conferences since my PhD start?
My question: Should program financially support my travel to present at workshop plus being award nominee?

The university choses which travel requests are met - they set their own criteria so you may be unlucky.

I dont understand!

They don’t have to pay. If you want to go then you pay.

I am going to present at workshop which really interesting, do you think is this not valid enough?

While “interesting” that does not mean they will accept it as relvant for your program and, it is their decision to make.

I think it is better not to discuss it further with them since it will make a tension in the relationship, I think I should pay for myself or simply apologize for not going since I think it is going to be expensive

Are you sure the nomination and workshop attendance are as serious as they sound? There's always a possibility that you were invited for someone to make money for a for-profit conference that just need suckers to attend for a fee. If you can make the case that the conference and award are legitimate and important you may have better standing in your discussion with your program.

@user2705196, this is a prestigious company dedicated only to our field, well established professors who nominated me and also they are organizers. I know what do you mean, but for 100% this isnot the case, I have legitimate reasons

You have two arguments to present in your request:  a weak one, your attendance will help with your research; and a strong one, your attendance will enhance the University's reputation.  Think of it from the point of view of the people that have to pay the money, and answer their "what's in it for us" question.  They don't want to hear why they "must" or "should" do it; that makes you their adversary.  They want to know why they would want to do it, that make you their friend.

How much are we talking about here? $500 for a quick plane ride and two nights at a hotel or $2000 for a cross country trip?

Is this a StackOverflow Community Contribution Award? Does not just mean you spend too much time on StackOverflow? I do not think I would support that either.

Perhaps there is a small bursary you can apply for at your school to help facilitate travel?

I don't know what a "community contribution award" is.  Can you briefly explain what group awards this distinction and what it's based on?  Is this a well-known thing in your academic field?

@NateEldredge, it is based on some work I did for the field, I cannot say what is due to privacy, but based on what they said it is creative that helped our research community. The conference is dedicated only to this field where the leaders of the field every year organize it, I never expected to be nominated and never asked for it.

@NateEldredge, FYI, community contribution award you can google it.

@Erik: I did Google it, and came up with many very different hits.  Some of them would be potentially valuable for academic purposes and others would be worthless.  I have no way of knowing which kind yours is, which is why I asked.

@NateEldredge How you would judge the valuable and worthless one, what are the criteria? I am curious as I have no idea rather than what I mentioned in my earlier comment.

@Erik We can't - not unless you tell us who is offering you the award.

@J... as I said the award from the official conference of our field and I have been nominated by the leaders of our field.

@Erik that doesn't mean anything - that field and those leaders may be sufficiently influential so that it's a Big Thing for the university that their member gets that award, or they may be in some niche that's irrelevant for the university PR. For example, how much of the faculty would know of that conference, is it just your supervisor, or would most of the professors working in other but somewhat related fields consider that this award is important? Is that award important enough in science that the university would make a press release to the general public that they/you got it?

Sadly, what the university should do, what it can do, and what it is willing to do might all be different.
In a perfect world, yes, they should fund you. However, there may be limited funds or even regulations that bind their decision. Also, your relationship with the supervisor might be an issue if they don't think that this is worthwhile for you or them. Or even, if it would be your supervisor providing the funding under a grant, the grant itself might have rules. Finally, note that not every university will provide funds for students in any case. It might be harder to justify an unusual expense than a common one.
It wasn't exactly clear if you sent the email you were already asked to send and were then refused or if you haven't done that yet. Don't push the issue to the point that your advisor is angry and unyielding, but a formal request is probably appropriate. But try to make your case on the merits of the award, both for yourself and the university. And, there may be things of direct interest to your current studies at the conference also.
And if you have to self-fund for this, it may still be worth it for you in the long term if you use the time well at the conference to extend your circle of contacts for the future.

how can I know if this award-worthy or worthless? comments above highlight that point, do you any experience?

I don't have much help. If it is a regular award, can you learn something about past recipients? Can you contact them? It is hard to know from the term "community contribution" what it really is, actually.

@Erik : Whether an award has worth depends on whether people in the field consider it having worth. Your advisor is on of the people in your field, so you can ask them.

@Christian, I understand, it tricky to say my supervisor is somehow nice, but isnot recognized in the field or active, I managed to have contacts before joining the program. Actually the people who nominated me for the award are somehow considered the leaders of the field, but as I said it seems they are not interested as far as I can see.

Specific rules for specific purses
Most sources of money that could be (or are) used for funding travel have some specific conditions attached. For example, most of my travel is supported by research grants which have allocated funding to publish and present results of that research project - and for eligibility it does not matter if the goal of some travel is good or valuable in general, it matters strictly whether it fits that particular purpose and it would be literally illegal to fund travel for some good cause that doesn't fit the criteria. This is what I think I'm hearing from your supervisor, that they have in mind some funding source which could be used to fund that travel if and only if a publication is involved.
A university is likely to have some other, general funds available which could be tapped for generic purposes that are valuable to the university (e.g. this community award) but it's very likely that these funds are more (administratively) difficult to access, it's not something that your supervisor can approve themselves, and it would have to be escalated a few levels up in administration - at which point, depending on your institution, all kinds of political factors/issues/relationships might be decisive.


text:
How to prepare for an on-site interview for a TT position without much direct research experience
I am rather lucky to get an on-site interview invitation for a TT position (focusing on both research and teaching) at a R1-tier university, which, however is not in my main research area. Only my B.S. degree is closely related to this position, but both my M.S. and Ph.D. degrees are not that
relevant to it. To be honest, I have no much direct research experience and no any publications in the discipline of this position. Throughout the course of my research, I have been actively publishing and acquired some software and hardware skills that may be of general use and applied to the position.
For the time being, I start to prepare for the upcoming interview, both research and teaching talks. Given my obvious shortcomings, I want to seek some strategies and tips that help me stand out from the interview. As for research talks, I am not sure if I need to focus on my previous research that is not that relevant to the position or the envisioned research for this position. What do the searching committee really want to see from my on-campus job talks, and how can I better demonstrate myself as a good fit.

I don't understand how you reach this stage at an R1 with no domain experience. They must see something in you to generate the invite. Any idea what?

I agree. It's going to be difficult to come to an interview where you're supposed to give a talk on your research in X without knowing X for many years. How are you going to convince them that you're an excellent researcher in X? How do you plan to publish in this area to make it past tenure?