I am considering on applying for a different PhD position in a different university and even different country, but I don't know if I should mention I am already in one, and I'm planning to leave it, or just address that as a research assistant position, what should I do?
121758
I have recently completed my MS and joined as a Ph.D. candidate in the same university. But I want to move out. I am filling the application for an other position where they have asked the following:  Please give the full contact details for you at your permanent institute. If you do not have a permanent institute, you can use the Leave empty button to leave this page empty.  There are options to mention that I am currently a Ph.D. candidate. Is it a good idea to mention that I am currently a Ph.D. candidate? I am asking this because someone have told me that if you are currently a Ph.D. candidate, universities don't give much attention to your application.
21629
I applied to a program that I had been striving for in my undergrad, at a top school, but I've since felt overwhelmed with the thought of going this year. I think I should have waited until I was absolutely sure I could handle grad school emotionally and financially. I am so anxious now, thinking I've ruined my opportunity with this school if I don't go.   I am seriously considering withdrawing my application, but I'm very worried about how it might hurt me in the future when I reapply.  Otherwise I may have to decline if I am accepted and reapply.
64557
I am applying for a PhD programme in Europe. For that I need to write a cover letter. It will be more like a SOP (technical but shorter version, as it's one page) or it can be more general stuff, as in why I want to do a PhD, what I like about this particular field, what background I have. Any suggestions welcome.
29953
Since the start of the hiring season, I've seen around 20-30 job openings that looked interesting for assistant professor positions in my area of computer science.  However, it's somewhat awkward to ask my recommendation letter writers to send letters to 20 different places. (Is it not?) How many places do people usually target simultaneously?
69388
I am not happy with my PhD program, and after several years I am graduating with a master's this month. I earned the M.S. along the way as a PhD student, but have never formally requested it before this semester. What is the best way to indicate this situation on a CV or resume? I don't want to put just M.S. because then it looks like it took me a really long time to get a master's and I can't put that I am a PhD student because I no longer am.  Right now, I am thinking something like  M.S. in &lt;field&gt;, &lt;University&gt;, May 2016 PhD student in &lt;field&gt;, &lt;University&gt;, Aug. 2011 - May 2016 B.S. in &lt;field&gt;, &lt;Undergrad University&gt;, Aug. 2007 - May 2011   Would that be clear what's going on? Alternatively, should I list PhD above M.S. even though I didn't complete it? Should I list both M.S. and PhD in same line since it is the same university and span of time?
53467
Last week I emailed a professor from my undergrad whom I was close with to say hi and inform her that my undergraduate thesis had been published. I am currently in a master's program and asked her if she would be willing to write me a letter of recommendation for upcoming PhD applications for next Fall (and it is worth noting that she wrote me a letter of recommendation for the program I am currently in). She has yet to reply and having a letter from her would really strengthen my application. Is it in poor taste to resend her an email, or should I move on? Like I said, I would really like to have her letter as part of my applications.
103135
I'm thinking about pursue my studies and doing a PhD in information technology.  My problem is that I would like to create something new (== write code), and focus my thesis on how this new technology works (each component and global interactions), what it can do, and how it can evolves / be improved. I'm not against doing research, reading books and work on theory - but I want to be more practical than theoretical.  I'm starting to think that a PhD is not a valid option if my goal is to develop something new instead of conducting pure research. Am I wrong ?  About my cursus: I will receive my master degree soon (~= 3 months). I come from a highly technical background, with 5 years of programming and project management.    Edit &amp; more information My university doesn't offers PhD courses, thus my supervisor don't care about   my choices. Another consequence is that I have no other choices than to go to another university.
23894
I have gotten an idea in the field of Computer Science that it can result in a research paper. The problem is that I lack the adequate background in one part needed for this research, mostly mathematical stuff. I have contacted one professor in Europe by email, and asked some mild questions about some topics that could be helpful. The doubt that I have is if I should better tell to that professor about my whole research idea, so maybe he/she would be able to help me more.  Actually I am a university lecturer and independent researcher, but in the university that I am working they do not give any salary or benefits for making research. I am doing this mostly because I like it.  Should I tell to that professor my whole idea? or maybe that person could steal it and because he/she has research funds can do it and leaving me aside?
37988
I've interviewed for a few positions, one of which has made me an offer.  I'm very pleased with the offer, but I prefer some of the other positions.  I have the luxury of being able to take a lot of time to decide whether or not I accept this offer, so I'm certain I will hear back (either positively or negatively) from the other positions before a decision is required for the offer I've received.  I'm trying to decide between two courses of action, and I want to choose the one that will best help my candidacy with the positions I've yet to hear from.  Plan 1 is to do nothing and simply wait to hear back from the other positions for which I've already interviewed.  Plan 2 is to be in touch with the other positions to let them know I have an offer, and ask where I stand with them.  Would Plan 2 make me a more desirable candidate with the other positions, as they might see my offer as further validation of my credentials?  Or, might initiating with the interviewers in this way be detrimental to my candidacy, perhaps making me seem pushy or self-centered?  If so, I would rather just wait for them to run their course of action (Plan 1).  As I've said, I have plenty of time, so I don't want impatience to hurt me.  If there is a good chance that my meddling will be detrimental, then I'd rather be hands-off here.  However, if it's more likely that informing the other interviewers of my offer will give me a boost, then I'd want to do so.  Thanks for any clarity you can provide!  Edit: For a bit more information and context, the position I've been offered is a non-academic research position that my advisor has described as "prestigious."  The other positions for which I've interviewed (and which I prefer) are mostly academic teaching-centered positions (visiting assistant professors, tenure-track at smaller four year institutions).
20911
Long story short, I have left behind a toxic PI and now I am considering applying for another labs at different demographic locations, however, I found it little bit harder to make a thorough decision. One of the challenges that hinders me to make a selection is different feedback from many students from different labs, I have asked them and there is their response as follows.   A star professor at a high ranking university:  One of his student told me he doesn't have time to manage the lab by himself and as a sequence, he hired postdocs to be intermediate between him and his students. In retrospect, the student informed that he had tried to leave the lab at the beginning, however, they continue and mentioning that he benefit from his PI's reputation. Adding that, he and other colleagues suffered from anxiety and chronic stress due to the demand of having highly quality research papers. Intermediate professor not very well: His student told me he is not qualified to work with students, but the student told me that she doesn't feel so much pressure on her research. Junior PI: I think it could be risky as I don't have any background about their supervision history. However, what makes interested to contact them as they did good research and we have the same passion for this research line which triggers me to contact them.   My previous experience with ex-PI, he was not junior and not star, but he did research for more than 14 years, however, he didn't help me in my research or even writing papers besides being abusive and very destructive person.  The question is : If am going to select the new PI which very critical decision, how I should consider these scenarios, for sure, I avoid PI in  the influence circle of the ex-PI as I have been advised before, but what are other key corners I should bear in my mind.  I know we cannot make sweeping generalization, however, I would like to hear from the academia community if your have any prior experience or recommendation I should consider to make a reasonable decision regarding the PI selection.
51583
I finished my master thesis 6 years ago, since then I gained a lot of experience on my field and also in academia. I can say that in that time I was a "child" , very inexperienced. I think that also my advisor did not help a lot, and I tried to do  a lot of things by my own, without someone to really review my things. Despite that, I still received a good mention by the master committee on final results.   Some days ago, I just decided to read part of master thesis, and I just realized a big nightmare coming. I identified a lot of typos, some references errors, and some improvements that I should do, but I did not. The worst thing is that I wrote a paper to a conference with my master thesis results (and some errors are there). The conference is not a high impact conference, but still the paper has my name and is available for everyone...   As I am finishing my PhD studies for now, I am concerning a lot that situation. My dream and goal is to pursue a Professor career. So, my questions are: What are (or could be) the consequences of a master thesis and paper with errors (some minor and some major) in academia? Revoke degree after years by errors in master is possible ( I am concerning a lot this situation that I thought on it)? How can I minimize it (I thought that I can put a fixed version of my thesis and paper in the future, for instance on my personal website)? How those errors can impact me in a Professor recruitment process?  Sorry for the long text, I am blaming myself all the time, and really afraid about the possibilities since I know that Academia career is really competitive.
114834
While I was doing my PhD in my previous position I was diagnosed with a mental illness. I started medication however as a result I could not concentrate very well and it made me quit my previous position. I continued my medication and recently have reduced it. Now I think I am able to concentrate again.  Soon I will have an interview for a new PhD position. I was wondering if I should bring up the matter. On one hand, I think I should be honest to my future supervisor. On the other hand, I don't want to lose the chance by scaring them.  Would you please help me with your opinions?  If I shouldn't bring it up myself, what if they asked me about my previous position? Should I tell everything then?
25295
While accepting an offer to grad school, one is basically entering into a lasting relationship with one's adviser - most likely, someone whom the applicant has never met before, and the only exposure has been through the potential adviser's website/publications. It is in the interest of both parties to ensure (to the greatest possible extent) that there are no personal/professional traits of either that hamper the formation of a pleasant working relationship - no-one would want to go through the ordeal of having to change advisers midway!  While the faculty has a chance to have a good look at the applicant's profile as well as his motivations (through his grades and SOP), the applicant doesn't have a similar opportunity. So, I'm interested to know what parameters can be used to gauge a potential fit. I've thought of the following:   Past students:  Did anyone ever drop out/change advisers midway, and if so, for what reasons? These would be a bit hard to find though, as I don't expect the faculty concerned would list them on their website. It would be great if anyone could let me know how to find out the list of incoming students to a department for any year. Publication rate, taking into account the venues where they were accepted. Time taken to graduate - though I accept this is more dependent on the student, a median figure should be telling ... What they did post Ph.D. - did anyone get tenure if they went into academia, or is almost everyone unable to break out of being a post-doc?  Tenure status: I'm a bit unsure about this, so wanted the community's opinions about it. Just so that I'm clear, I'm only trying to calibrate the applicant's expectations about the working style of his potential adviser - and hence need to know to what extent are the following "typical" assumptions valid.  Tenured professor  A full professor is more likely to get grant funding, hence less time spent on TAship - but could also mean less time/effort spent on interactions with students (either being busy with other projects/talks, or due to more commitments to family at that age).  Tenure-track faculty (Assistant profs)  More likely to be young and energetic, and could translate to more time spent on one-to-one discussions with grad students - but funding may prove to be an issue, and may have to be on TA for a longer period.   What other factors would be relevant in this matter, and to what extent am I correct/incorrect in either the factors considered, or for undertaking this exercise at all?
63770
When applying for post-doctoral and faculty positions you are typically asked for three (sometimes more) reference letters to support your application.    Given that it is competitive out there, it also makes sense to apply for all positions that are good matches to your qualifications and career development goals (in the case of post-docs).  Sometimes this may mean asking for several reference letters (or pre-application "can you support me if required?" requests) in a short space of time.  Also, there may only be a small pool of people (i.e. 3 or 4) who know your work sufficiently well to give an excellent reference.  I have also been told that referees want to help you out, and that there is no reason to fear asking them.  And, that in many cases once a letter is written it can typically be quickly repurposed.  But there must be a breaking point.  How do I manage this without being disrespectful?  How many requests in a given unit of time is too many, or harms my credibility?   I am asking this question in this forum, as I am interested in the norms in the academic world, which are often somewhat different than the rest of the working world.
77768
When applying for non-research related work in the commercial sector, how should confusion be avoided over the term "Research Assistant" being used in a CV?  Are human resources staff at companies, and recruiters, at risk of assuming "research" means market research, as opposed to scientific research, especially if they're skimming through the CV?
4456
I am being considered for a very nice industry scientist position but this involves many interviews and assessments and can take some time.  However I have also accepted an invitation to the US (I'm in Australia) to give a presentation in relation to high likelihood of employment as a postdoc in a research institute.  The postdoc supervisor has arranged for sightseeing and lab visits and hotels. I feel bad if somehow I wish to pursue the industry position.  Has anyone had a similar experience and have you turned down something like that before?
55242
Recently I've changed jobs, and consequently the field of research has also changed. But I'm still getting proposals for publications in the previous field, and it is interesting for me to accept some of them. My concern is about which affiliation to use: on one hand I gain all the knowledge in that field while working on the previous employer, also I hope they can cover my expenses related to the publication. On the other hand, I do not work for them anymore, and my current company has very little interest in my old field of research, and probably will not support it financially, but I think it is wise to mention them as well. As a compromise I'm thinking to put the previous employer in the affiliation, and the name of my new employer in the footnote, something like "currently at XYZ". Surely I'll discuss this issue with both, although the opinion of the community is also very valuable.