text:
Why am I supposed to be respectful toward a person who wants unpaid labor?
I am a master's student at a R1 university, who has previously published in reputable conferences (think ICML, OSDI), and have strong letters of recommendation from the concerned professors (or I wouldn't be admitted).
I recently approached a professor whose work matched with what I wanted to do, and they wanted me to work for free instead of for a stipend. This professor has adequate funding, and despite my background, their response was this:

Hi spatial,
Thank you for your interest in working with me, your skills are definitely aligned with the project. I would like to offer you a position in my lab on [insert project name]. However, without prior experience with your work, I can't offer you funding. We can reassess potential funding opportunities in the future.

When asked what "future" meant, they said about two semesters. I would easily graduate by then.
This person wants me to work for free for a year! That sounds outrageous. Maybe now I know why they have no PhD students. I wanted to reply something like

I am not going to be unpaid labor. You should revisit your ethics. Bye.

Of course, everyone is discouraging me from doing this and asking me to be respectful.
Why am I supposed to be respectful to this person who thinks students are slaves?

To be honest, I despise this idea of students slaving away in research for months without getting paid, and yet there's the scam of "work for credit" which most professors exploit.  That doesn't work in industry, you have to pay your new employee regardless. Why does academia encourage this practice?

Is your master's program fully funded?

The pragmatic answer is that it's a waste of time. Do you really think this professor is going to read your mail and say "Egads! I have seen the error of my ways and am overcome with remorse?"

there's the scam of "work for credit"...this slave practice...You should revisit your ethics.

Using charged language like this is particularly unlikely to convince anyone who doesn't already agree with you. I suppose using such language is okay if your intent is merely to scold rather than convince, but frankly, few are overly concerned when they get scolded by a master's student they barely know. And while it's probably unlikely that you will have to deal with this person in the future, you never know what might happen.
Finally, being rude always carries the risk that you misunderstood something and so your rudeness was entirely uncalled for. It’s possible to misread even seemingly clearcut situations. Which you may in fact have done here…see Bryan’s answer and the ensuing comments.

To the larger question, I'm certainly not going to defend "unpaid labor." But I will push back on a few of your points....

This professor has adequate funding

This is not for you to say. What may seem like adequate funding from the outside may look quite different from the other side of the desk.  And regardless of how much money they have, they still need to spend the money responsibly. (Which is not to say that paying students would be an irresponsible use of grant money).

I am not going to be unpaid labor.

You probably overestimate how useful your labor is. It will probably take at least 12 months before it is faster for the professor to delegate to you than to do things themself. Being a good supervisor takes a lot of time and effort, and students at your level tend to disappear right around the time they finally become useful.
Now you could argue that's the cost of doing business; professorships are very literally about supervising students, and such costs (in both money and time) should be accounted for. I don't disagree with you. But you go much too far if you imagine that supervising a student entails simply telling them what to do, waiting for them to do it, and then copying-and-pasting their results into your publications.

"You probably overestimate how useful your labor is. It will probably take at least 12 months before it is faster for the professor to delegate to you than to do things themself."  Every employer in every industry could try this excuse for not paying new workers.  For the most part, legislators don't let them get away with it.

Countries differ in how they organize internships and learning on the job. Sometimes you get payed, sometimes you don't.

@DanielHatton  However, it is absolutely true.  Prior to retiring to teach I was a hiring manager in industry.  That circumstance is why I would not accept interns, even if they wanted to work for free.

If we just view this as an employer, you should not hire students. You only pay for people who don't know what they are doing if they, on average , stay long enough after learning how to work to pay off the initial investment.

The reason I hire students is to give good students some extra learning experiences. I pay them if I can, but if I can't, should I not give these students this opportunity? It is only an opportunity after all, they are free to say no if they don't want it.

@MaartenBuis This isn't that circumstance though. The professor has funding, they just don't want to pay.

@spatial That's not really how funding works in academia; you don't get to keep the money you don't spend. If they don't want to pay you, it's because they'd rather pay someone else, which is either because that person is better than you (despite your qualifications) or because they've already been given a funded position that can't be taken away (whether legally or ethically). Not because of greed or something.

In addition to Bryan 's comment, some funding agencies explicitly do not allow their funding to be used to pay students, the argument being that that funding is intended for research not teaching. At that point the professor has no choice, regardless of whether the professor agrees with that argument or not

@MaartenBuis In the UK most universities do not allow unpaid work by students anymore as it discriminates against poorer students - they would have to earn money somewhere else, while their richer peers can get career relevant experience instead.

@DanielHatton That's not true for every industry at all. There are industries that are easy to pick up and there are industries that are not. That's why it's legally possible (int the US) to have unpaid interns--you can prove that having them is a burden, not a plus. Echoing BobBrown, as a manager I can definitely say I've had interns who were much, much more work still after 3 months than they provided. (They still got paid though, because Tech...). In other industries, I was promoted from zero in less than 3 months. Every industry is different.

@Marianne013 that's a valid approach though could also be covered by making studying cheap enough or hand out stipends etc. It's a society's decision how exactly they want to organize university education and in most places there is a mix, where some positions are paid and some aren't - ideally with some sort of rule or merit based etc. though we don't know the exact context of OP's region/university etc.

@DanielHatton Except a professor isn't an employer in an industry and there's too many crucial differences to draw any meaningful analogy.

I would add from a research administrator's perspective when it comes to funding, it's entirely possible to be "running out of money" when there is "only $3M left".  You don't know what the size of the commitments are.  In the US, a postdoc has salary, fringe, and also indirect costs to consider--that could easily be well over $100k a year, even if they only make about $55k. You also need data to apply for grants, and postdocs may be the better return on investment.  I will definitely advise PIs to prioritize the staff that ensures they get more funding for next time--sometimes no students.

@Marianne013 I don't actaully know of any universities that don't allow unpaid work by students, although plenty of lab heads (myself included) won't accept free labour for exactly the reasons you state. The law is complex, because something being part of an educational program is one of a small number of acceptable opt-outs from minimum wage laws. However, the UK is definitely one of the places where it is against the rules to pay students from grants - really, the only legal way to pay students is from dedicated summer project studentships.

I would not interpret this message:

I would like to offer
you a position in my lab on [insert project name]. However, without
prior experience with your work, I can't offer you funding. We can
reassess potential funding opportunities in the future.

as desiring "unpaid labor". I would interpret this message as a "polite no". In some cultures (for example, in the US midwest, though there's a lot of variance), it's seen as rude to tell people "no" directly. Instead, you say "yes" while giving the asker some additional conditions or qualifications. This indirect style can be very confusing to people who are used to more direct communication, but it's not meant to be harmful, it's meant to let you off easy and to let you be the one to walk away rather than being rejected (cynically, you may also take this as letting the professor not feel guilty for saying no).
I would take the statement that funding can't be offered as an honest one: if there's no money to pay you (because any money available is already promised to other students) there's no money to pay you. Should the professor cancel someone else's position to take you on? That would make them truly a horrible person to work with.
So, to answer your question directly: this person doesn't have a paid position available for you, they are telling you so, and there's no reason to react to that situation rudely. If you are looking for a paid position, you should decline their offer and work with someone else.

Yeah I agree, I also read this message and I thought that the professor is saying "I wished I could pay you, but I don't have a position for you now".

Yes, "I would like to ... However ..." could be interpreted like this. But "We can reassess potential funding opportunities in the future" implies that it is an actual offer and the professor thinks OP might take up the offer and start working there for no money.

@AnderBiguri I fail to see how you see that. The professor very clearly said he wants prior experience with my work before thinking of paying, not that he wished to pay me.

@spatial Every professor has limited resources, so every professor has to make decisions about who they can and can't pay. This one is telling you that you do not make the cut to be paid; mentioning experience is a way to not make it about whether you're "good enough" or not. They said "I would like to offer you a position...but I can't." Maybe in the future they could; maybe if you had more experience you'd make the cut.

@spatial lets take this exact sentence out of the academic context where unpaid work sometimes happens. If you go to a restaurant and ask to be a chef, and the owner tells yo "due to the lack of your prior experience, I will be unable to pay you", it would mean "due to you having never done this job, I can not offer it to you right now". I agree that the professor may have meant what you understood, but I see no evidence to discard that he meant what Bryan suggests: that he is unwilling to hire you right now. Thus I see no evidence to assume one over the other.

@AnderBiguri Again that isn't the case here. I have prior experience, just not with this professor. And if they really just wanted to see my ability, they could ask me to maybe work a month or 2 and then evaluate.

@spatial You aren't owed a job just because you worked a little bit already. If the money isn't available in a month then that plan doesn't work for anyone.

I don't think this as indirect. On the contrary, OP is taking offense at the directness of the response. OP made an offer of providing labor. The professor clearly stated the terms of him accepting the labor. The professor could have just said "I won't hire you", but instead he said exactly what his position was. Basically, OP is either saying that it's a violation of social norms to accept someone working for you in exchange for experience rather than money, or that it is a violation of social norms, if you do accept that, to openly state so.

@Ander’s restaurant analogy is very helpful; I hadn’t considered that reading. This is actually a nice example of why rude language is usually a bad idea: OP will look pretty foolish if they send a rude “I’m not your slave” response, only to be told “actually, I wasn’t suggesting an unpaid position, I was inviting you to ask me again next year. Nevermind…” You run the risk of something like this happening every time you send a rude response.

@AnderBiguri I think "We can reassess potential funding opportunities in the future" is evidence that the professor meant what OP understood. The word "we" implies they will be working together.

@toby544 Clearly if funding opportunities are to be discussed in the future, the discussion would be between the professor and OP, hence "we"; that says nothing at all about whether they're working together before then.

In some other cultures, this e-mail would be offering to do unpaid labor. I know PIs who regularly work for well below the livable wage, with their spouses/families covering their bills. Some come from rich backgrounds, some are fine with being paid far, far less than what fresh graduates consider reasonable. Overall economic situation plays a big role: you do not have to be particularly rich, but if you are a bit older and already own a property, your bills are magically half as high, and that goes a long way. There are also times students get paid more than PIs on the same project...

@toby544 "We can reassess potential funding opportunities in the future" could also mean that things may change, so keep that lab in mind when looking for a job in the future.  When the professor said about 2 semesters, that could mean that he wants OP to get more experience, that he is expecting more funding to come through, or that there may be turnover in his lab, or a combination of those.  I read it as an invitation to reapply in a year.

You sound amazingly entitled. You asked for a job, were politely told 'no', and now are snotty about being offered a unpaid internship as a counteroffer.
If you don't like the deal offered, just say 'no, thanks' and walk away.
Nobody has done anything bad to you - just made you an offer you don't care to accept. Some people in your position might be happy to accept and get experience instead of pay. You're not - fine. Just say no and don't get all insulted and prickly about it.

I wish I could upvote this more often. I wanted to write my own answer but it's not different enough from this. You could maybe add that the title says "Why am I supposed to be respectful toward a person who wants unpaid labor?". The prof doesn't want unpaid labor but he has nothing else to offer. The entire question of the premise is wrong because OP took the first step. It's not like the prof advertised this.

@infinitezero I'm sure the professor does want unpaid labor. I want unpaid labor. Most people want unpaid labor. The OP is implying something beyond just "wanting", such as "expecting" or "demanding", which the professor ISN'T doing, and/or that there's something gauche about admitting that you would accept unpaid labor.

@acccumulation we must be fundamentally different. I don't want unpaid labor. I value the time and work power of people. However, if I have no funds and I have someone who wants the experience I can honestly tell him: "I can't pay you, but if you still like the experience you're welcome to come by". Which makes perfect sense for a student to get some lab experiences and doesn't make sense for someone who needs to pay their bills first.

@Acccumulation from the professor's view this might well be unpaid work on his side^^ We don't know what lab work they are doing and whether they have any repetitive simple tasks to hand to OP - where no supervision effort is needed. If they do, then they might benefit from taking on OP. If they don't then OP might be a net cost for the professor (taking up more time and energy than the results are worth). In that case the calculation from professor's side is that they "only" want to invest the time but not money on top, then "wanting unpaid labor" does not come into play.

Why do you consider this offer unethical? You pay the university for your education and they make you do homeworks and class projects? You are given the opportunity to learn by doing useful stuff with the potential to advance your career afterwards or to find out whether you want to pursue a Ph.D. Nobody is forcing you to accept this offer. You initiated the interchange. I fail to see why your professor is doing anything bad to you.
If you send this letter to the professor, this answer will (in my estimate) make the rounds among their colleagues, who will (in my estimate) think that you feel entitled and likely turn out to be a "difficult student" if admitted to the Ph.D. programme. Some "difficult students" are worth keeping in a research group, but most are not.

I agree with the second paragraph, but no so much the first one. I also "initiate" with companies and PhD programs, they aren't doing unfair labor practices. This is not comparable to paying to university, because there I pay for courses; oh and this is not my first time researching that I'd be happy to pay to learn it.

@whoisit This isn't applying for a job, though. This is mailing an employer telling them you like their business and would like to work for them, while having no relevant working experience. Then being offended if they reply "we can't pay you but you're free to come do an unpaid internship if you want". You've made them a shitty offer and they make you a shitty counteroffer. It's a polite way of saying they're not interested. You're free to say no, and probably expected to.

@whoisit Yes, I understand many masters students believe they have a lot of relevant experience doing research. I also get plenty of applications from students in (mathematical) finance who have read some books and made an eToro account. That does not count towards experience in financial markets. In both cases, an exceptional candidate might take 3 months instead of 6 before they stop being a net drain on an advisors time and energy.

Why am I supposed to be respectful toward a person who wants unpaid labor?

Let's cut straight to the chase: because it's in your interest to do so.  Nothing against the answer that points out that it's the good thing to do, it's also the best option from greedy self-interest.
Best case scenario if you shoot off a nasty email back: you feel good for a couple seconds?  But you certainly will not be changing any minds on what is a long established practice.  That would only happen if 1) your work has value and 2) the supply of people that can produce value is less than the demand.
Now what are the outcomes for a polite response?  It's a small world.  You don't burn the bridge with the prof and they might be able to help you out in a significant way later.  They won't tell others in the field to avoid working with you. Etc etc etc.

This person wants me to work for free for a year! That sounds outrageous.

Younger people seem really adverse to this sort of setup but history is littered with great people who did exactly that, worked their butt off and it was the thing that opened the doors and allowed them to flourish.
The simple fact is that you are assuming that your work will be valuable, but there's no guarantee that is the case.  "Working for free" may actually still be a (at least in the short term) net loss from the profs side if they have to put in more time and effort than the value they get from you.  Yes, sometimes such relationships are exploitative.  But they can also be good for both parties in the long run, if not the short.  An mutual investment for the future, in other words.

That doesn't work in industry, you have to pay your new employee regardless.

Well that's simply not true.  They certainly aren't as common but of course unpaid internships still exist.

just as addendum to your last point, feel free to pick up if you agree or not: the main difference is also that university's main goal is not employment. It's education. They give you benefit by educating you. Often there are clearly separated roles, get hired as a working student, you get paid, but you barely learn anything, but rather do the boring stuff. Get to do interesting things, you either have a thesis or are preparing to pick a thesis topic, then you are not paid. Sometimes separation is rule-based and clear, sometimes less so, but paying with education is always an element.

The main reason (at least for me) is that one should (at least try to) be respectful to everyone, even "bad" people.
While I am very much against free labor in Academia, many people see nothing against working for free - either because they are from a wealthy background and can easily afford this (and are happy to learn), because they have to in order to stay in Academia, because that is the only "reasonable" way to to research for them, because the professor is a big fish, because they want to save the university money... The point is that there are a lot of people out there working for free in Academia, so the professor might also have this point of view. Of course, it is not problematic that you decline - but it is also not problematic if the professor offers you something that many students want. (At least, I don't see it problematic for the professor or those students - I see it more problematic that the system allows it.)
And a more practical reason: If you send a really "unexpected" email, the professor may pass it around (even if he should not) and he/other faculty members hold it against you/ grade you worse etc.
In my opinion, there is nothing good which could come out from such an email.

In most formal education, the student pays to be there, so this seems less bad than that
The main justification for work without pay here is contextual --- since you are a student you are presently in the process of engaging in learning and practice of your skills, and even an unpaid offer to be on a research team allows you to do this.  This type of thing can occur for course credit or just as an extra-curricular activity to learn and practice.  Indeed, tertiary education typically proceeds with the student paying others for the opportunity to be educated by experts and to practice their skills under the supervision of experts.
Regarding your ethical aversion to this type of practice, it raises obvious questions about whether you think it is okay for students to engage in unpaid education, or education that they pay for, at all.  After all, if it is ethically okay for students to pay for their education at a university, then it is difficult to make the case that it is unethical for another educational activity/opportunity to be offered to the student for free.
I don't necessarily think that these opportunities are always something that a student should take up --- they are a trade-off and often not a good one.  If you don't think the value in learning/practice is worth the free labour you would be providing then it would be a good idea to decline the offer.  As to why you should do this respectfully, well, you approached this professor looking for an opportunity to work with him, and that is what you've been provided with.  The offer is certainly less attractice than a paid position (which virtually no masters student would ever be offered) but it is a research opportunity nonetheless.  If you were to respond as you propose, I think this professor (and perhaps others) might be disinclined to make offers of this kind in the future.

I think the question was: why do I have to respect someone who [acts unethical in my opinion]. If I see someone hitting their children, or torturing animals, WHY do I have to be respectful. Is there any objective reason, rule or a fact I am missing?

Since this is not a situation involving the torture of animals, I have taken the liberty to push back ever so slightly on the premise of the ethical judgment at issue.  In my view, that is probably more helpful in the present context than the interpretation you have put forward.

If A acts unethical, do I have to react ethical in all circumstances? I actually never thought if it. In some cultures he is definitely expected to get back at him and punish

The professor's response does not preclude you having funding. He just says that he can't provide it. You'd be welcome to find a third-party grant or stipend to work on this project.
Most employees work for a normal employer who provides them with working space, equipment and payment all in one package. When you step outside that bubble, it's not so simple and your job may be "some assembly required". You need something to work on, and working space and equipment - sounds like he can provide that. You also need money - sounds like he can't, so you'll need it from elsewhere.
If you can't get all the pieces, you can't put together the final result. This applies in business too. That's just how business is, and not a reason to be rude to people. If I want to buy a house, and my bank approves the loan, and my insurance doesn't approve the insurance, then I have to go without insurance (if possible) or just not buy it. It wouldn't be a good reason to be rude to my bank for trying to force me to buy an uninsured house. That would make no sense.
Of course you also have the option, but not the obligation, to work for free - if you can ride through a year, expect to receive something valuable enough after that to make it worth it, and can handle the risk of still getting rejected after a year. Many extremely successful people did take extreme risks to get there. It should never be expected, but it's an option for risk-takers.

Your direct question is "Why am I supposed to be respectful ...?" but the body of your question is more along the lines of "Why should I not be deliberately rude?", which is an entirely different matter.
The answer to the latter question is that the only person whom your proposed, rude response will affect, is you, and it will affect you badly. No one likes a student who is egregiously rude. You have nothing to lose by not replying at all, and you might even have a little to gain by saying, "Many thanks for considering me. I'd be grateful if you would keep me in mind if funding does become available for a position in the future."

As mentioned by most responders, you should not be rude as a rule. You should also take into account a few points to fully understand the context of your situation, which you clearly do not. It's not your fault because there's just no way to know these things.
In no particular order:

your prior qualifications and LoRs were the minimum to get you into the graduate program. Really nothing more. You are one of many, and frankly you are clearly not among the most exceptional or you would be fully funded through scholarships/fellowships.
your insistence on the fact that the faculty has "funding" shows how misguided you are about how funding works. Most active faculty have some form of funding. Funding does not exist in perpetuity, and it is rarely ever open to be spent at will. It is money that is earmarked for certain tasks for limited amounts of time (this is important at the university level as it also dictates the way that overhead is drawn). Money is rarely sitting around waiting for the ideal candidate to come around, because once faculty get it, they generally have to spend it (you can typically extended one calendar year beyond with most agencies if you have a valid reason to do so). There is no faculty benefit to hoarding funding as it just goes away if unspent.
you overvalue your worth as a researcher. Masters students are a massive time and resource sink with very little ROI. The only reason I ever take them is as a service to the department. I would rather pay an undergraduate from their junior year all the way through graduation. It takes time to learn to do things properly, and the masters program is just too short. You waste four months training them, then they can barely produce anything meaningful before they have to start focusing on wrapping up their thesis. The average Ph.D. student needs 1-2 years to get up to speed and start producing. The cost of a masters is same as a PhD or 2/3rd of a postdoc (depending on tuition costs)... so yeah, if we are going to make this whole conversation about money, worth and respect, you have little value in this context.
When a faculty takes you on for a graduate degree, even a short one, they are on the hook for training you, providing guidance, providing letters of reference, building up your network (the latter there is no obligation, but typically this is what you get). Advocating for you at the university (many of my students will never know how many times I have had to step in for them behind the scences). These are all time commitments, so you aren't getting nothing. This is a long-term educationally and professionally enriching relationship you are entering into.
You are technically enrolled in research credit hours (unless it is a wholly course based degree), so this is part of your education, which as noted above, is being provided to you by the advisor.

To all those making a note of how things are done in industry. This is not industry. This is school. Unless an advisor makes you perform work for a spin-off company or something they have a COI with (which is wholly unethical), no money is being made off a masters student or most any other students work. This is part of the training and earning a degree. If you cannot see that, and view all relationships and exchanges as fully transactional at the very superficial level of exchanging money, then perhaps higher education and STEM-related work may not be for you, certainly not the current paradigm of academia.
Finally, your use of language, insinuating that what was offered to you by the faculty amounted to treating you like a slave is frankly pathetic and disgusting given what that has entailed in the past, and currently still exists in parts of the world today.

He does not want unpaid labor. He wants you, but he has no money. More clearly, yes he has the money, but it is already allocated (mostly for the salaries of others). He can not alter the contract what he made with them.
That "about two semesters" are very clearly the time when he will have the money for you.
In your case, I would accept it, if I have no better option.

Exactly, I think. And, if you can prove immediate tangible evidence of your potential contribution, then you're good... Sure, if you have better options, go with them. Typically, commitment of money is not only the most practical thing involved, but is also the hardest criterion for real commitment.

"That "about two semesters" are very clearly the time when he will have the money for you." Or it's a timeframe during which it's possible for the OP to gain a level of experience as to merit a paid position.

@Acccumulation Uhm, right :-) Although that should be said openly and it should worth some offer of "practicing collegue" or so. Maybe the prof did not say it so openly, but hinted it (most likely on politeness reason). Becoming a paid researcher is a door not opened for anyone... it might worth this extreme investition.

I also think, such a prof is very likely a team leader or a leader of a research team in a department. Such a guy has no right directly decide about personal decisions, i.e. he can not employ anyone, particularly not into a paying position. That is the decision of the department lead. But, the department leader trusts him to choose, with whom he wants to work together, so the department will pay to those who the prof says. Probably there is nothing about those "special guys" who work but are not paid; their budget was constructed based on the concept of amount of various salaries of the teams

(i.e. it was determined, "we will have the big prof, about 2 post-phd and maybe 3-5 pre-phd guy for this project", it was known, what will be paid for them. OP is below all of them (which is no prob at all, being a young proto-scientist is one of the hardest and also of the most wonderful things of the world). That he can be included in the project et al, it is already a thing what the prof needs to explain to the department lead. "Who is this OP in the team? I can't see him in the payment list" <- that is the question what the prof has to answer).

There are unspecified details in the question (regarding the discipline, what the lab does, and what "working" in the lab means) that make what I am going to say possibly not apply to the OP but I offer this response for those who may end up in similar interactions.
So especially before responding aggressively to this denial of funding, I'd suggest getting a better sense of what would be asked of you as a part of this person's lab. My initial read of the question and the purported communications was that the professor may be offering some form of mentorship until funding is available and quite plausibly might be very open-minded about the level of effort expected of the OP until they are in an actual work relationship.
In my social science field, and some others, a PI's "lab" is often neither a physical space nor is it even akin to a place of employment. They are often like a social group that engages in research. There may be some hierarchy, but not always. To join or "work" in a lab may not entail the kind of labor that would always require compensation, but rather voluntarily accepting research tasks in the context of collaboration. Such labs may have members who are on a PI's grant as RAs or post-docs, but not always and not always everyone who is junior to the PI would be funded in this manner. They may instead be self-funded, teaching assistants, fellows, or funded through another PI's grants. As such, students might be involved in more than one lab.
In that context, it is at least sometimes the case that the PI welcomes lab members as part of their duties as a mentor and allows contributions from these members for the purpose of the member's benefit (or mutual benefit) rather than to merely extract labor from them. Of course, the distinction between doing unpaid work and engaging in genuine collaboration is not always so obvious.
As an example during my studies, I had greater-than-usual statistical skills relative to my peers and most faculty. My funding was guaranteed through TAships or RAships unconnected to any particular project. I sometimes would offer to join faculty "labs" (often on a temporary basis) to aid them with their statistical analyses because I wanted to be involved in research and receive professional credit by way of co-authorship. I was neither paid (in cash) nor under any formal obligation to continue if I didn't want to. I didn't perceive this to be exploitative or problematic even if other members of the lab, including the PI, benefited professionally from my involvement.

Maybe now I know why they have no PhD students

So do they just hire post-docs for their research?   It sounds like the lab really isn't interested in having a PhD student.  Would you rather have just gotten a flat rejection letter?
It doesn't sound like they expect unpaid labor, but are just informing you of the facts.   They aren't interesting in offering you a paid position at this time, but they are leaving the option open for later.

"We can reassess potential funding opportunities in the future."
When asked what "future" meant, they said about two semesters. I would easily graduate by then.

It sounds like they want you to graduate, and then they might be willing to offer you a paid position.  Since you are the one that went to them, and since they seem to be amenable to offering you a paid position in the future, I wouldn't burn this bridge.  You can't work for free, they won't pay you.   No need to take offense.   What they did give you is better than a flat rejection and now they know your name.

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You don't work for free. The professor you mentioned doesn't want to work with you at the moment.
You see. When "strategically smart" people don't want to work with someone, they give you the worst possible offer. That way you decline. In your case, the response you received has more to do with market conditions and leadership strategy. You should not take it personal, specially if your degree is not funded (you did not mention that, so we don't know the financial situation) and your professional future is uncertain.
When you get to a leadership position in academia or industry, you will realize how incredibly difficult is to turn down people. Why? Because, life is cyclical. You could be doing well today, but tomorrow you may not (it is never guarantee you will do well forever).
Instead of closing doors, you have to be strategically shrewd. If you don't want to work with someone at the moment, you give a response that leaves the possibility open for future collaboration in case market conditions change.

You are not supposed to be respectful of people who are notably disrespectful of you.
Keep cool. This kind of thing happens in several work arenas, not just academia. Moreover when the "employer" senses a strong interest from the applicant.
Just do not reply to this guy at all.
Start writing to other departments engaged in your sub-field.
And write in a mature way - a way that respects your own achievements so far, albeit that you are just at MS level.
Don't be surprised if the exploitative "employer" comes back to you with an improved offer some time down the line. And don't be amazed if this happens around the same time that another (more respectful) offer from another department comes to you.

This has nothing to do with how masters level programs and research works at R1 schools in the US. For the most part, in the US we look at masters as failed doctorates or extended undergraduates. I disagree with this notion, but it is a rather blunt way to say that this is an in-between stepping stone degree that is not particularly well catered to, but you are ultimately not in any position of power to negotiate as a masters student at an R1.

@R1NaNo Sorry but I'm not advocating any 'negotiation' with graduate schools. Just want the applicant to maintain his self-respect.

I understand.... but the way to have self-respect is to not become so offended to the point that you are willing to throw out all professional behavior to score some imaginary points. Maintaining professional decorum while making the right choices for oneself is an act of self-respect. Choosing not to engage or reply to a faculty who took time to engage with you on a professional level is not self-respect. It is childish. A polite thanks but no thanks, so to speak is all that's needed.

Yes but OP isn't in the right state for that sort of cool polite "No thanks" note just now. Better to stay away. I see a choice of 146 R1 universities, some state- and some private-funded. Even cut to those active in OP's area, it gives him other alternatives. Did you get the impression from When asked what "future" meant, they said about two semesters. I would easily graduate by then that the professor wants to see the final & essential MS paper at least before committing to fund OP ?

Sure, I get your point. To transfer to another school would mean applying (late in the cycle for most top schools at this point) to another school for a fall start date (that's the earliest active start date). You don't just waltz up to another school transcript in hand. At which point that's two semesters away. Timeline wise, 1-2 semesters away from now fall in-line with NSF/DOE funds disbursement for the current proposal cycle, which may tie in to funds availability for the OPs proposed PI, and/or most other PIs they may contact.

Yes, synchronization of funds and applicants is an ongoing crux for graduate schools. OP has said he's already in an R1 school. Maybe extending his MS work into a PhD at the existing school would be executionally easier since he's known quantity there, interested supervision and funding allowing.

Because there are expectations that if you are in academia, you usually, normally
A) have genuine interest in research that means internal  motivation and you would do it even without pay
B) have financial means. Accepting you to some program doesn't authomatically mean that you are entitled to scholarship. More likdly, you will have to take a loan and even pay interest.
There is no such "rule" that anyone gets paid for doing research, so the guy isn't acting unethical. Understand that noone has to pay you for doing things you like. let's say playing music. Noone even has to listen to it. No matter how hard you practice. There is no such obligation, period. You can't make anyone pay for it by insulting them or otherwise trying to get your wicked way. If they want your research, they will specifically indicate this, that they are unable to get anyone do this for them for free and they are genuinely desperate.
If your personal values disagree with this reality, you should not even be in academia! Consider other fields of employment, like business. Academia is non-profit by default, and many people donate their time and money. I think you should respect this because this is one of the academic values, so this makes sense.

Where in the world are you? Academics (from phd to prof) in my country are usually paid - and that is a good thing which should be demanded by unions etc- otherwise only rich people could work in A. (or research would always have to be funded by big companies). Simiarly, teachers, social workers, etc also should get paid - despite them often having a great motivations for caring/teaching.

In my country paid jobs usually don't concur with jobs that are of personal interest. Paid positions are advertised by employer as such. So you can't confuse the two

What does this mean? Jobs where people are interested in are never paid?


text:
Master thesis mistakes with in-text citing and grammar
I recently re-read my publicly available master's thesis which was made public a month ago. I found a lot of grammatical mistakes and also inconsistency of putting references in relation to interpunction.
1...and so on (50).
2....and so on. (50)
I feel ashamed as I managed to publish a lot of scientific articles in prominent journals, but with a short dead-line and exhaustion I made these mistakes in my master thesis.
How bad of an impact are these mistakes going to have on my reputation as a researcher and scholar? I'm currently working as a medical doctor.

https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/137789/what-should-i-do-if-i-find-a-mistake-in-my-submitted-masters-thesis

https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/93505/i-found-a-huge-error-in-my-masters-thesis-which-i-defended-a-year-ago

https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/126651/error-in-masters-thesis-i-do-not-know-what-to-do

https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/200848/what-will-be-the-consequences-of-this-citation-error

It's unlikely that anyone at all will read your masters thesis once it's accepted.

I understand, but how bad of a mistake is it?

@BryanKrause That’s probably what Dr. Gay thought about her PhD thesis. But in principle I agree.

35 downloads on my thesis have been made

I'm hoping you're not taking those download statistics (especially if they're provided by something like RG) at a face value. These are almost surely no 35 people who have downloaded and read your thesis. Not to throw shade on it, maybe it was outstanding, but this is just not what generally happens in academia. 35 reads on a paper in a month is truly breakthrough work.

source: Stack Exchange

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sort: votes


text:
My former PhD supervisor is keeping me hostage
Since I started my postdoc, the relationship with my former PhD advisor has turned sour. I’m doing a postdoc with one of his competitors on a project I initiated in his lab. He encouraged this, said we should collaborate and that this would be the perfect decision for my career. Now, I’m being accused of trying to steal his work, and I’m at a loss as I only accepted this position because he reassured me he would be okay with me continuing the project, which was my original idea. I had other offers to do work unrelated to my former PI. I also left before publishing my PhD work, so now I have to balance a difficult situation between my former PhD advisor and current PI.
My current PI is clearly upset that my former PhD advisor changed his mind. She is even pushing for me to redo part of the unpublished work in her lab, but this will further antagonise my PhD advisor. I do not want to jeopardise the work I’ve done during my PhD as it is in the final stages of review in a very high-impact journal. I tried to reassure, even pleaded, with my former advisor that I do not want to steal his work and that by collaborating he would get full credit. Diplomacy is getting me nowhere; being nice makes him think he can play a power game with me, as he knows very well how much I care about the work I’ve done in his lab; he is pretty much delaying everything and keeping me hostage by not wanting to publish it in a timely manner. He has backed down from putting the manuscript on bioRxiv to help me with a fellowship application, even though we agreed he would do it. Overnight, I went from friend to foe, and when I asked for an explanation, he said all was good and I was imagining things. Any advice from someone who went through a similar situation?
P.S.: I have a copyright over the work in my thesis. Also, his granting body has clear instructions that prohibit him from not involving me in writing the paper with my name on it/not putting my name on it and including my data. I tried to mention this in a friendly manner, and we joked about it, but I really would like to avoid a full-on formal authorship dispute, as I hope we can salvage the relationship. I need his support to stay in academia. I feel like my hands are tied.

What, exactly, are the ways your former advisor is preventing you from publishing? Not just threats and accusations but actual actions? You've mentioned you have a paper under review. Is it just the biorxiv submission to go with that paper or something else too? Are there additional papers? Are those ready for submission?

(1) Finish up your PhD publications ASAP, not using work from your PD lab. (2) As a postdoc do research that is clearly not just a continuation of your PhD work.

Hostage seems to me to be inappropriate here. Maybe frustrated?

did your "unpublished" PhD work not make it into your dissertation? people cite dissertations all the time, work there is considered "published" in most fields

@thegreatemu Since a thesis isn't peer reviewed I disagree that they're considered academically published in most fields.

Is there a reason you depend on your former PhD supervisor so much? Was there something that he promised to you (a permanent position for instance) and you still hope to get this. These promises never work.

I need his support to stay in academia Why?

As said in the answer by @Charles, I also suspect that some relevant parts of the story are missing. What exactly led to your former advisor accusing you of "stealing his work"? I can't believe he said that out of the blue, he probably has given a more precise explanation, or at least that things have happened so that you could understand why he would say this!? Keep in mind you don't have to convince us that you have done nothing wrong, but in order to help probably more details of the story are required.

Generally explaining what exactly has happened is probably more helpful than telling us your interpretations and speculations about the former advisor such as "keeping me hostage", "makes him think he can play a power game" etc.

Please stop defacing your post.

You're a post doc now; you're capable of publishing on your own. You need coauthors to sign off of course, but if your advisor isn't providing feedback that's fine, not ideal but fine.
Don't be passive, don't wait years for other people: get your papers in the best shape you can and set a generous deadline for feedback with your coauthors (maybe a month). All of your coauthors, not just your advisor. Don't expect your advisor to circulate it, you can do this yourself. Ask firmly that if any authors have any reservations they share them by that time. Do all of this by email and insist on responses by email if your advisor tries to respond without email. You want documentation.
After that your next steps will depend on the response. If there are no issues and everyone is on board you can submit the paper yourself. If there are specific problems identified, do your best to address them and repeat the process - no need for as long of a feedback period. If the advisor says things like "You're stealing from me!" as a reason for not publishing then that's just childish or insane when talking about a coauthored publication. I'd consider taking a response like that to the department chair or graduate program, bringing with you documentation of your communication. Publishing is good for your advisor, the department, everyone. I doubt that if you've done all the work it will come to that.

I agree with the steps, but it seems that the former supervisor is trying to gaslight OP, so major battles can be expected, so I would remove the very optimistic last sentence. I agree with everything else.

@CaptainEmacs Perhaps, but OP has not provided any description of behaviors to actually prevent publication besides being slow to provide feedback. Until that escalated, OP can continue to protect themselves by documenting communication but other than that I think they're better off proceeding as if things are relatively "normal" until they're not.

I got that and I actually upvoted your response. I think it's better to be upfront that the position of the situation of "everything being normal" is an attitude you suggest to adopt rather than hoping that things will be fine. A subtle, but important difference. In any case, your response is good enough as it is, it is only a minor nitpick.

@CaptainEmacs It's not only an attitude I'm suggesting, it's also my opinion that if they follow these steps, they're putting the PI in a position to either A) Act unreasonably and unprofessionally, or B) Let things proceed. It's a lot easier to be unreasonable in an abstract, ranty way, than to say "Because I feel this way, you cannot submit this manuscript that is otherwise fine and includes me as an author." It's possible OP's advisor is that person; I'm not seeing anything in this story that suggests they will be. OP seems frustrated with timing and some offhand, now-disavowed comments.

I read it as a more concrete antagonism, but won't argue with you, as you may have a better guess of what's going on. I based my view on OP's statement "I’m being accused of trying to steal his work" - OP's presentation is vague, true, but, if indeed uttered, this is a grave accusation in academia, and not at all harmless. Anyway, I might be completely off with my guess and you may be spot on. Your advice is valid either way.

I like this answer (+1). I belive that at some point everyone needs to recognize that scientists are humans, and this includes a sub-group of assholes or bullies. And the reaction to assholery and bullying ultimately helps others. I've been is similar situations and showing the other side that I will go till the end though their hierarchy etc. fixed a lot of things. Good luck OP and take it as experience for future similar fights.

Oh boy. I joined today to learn about physics and I’m seeing a lot of the same kind of things I deal with at work (I’m in HR).  “Now I’m being accused of stealing his work.”  I feel like there is more here.  What exactly does he allege?  You say you pleaded with him and told him you don’t want to steal his work.  That is an odd way to put it. You should be able to clearly explain why you haven’t. I’m going to be honest— based on what you describe here something is clearly going on.  Either something happened that changed his mind, you misunderstood hm originally, or there is something missing in the story.  “Competitor” doesn’t mean enemy.  Could the three of you have a conversation to try and clear the air?  If not, have you actually sat down and spoken directly with your advisor yourself (I mean with an actual agenda)?  Challenge yourself—— could your enthusiasm have led you to misread his initial level of support?   There is a piece missing here my friend and the odds are good that you really know or at least suspect what is really going on.  Good luck

I feel like this is more a comment than an answer, but I'm upvoting anyway to help you get the right to comment here.

@CaptainEmacs - the description is far from clear (and we only have one side out of 3 or more). What work, exactly, is the OP doing in their new position? How similar is that work to what they were doing in the previous lab? And so forth. Clearly the OP thinks they are without sin, but frankly that is unlikely.

Thanks for the upvote.  Brand new to this.

Sounds like you had a discussion with your advisor and he reassured you there was no issue. Is there a reason you don't want to take that for what it's worth?
I have no insight into your arrangement or relationship, but I can only speculate on some items you mentioned and assume that there has been some miscommunication on the nature of your transition to postdoc and how the continuation of the line of work would go.
Perhaps your former advisor assumed you would wrap up your work from his group, then go on to the postdoc to continue this line of work and have it spawn into potential collaboration. What it sounds like is that you are literally continuing your actual unfinished PhD work - you even mentioned running/repeating more experiments for your PhD work in your new lab. This, to me, as an experimentalist sounds very unusual, and I can see how your PI may feel that the work originating from his group has now been overtaken and diluted; there a lot of egos in science, and in experimental work this is unusual enough that it may have triggered him?
Either way, the collaboration is clearly not working out. Perhaps on his end he sees no problems and he's just very slow (as he stated to you, whether that was right or wrong), but you are obviously unhappy.
If it were up to me, I would wrap up my PhD work independently of the new postdoc position then pursue work with your new advisor, whether related or unrelated, without your former advisor.

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text:
What costs should one take into account while planning a workshop?
Imagine an STEM-based (European or North American) grant proposal in the last phase of which a workshop is desired to be held in order to better disseminate research results among not only researchers but also relevant practitioners. I am wondering what expenses should be taken into account to estimate the overall cost of the workshop. Here is the list I have come up with so far:

Travel, accommodation, and subsistence costs associated with any plenary speaker

Compensation for activities like presentation and assignment preparation

Snacks and refreshments

What other costs should one consider?

Will it be your own stand-alone workshop or do you plan to put a workshop proposal in to a (major) conference in your field? If you're proposing a workshop as part of a conference, then (in theory) you'll get a lot more "passing footfall", as people might be more likely to attend if they're at the conference anyway. But on the negative side, your participants will need conference tickets.

Do you need any additional staff? E.g. student helpers you have to pay?
Take into account that you do not only need them at the workshop itself, but also some days in advance and one day afterwards to clear everything up.
How will your workshop be advertised? Do you need flyers, posters, banners, a homepage?
Do you plan to give information material or gifts to the participants?
Edit: Perhaps you might want to invite your speakers to a dinner.
(In that case, make sure beforehand that these expenses are reimbursable in your grant, too.)

Will you have to pay for the room(s) in which the workshop is held? What about projection equipment and blackboards?
It's fairly common for workshops to provide some travel support for some non-plenary speakers, especially junior researchers. You might as well ask for that in your grant proposal.


text:
Is it normal to be expected to read a 400 page academic textbook in a week?
As a student starting his masters degree, I was given an academic textbook on reinforcement learning, and I was asked to read it by next week by the professor. I just joined his research group.
I looked at the book and it seemed obvious to me that I couldn't hit that target, even if I could spend the entire day on it, for all 7 days. I know a bit about this field, but not enought to finish this book in 7 days.
Is that an indicator that I am not cut out to work in his group?

You can read textbooks at very different levels of detail. Do you know what level is expected from you?

@Anyon I don't, unfortunately.

@sage76 Lesson (hopefully) learned: next time you are given a seemingly impossible task, ask your professor/advisor what it is they actually want you to do instead of trying to divine their intentions with the help of internet strangers.

@sage76: You've complained about a couple of different comments now. While I see how Adam's comment might seem condescending, I think he was really trying to help by telling you that, in future, it's totally appropriate (and in fact, better) to ask questions like this one to your advisor. If there's some reason why you don't think that's a good idea (e.g., because your advisor will scream at you), explaining your reasoning here could help people give more accurate suggestions.

FWIW, Adam's response read as unnecessarily condescending to me. And the OP's reaction a bit aggressive ¯\(ツ)/¯

I did not see @sage76's response to my comment, but gee, what a strange coincidence that every time someone writes a fake RateMyProfessor review for me or signs my email address up for a million spam lists out of the blue, it just always happens on occur on the same day that someone anonymous user gets very offended by one of my Academia.SE comments (which was meant to help you, sage76, deal with this type of situation next time it arises). Thanks for commenting, guys, otherwise I wouldn't figured out what's going on now that the OP's comments have been deleted.

@AdamPřenosil - if there's any strong evidence tying these off-site activities to specific StackExchange users (more than just timing), please let us know, or you can contact StackExchange, Inc. directly. That sort of thing is taken super seriously.

@cag51 Thanks, I appreciate that. I don't have any evidence that SE could or should act on, and even if I did it's not like this would accomplish anything of substance beyond wasting more people's time on one person's childish reaction. (Besides, they have already deleted their account, it seems.) Anyway, I am confident that telling them in public that I know what they are up to is far more painful to them than anything SE could do. If they're reading this: I don't want them punished, I just want to work on growing a less fragile ego so that they don't have to react like this next time.

@AdamPřenosil We can all appreciate and commend your forgiving attitude on this. However, if the actions you experience may be tolerable to you, think about if it was done to someone else. Would this amount to harassment or cause undue stress on them? If so, consider that people targeting you may also target others and that the harm you find tolerable may not be for someone else. In this light, I would encourage opening channels of communication with StackExchange, Inc. if only to verify there is nothing worth pursuing or possibly finding a solution to mitigate future occurrences.

@DavidS I agree with that sentiment in general but I don't think it applies here. I am confident that my hunch is correct (given my previous experience with "anonymous internet guy with a fragile ego overreacts to mild criticism") but at the end of the day it is just a hunch with zero actionable evidence to back it up, and as such it's best to deal with it at a social level ("I know what you did") rather than at an institutional level (complaint to SE). If there were a chance that SE could prevent this from happening to someone else in the future, I'd contact them, but there really isn't.

@AdamPřenosil You may have been an unlucky target, however, it's also possible that you're inadvertently attracting drama. It does seem mildly rude that you declared that the OP had learned something before you confirmed with them that your advice was actually useful. Some people care about politeness more than others.

I'm not in your field, but I think I have an understanding of the sense here:
It's absolutely NOT "read this the way you'd read a textbook for a 9-month course which would have quizzes and tests..."
It's "here's a body of info, that you need to be acquainted with... and can look back at references AS NEEDED".
The "read this book over the weekend" is an exercise I occasionally give my PhD students in math (US, at R1), not only to get them to look at the stuff, but to prove, conclusively, that any ultra-pedestrian, pedantic, approach to getting up to speed is doomed. Thus, a different concept is necessary. :)
(That is, seriously, when doing what one thinks is necessary is impossible, it's time to reconsider...)

I'm a bit curious about this in maths. Im finishing a math masters but currently Im dabbling (and heading) towards a very interdiscplinary field. I can get acquantained very quickly in the interdisciplinary field, because really the math present is quite trivial after 5 years of studying. I however have never done serious research in mathematics, and how does one "skim" a mathematics text? AFAIK, math is discerning the defined objects and understanding the proofs, how can that be skimmed only?

I actually skimmed papers just fine in applied math topics such as statistics, numerical methods, but I can't wrap my head around skimming in pure maths. Is it different?

It's true, most of us have been trained to think of the essence of mathematics as being lots of delicate details... but, I'd claim, that stuff is really just an artifact of a style of exposition. Mathematics is about phenomena. :)

@paulgarrett Definitely agree.  The pedantic details are necessary---it isn't true if you can't prove it---but there are only about half a dozen papers in mathematics that I have really read in detail (and each one took somewhere between a month and a year to really grok).  But I have read hundreds of papers to the level of "Oh, I see what y'all are doing.  That's pretty nifty."  That only takes a couple of hours.

Giving people (and yes, students count as people) work over the weekend should be illegal and looked down upon, and not glorified.

@Davor, the only people I do this with are my research students with whom I have a long-term (good) relationship. And their research is for their own benefit, not mine. So they always can decline. I don't "give orders", I give advice, based on experience. Sorry if there was a misunderstanding.

Even in the private sector, I will always have access to so much more information than I can possibly process. I'm a Data Engineer and just got access to our DBs. Does anyone really think I'm going to memorize 300+ table schemas within a reasonable time? No, but I need to know the critical information and know how to figure it out if needed.

@AyamGorengPedes: As a pure mathematician, I’d say skimming writing in pure maths is (in my experience) basically the same idea as skimming other topics, but (as you say) harder, and takes more time/experience to learn.  I’ve discussed it more in this old answer.

Writing this answer from the perspective of a physics graduate student, which may be different from CS.
You have joined a research group, and you have an advisor. This is a fundamentally different relationship than a boss in a job. A boss will say "do this" and you must do it. With an advisor, they say "do this" and then you report back during the next meeting whether you could do it or not. Modestly reporting that you couldn't do something is normal; truly new research has an unknown outcome, so failure is often the expected outcome.
That is, the correct course of action here is to report to your advisor that you will need to take more time to understand the material in the text. From this, both of you will have a better idea of your ability to tackle different projects.
Here is my advice:

Skim through the book, and make notes of what you do understand and what you do not. Make special note of things that you find interesting.
Estimate the time to master each topic
Put it into a powerpoint presentation, with a length of about 5 minutes.
Present the powerpoint at the next group meeting.

After this conversation, ask for feedback. You advisor can either tell you what specifically to focus on in that book, or suggest a different book. Or work with you to find a research project. Or something else.

OP should accept this answer, as it is the most professional course of actions to be taken. Extremely helpful advice.

A PowerPoint seems like overkill to me, but then I never liked PowerPoint anyway— I would just say something along the lines of "I wasn't able to read the whole book thoroughly yet, but I reviewed the high-level concepts and have a good understanding through chapter X. I did have some confusion around concept Y, maybe we could discuss that later? I could probably finish a thorough read-through by Z. Are there any parts that I should prioritize or give extra consideration to? &c." Obviously, omitting parts that are inapplicable.

If you don't tell your "boss in a job" when a demand is either impossible or unclear, then he will yell at you next week when you return with half a result or haven't finished other tasks because you overdid that first one.

@A.R.  Yes, but a powerpoint it is a great way for a new student to talk about their attempt to accomplish a difficult task.

If anything, from my experience, academics are far more entitled then any "boss" I've had in the industry. I've never seen the level of idiotic deadlines given to me in education compared to now working in tech.

Just to expand somewhat on @Anyon's comment:
"You can read textbooks at very different levels of detail. Do you know what level is expected from you?"
Taken literally, "I was given an academic textbook on reinforcement learning, and I was asked to read it by next week by the professor.", your professor has only asked you to read the book.  Just reading doesn't take long.  If you read 50 pages each morning and each afternoon, then it ought to be easy to read a 400 page textbook in a week (and if it is the excellent book by Sutton and Barto, then I have read it in about a fortnight of reading in my lunch hour, which is a comparable amount of time).
Just reading a textbook is a valuable thing to do - it ought to be sufficient to give you a good understanding of the key concepts, terminology, conventions, problems and ideas. That will give you a common frame of reference for discussing the topic in greater detail with your professor in a very efficient manner.  So this doesn't seem an unreasonable request, especially if it is your only assigned activity for the week.
I suspect the mismatch in expectations may be that you think the professor expects you to have fully digested the material and understood the mathematics in detail, but I doubt that is the case - it would definitely take more than a week!
A few years ago, I was assigned to teach the operating systems part of a computer architectures and OS course (which I hadn't done since I was an undergraduate back in the 1980s).  So I read Tannenbaum and Bos (1136 pages), Stevens and Rago (1013 pages) and Kerrisk (1552 pages) cover-to-cover as well as sampling some other good OS course texts.  The reason I did so was not to gain an understanding of everything covered in those texts, but to give a broad overview of what there was that might be worth covering in the course and what the API provides for programming activities that I might use as examples, demonstrations and coursework.  It also meant if a student asked me some obscure question, I would at least have a vague idea of what they were talking about and roughly where to find the answer.  I got that just from a month or so of lunchtime reading.  Time well spent - it enabled good communication with my students.

@downvoter an indication of where you disagree with my answer would be appreciated.  AFAICS I have just suggested a plausible explanation of events where the request seems reasonable (and useful for student-supervisor discussions).

I am not sure if you got what "reading" meant. If I was asked to read a book, I would read the main text body, but skip proofs and technical details. Large parts of the book would not actually be read.

@usr1234567 that would be one level, I was more thinking of looking at the equations and technical details as well but not taking the time to fully understand the derivations, just the principal results (to make sure they agree with the intuitive understanding of the topic gained from the text).  They key point was to learn enough to engage in a discussion on the topic (which may require familiarity with the mathematical representations), rather than be an expert.  I need to read a book on tensors in stats, I will start with that sort of read before going into details.

... because it will mean that my intuition will be better when trying to understand the details of the maths.  For me the key to maths is intuitive understanding (usually the physics), whereas Mrs Marsupial approaches maths in a much more symbolic way.  Different people will have different methods, but the equations is where we both find the common frame of reference, so I do need to be familiar with that as well.


text:
NTT carreer paths
I am an AbD PhD Candidate in history, currently navigating the complexities of the job market. Recently, I had job talks for both a tenured track position at an R1 PUI institution in another state (Canpus city) and a visiting faculty role at a wealthy private institution in the big city I am living in.
A bit of background: I am a Black woman, not originally from the U.S, with a Master's degree from France and UK, and a career as a editor for academic/academic adjacent German/French press. I am also an author of 3 books.
Throughout my academic journey, I've worked in diverse fields, received numerous awards and fellowships, and authored several books for a mainstream audience. In the last five years, I completed my PhD, published 2 papers in a journal, and signed my fourth book. During my doctoral studies, I gave 14 invited talks at R1 institutions and taught three courses.
Despite my success on the job market, I find myself on the brink of burnout and anxiety due to the level of micro/macro aggression I have to deal with and the general atmosphere in the U.S. The last straw was when I read an article about the suicide of Dr. Antoinette Bonnie Candia-Bailey, a Black Woman VP of Univ of Missouri.
I am almost 40, deeply connected to my community, and while I love research and teaching, I'm not attached to a particular status. The pandemic and life events have been a harsh lesson about centering my life around my career. My wife and I appreciate our life in our current city, where Black queer couples are a banality. I am contemplating stepping back from the tenure track and seeking more flexible positions that align with my current priorities.
I have no anxiety about the job; in fact, I am open to returning to my previous life as a writer or editor for a popular academic adjacent press. However, I am keen on staying in the U.S, teaching, researching, and maintaining health insurance. I am leaning towards the visiting professor path or a research-focused role.
As I stand at this crossroads, I am seeking advice on how to articulate my decision to step away from the tenure track to my faculty advisor and department chair (they really put a lot of pressure on me).
Moreover, I am exploring the possibility of transitioning from Visiting Assistant Professor to Visiting Associate Professor over time. Any insights or suggestions on alternative career paths with flexibility would be immensely valuable.

Best of luck to you. It sounds as if you have a lot going on, counseling might be a helpful ally in navigating your current waters.

‘In the last five years, I completed my PhD’ and now you’re an ‘AbD PhD candidate’? I’m missing something here.

I submitted (been approved)  the completed manuscript in September, and went for a 4 month parental leave, my faculty advisor (and I) agreed to have the defense this Spring hopefully with a job offer.

I think you need to at least have a tenure track job offer before you can describe any action as stepping away from that path.
I'd be applying for any jobs that possibly interest you and sorting them out once you have multiple offers to choose between. At that point, I think it'll be better to think about those specific offers rather than what they are labeled: everything from the job description to the location (including your spouse's preferences).


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Can reviewers work on my book chapter themselves?
I am new here, and relatively young. This is my first book chapter, I usually publish articles, and I was invited to write a chapter as a co-author by a colleague. After analyzing what my contribution would be, I agreed.
I worked the whole theory for the article. I am from the Global South and my colleague and the editors are from the Global North.
One of the reviewers made some comments, which we addressed. Then, she requested me to change some concepts and replace it with “global north ones”, and now she asked to work on the text herself because she “doesn’t like” what we are writing and “the language” we are using.
I want to withdraw my participation after the editor and the first author had a meeting, without me, and my friend gave her permission to work on our book chapter.
I am shocked, I have some articles in journals that are Scopus, and this never happened. The book is from a major publisher.
Is this normal? Is this okay? I feel very weird with this whole situation.

This looks totally abnormal to me.

I'm sorry that you're in this situation, I felt a pintch of scientific colonialism by your description.

I'm not certain that the following describes your situation precisely, but it is fairly common.
When a "lead author" proposes a book (or has one proposed to them), that author normally (not always, perhaps) maintains overall control over its contents, subject to decisions by the publisher. That lead author defines the  contents and if it is to be a collaborative work, with chapters by others, still maintains a sort of editorial control, including what is to be in the chapters.
It isn't like a journal, in which the papers can be relatively independent, though "special issues" of journals are a bit similar. The book has a theme and the chapters contribute to that theme.
So, someone, most likely the lead author, has issues with what you wrote and someone (you suggest the reviewer) wants substantive changes. I don't find that terribly odd or unusual, even if it can have implications about respect and such. But it is likely that what you wrote doesn't conform to the overall concept of the lead author.
So, no, not unusual for the scenario described above, which, as I said, may or may not fit yours. It would be quite odd for a journal article IMO but not for a book with a lead author.
You have the option, of course, of withdrawing your participation and demanding that your work be removed. No one can publish things they might attribute to you without your consent. They would need to remove your contribution (not edit it) and start over on that chapter.
I also think that the fact that you feel "weird" isn't unusual. There was some sort of a misunderstanding or miscommunication and you have been caught in it. But the lead author and the publisher (through editors) still sets the "tone" and content for such a book. You probably can't change that, but you don't need to participate in something you disagree with.

I suspect this could happen if the reviewer is part of the editorial team herself. Editors often do some editing, or have some (language) editing done by the publisher. Also the editor could in principle authorise a reviewer to propose edits. All changes should however be agreed by the authors. I don't think an editor could change an article that carries the names of the authors without agreement by the authors. It does happen though that edits are done before the authors are asked, and then the result is presented to the authors for agreement (and the authors can still change things).
Now in your case it might be that the first author agreed to this (the story there isn't totally clear to me) and the editor took that as an agreement of the author team. In this case the problem would lie with the first author, who potentially agreed on something "on your behalf" to which you wouldn't have agreed.

+1 especially for the second paragraph.


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Can I get funding for graduate study in the US with 3.4-3.5 GPA and 3 Cs in undergrad?
I'm from the Middle East, and I'm pursuing my bachelor's degree in Physics. I am looking for scholarship opportunities in the U.S., but I'm concerned about my GPA. I anticipate graduating with a GPA between 3.4 and 3.5 out of 4 for the next year. The challenge is that I had to retake around 8 courses to improve my GPA, while there are F grades in three of them. If I maintain my GPA between 3.4 to 3.5 range, can I still get a scholarship in the US?
If you're wondering why this happened, I faced financial problems that compelled me to work for a year. Additionally, during my first year at university, my mom passed away due to cancer, which had a significant impact on my mental well-being. To add to the difficulties, my dad passed away four years before her, I'm sharing these personal challenges to inquire whether it's still possible for me to secure a scholarship. I'm also curious to know if these circumstances are something I should explain in my scholarship applications or university admissions processes.

Note that "scholarships" for grad study in US are rare. I'd guess especially rare for foreign students.  Most students are funded as Teaching Assistants or Research Assistants, mostly TAs. That requires English skills. But if you can get accepted for graduate study a TA or RA is pretty likely. And grades in upper level physics courses, and maybe math, will be more important than the overall GPA. But to find out if you are eligible you need to apply.

And, I guess I don't understand the "off topic" close votes. It is probably a duplicate of several others, however. See: https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/38237/75368 and https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/176908/75368

Well thanks a lot , but are you saying that being accepted as a TAs or RAs is more likely than a fully-funded scholarship even for my case ?! or you just saying that i should be trying my luck ??!

Yes, there are almost NO full scholarships.

@Buffy I am aware that several students in the Middle East, South Asia, and South East Asia understand RA/TA or Fellowships as scholarships and they often don't understand the distinction until they arrive in the US. That is how I inferred scholarship as RA/TA in this question. Also, several students in that region understand post-doc as a formal degree awarding education level after Ph.D. which is not true--post-doc is an actual job just like any other job and students learn that after coming to the US. I hope this helps you to clarify things.

@Fadi Scholarships where you "just study" are almost unheard of. You work, and in partial payment for the work you get the fees and tuition covered. The other part of the payment for the work gets paid to you in "cash" so that you can cover basic living expenses. The word "scholarship" isn't really used to mean "any and all funding for study", rather the kind of funding where you're not paid for doing a job, but just to study. GPA may play some role, but I doubt it will have impact on its own. If you're otherwise a well qualified candidate, I wouldn't worry too much about GPA.

Thanks for your responses all ! I hope to return here after achieving my ambition. I'm truly motivated for that. Thanks again.

Your specific case depends upon which university you apply to and the level of competition in the season you applied. The US has several universities with diverse requirements and accepts students from a wide range of backgrounds and achievements. So, you have a wide range of options. Also, GPA is only one part of your application packet. Other items in application packets such as GRE, TOEFL/IELTS (if needed), statement of purpose, publications, CV, research experiences, research interest match with potential future advisor, university and department reputation, competition among universities for students, number of applications received in the given season and several other factors affects your admission and availability of funding (GRA/GTA/Fellowships). I would recommend focusing on other components of the application packet as well while putting in your best effort to get the best GPA you can. Also, a 3.4-3.5 out of 4 GPA is not a bad GPA.
You may write about your hardship in the cover letter and SOP so your admission committee will know about your hardship and the reason behind a few Cs. But it may not necessarily hamper your chance. I have Cs in my undergrad and still managed to have a doctorate--not in physics though. Good luck with your future aspirations.

thanks alot for your motivation i'll be working for that ...


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Can I submit to a high school journal and "real" journal at the same time?
I'm a high school student that did some research in Social Science. My research is novel enough that I think that I have a chance of getting published in a "real" journal with an impact factor (although my chances are very low). I also want to submit to some high school journals, where I think I have a much higher chance of getting published.
I know that you are not supposed to submit your research to more than one journal at a time, but since high school journals aren't really in the same category as the "real" journals, is it okay to submit to both at the same time in this case? I know that you're allowed to submit to a preprint website like arXiv at the same time, so why would this be different?

My suggestion is that you don't do this. If the "high school" journal accepts the paper then the other journal will have an issue, wasting time with your paper. Choose one, perhaps the standard journal and submit there. If your paper really has value then it will take a while, but might be accepted. If they think the quality isn't up to their standards then the rejection is likely to be fairly quick and you can then submit to the other.
ArXiv is intended for preprints, not alternate publication. And not all journals will accept a paper that has already appeared in arXiv. A journal aimed at secondary students isn't a preprint journal. ArXiv doesn't use a standard review process in any case, just "junk filtering" process.
And, only one high school journal at a time. It is, in part, a matter of respect for the effort they put in for the review process.


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Submit to journal and poster session at conference simultaneously in social science
In social science are you allowed to submit to a journal and conference (poster session) at the same time? The conference I'm looking at does not indicate that you can't post your results elsewhere, and  none of the poster sessions from previous years are indexed on Google Scholar.

Yes you are allowed to. The social sciences use conferences to present work in progress, and do not count as publications like they do in computer science.

Similarly, am I allowed to submit to multiple conferences at the same time?

@ral Check the guidelines for each conference.

You are allowed to do so, but it is not really a good idea. As Azor Ahai mentioned the purpose of a conference in the social sciences is to present work in progress. This means, you get feedback, and use that to improve your work. If you already published it, then the feedback is just a waste of time for you and the person giving you that feedback. Typically, you first present your work at a conference. You use the feedback to improve your work, and than publish it in a journal.

@ral Usually not. Also not a good use of money. But it is not uncommon to present a later iteration of a work at a different conference.


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Am I able to pursue a research project independently as an adjunct? What are my options?
I'm a young (early 20s) adjunct professor teaching part-time at a private college in the United States - I was very lucky to get my adjunct position!
My full-time job is doing consulting and contract work in business and analytics. My undergraduate degree was in Business Administration, my master's degree in Business Analytics, and I'm considering pursuing a PhD or professional doctorate in the next few years.
I was curious about opportunities to do research and how it works as an adjunct/professional/indepdendent researcher. I'm mostly interested in business-related research with a STEM focus. Can I do research independently with my credentials? Where would I be able to publish? Could I publish a research report if it's not feasible to publish to a journal? If I'm not actively pursuing a PhD or wanting to do research through the college I teach at (adjuncts at my college don't do much besides show up to teach and support students), am I able to pursue research independently?

Related: Is it possible to submit a paper to a scholarly, peer-reviewed journal without a PhD and get it accepted?. The potential remaining question is whether your status as adjunct faculty confers any benefits or obligations (specifics will vary widely of course).

I would look for profs who do similar research at your college, and talk to a few of them to see if there is overlapping interest. Then look for opportunities to collaborate on a small project, then build off of that. Being physically at the college/having the college email will increase the probability of responses.

Yes, you can do independent research and submit to journals. Your work will be judged on its merits at any reputable journal. You might even be able to get some support from your university for this and involve students, but that is a decision to be made by them.
It might be difficult to meet the standards of a journal if you don't have a research oriented degree. But if you've read enough in your field to know the sorts of things that get published and how they are developed and written then you have a chance.
I know people who are employed in major corporations and who do adjunct teaching because they like it and it gives them an opportunity to interact with faculty. Not every adjunct is like that, but some are, especially if their "day job" is research at the corporation.
Have a chat with department heads and deans to see what sort of support they might offer, but you can work independently in any case. Journals (reputable ones) are about the "what", not the "who". Produce something interesting and novel that extends the state of the art and you have a shot at publishing it. It isn't easy, but it is possible.

The short answer is yes. The long answer is that it depends.
Most research projects require physical space (a lab, interview room, office space to store books), money (internal or external grants), access to resources (computing power, ability to borrow unlimited books for extended periods), help (undergrad/grad students) or permission from the university. All of these things depend on the university and/or department policy. For example, at most universities only "permanent" (ie tenure or tenure-track) faculty can apply for internal funds or act as a PI in external funding applications. Most universities allow adjuncts to do research projects with undergrad/grad student assistance, but will not allow you to give these students academic credit, which will limit your recruiting. Most universities also not do provide any office space, let alone lab space for adjuncts. But they might provide something similar, e.g. a desk at the library, even one with a locking door. The university library system might give you faculty borrowing privileges (ie full year, unlimited) or treat you like an undergrad. If your research deals with humans (even just interviewing students), you might require permission from a human subject review board, and as an adjunct you might not be able to submit proposal to them to start with.
As I hope you see, it all comes down to the specific details of the resources you need.
If you do not require any resources from the university, then you are free to do whatever you want with your time.