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1500 questions
127
votes
13 answers
How to supervise a bad PhD student
I am a postdoc helping in the supervision of a PhD student who is finishing his 2nd year now. This is in Europe, meaning the student came in with a MSc degree and these 2 years have been of research. "Helping in the supervision" actually means here…
confusedpostdoc
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127
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13 answers
Should professors intervene if a student is wearing offensive clothing in their classroom?
A question about university dress codes reminded me of an incident that happened when I was an undergrad, in which a classmate came to school wearing a really offensive and misogynistic t-shirt.
I was extremely uncomfortable, especially since this…
ff524
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126
votes
14 answers
My student's family won't let her study what she wants
Yesterday I had a tearful encounter in office hours with the most avid participant in the math class I teach, in which she related the following situation.
She is an international student whose parents are well off by local standards but have made…
jdc
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125
votes
13 answers
Why do researchers sometimes use extremely complicated English sentences to convey their meaning?
I will begin with a disclaimer, I am not an English native speaker, but I can speak fluent English and understand English in almost all research papers I read.
However, occasionally I come across some papers published in peer reviewed journals …
user3508551
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125
votes
19 answers
Should I quit my PhD - workload, self-esteem and social life
I don't really want a degree. I just want to get married, and have weekends and evenings off, and chill out and play board games, and have nice conversations with friends, and have time to exercise and eat good food, and partake in hobbies, and…
Jennifer
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124
votes
11 answers
Should I have doubts if the organizers of a workshop ask me to sign a behavior agreement upfront?
Recently, I applied to attend a workshop of 14 days. I came to know about this workshop from colleague of mine. After a few days, I received an email saying I got accepted, along with that, some procedures that I need to follow. Among the points,…
girl101
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124
votes
18 answers
Knowing that most students submit assignments right around the deadline, is it advisable not to set deadline that is very late at night?
Like many on this site, I use a Moodle-type online Content Management System to give assignments to my students, and receive the finished work for grading. This is in a traditional context where the students are physically present in the classroom,…
ALAN WARD
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123
votes
18 answers
Is doing two PhDs a good path?
I am studying a combined bachelor of engineering (electrical) and bachelor of mathematics; I just started this year and will graduate in 2018. The reason why I am doing double degrees and not a single degree is because I love both electrical…
user12172
123
votes
9 answers
Taking an academic pseudonym?
I am a senior undergraduate about to publish my first academic paper, and have been thinking about taking an academic pseudonym to make myself easier to identify.
My full name is shared by at least three famous people (including one celebrity and…
Jordan
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123
votes
17 answers
In a yes/no question, a student gives the right answer and an unnecessary but wrong explanation. How to grade?
Example:
Q: Does Venus exhibit retrograde motion? (1 mark)
A: No. This is because Venus orbits the Sun and not the Earth.
The first part is correct: Venus does not exhibit retrograde motion. But the explanation is incorrect: the reason Venus…
Allure
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123
votes
13 answers
Why do students go for a PhD even when chances of getting academic jobs on its completion are slim?
This is in reference to my question: How to do a PhD to equip myself for a job as assistant professor.
I was told in the answer of the above linked question that chances of landing a job as an assistant professor in Mathematics are quite slim. Very…
Learnmore
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122
votes
26 answers
Slept through final, professor is giving me a zero and failing me – is there anything I can do to change this?
I slept through my 8 am final last Thursday, and I didn’t wake up until 11:50 am. By the time I scrambled to remember what day it was, it was already noon. I frantically sent the professor an email telling her what happened and asked if I could take…
Lauren DeGuire
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121
votes
17 answers
Should I send professors money for illegally downloading their books?
I illegally download almost all the books I need for my studies. While I'm more than happy to give a middle finger to the publisher mafia, it does of course mean that the author of the book is not appropriately compensated for their work.
But: it is…
James
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120
votes
8 answers
How to argue against questionable research practices such as P-hacking and Harking?
I have come into conflict with co-authors when being asked to do things that I consider to be questionable.
Once I was told to try every possible specification of a dependent variable (count, proportion, binary indicator, you name it) in a…
Kenji
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120
votes
15 answers
How do you answer "Oh, you're a professor? What do you teach?"
I suspect anybody who's a professor knows this story: you meet someone new in a social setting and it comes up that you're a professor. The inevitable next question is, "oh, what do you teach?"
It's a perfectly reasonable question, and one simple…
Dnuorg Spu
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