amongglue/roots_en_no_code_stackexchange_raw

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<\|endoftext\|>Q:

How do I select a graduate program?

I've applied to several graduate (MSc) programs overseas, and I've received several acceptance letters. Now I have the problem to select one of those programs. How should I do it? What should I look into each program?

No program offers funding, and some programs are elegible for a local scholarship.
I can fund some programs with my own money.

A:

May I ask why you chose an MSc instead of a PhD? What is your career goal? I don't mean to imply one is better than the other. If you are going to spend a lot of money and time, it should be well-spent.
In some places, like the UK, not much more time is needed to get a PhD beyond an MSc. In the U.S., PhD's in the sciences are usually completely funded. Per badp this seems not to be the case in Italy.
For either an MSc or PHD I suggest looking at the career paths of former graduates of that lab. This is something I wish someone had told me when I entered my lab. The charisma of the lab boss or excellence of the equipment are meaningless if, after 2-3 years, you can't move on as you hoped. Trace the career path of the last few graduates - from MSc all the way to how many wanted to and got faculty positions and how long it took them. In my experience what you do is much less important that who you know, which comes from getting into the right environment.

A:

As you are presumably pursuing this degree so you can eventually work in industry, I would consider the following:

Find out which programs are more highly regarded in industry.
Consider the success rates of each university in helping their graduates find employment; this can vary significantly from institution to institution.
Consider the extra-curricular aspects; what does each program's city have to offer? Programs with ties to local industry may help you obtain some useful internship experience.

A:

Depending on which country you are talking about, there may be league tables for the universities in that country. While the total ranking can be misleading, they provide useful information such as staff to student ratios -- the higher the ratio, the more opportunity you will have to ask questions.
I would also look at the reputation of the universities in the specific field that you want to do your MSc in, e.g. how many people work in that area and are they well-known (involved in many conferences/journals and similar).
In the end it might boil down to money though, so you should probably look at what you can afford first (not only in terms of tuition, but also living expenses in that area).<\|endoftext\|>Q:

Submitting a subset of my work to ArXiv

I've been thinking of publishing a subset of my work in fluid dynamics to arXiv. I realize the following about arXiv:

ArXiv isn't a journal
I would need to be endorsed to submit an article on arXiv

The reasons I would like to submit a subset of my work to arXiv are:

It would only be a subset of my work thereby NOT negating my chances of publishing work in a regular journal.
I would like to disseminate information to the society as soon as possible.

Does anyone have any thoughts or comments about this? Is there something that I'd need to feel uneasy about?
I realize that there has been another question regarding submission of work to arXiv and I read it here.

A:

Opinions on when to submit things to arXiv vary both between and within fields. See

To Post or Not to Post: Publishing to the arXiv Before Acceptance
How to use arXiv?

for lots of opinions. You should talk to your advisor/colleagues who can give you a better sense of how people in your field think about this.<\|endoftext\|>Q:

What are the most important criteria to consider when hiring postdocs for a research group?

One of the most important challenges that academics will face is group management. Although this takes many forms for graduate students, undergraduate assistants, and so on, I believe postdocs are a fairly "universal"—a professor hires a postdoc specifically for his group.
However, it's not necessarily clear what qualities to look for in a postdoc.

Does it make a difference if it's your group's first or second postdoc, versus the n'th postdoc?
How much weight should one give to letters of recommendation?
How do you analyze a publication record, especially when towards the end of the PhD, many papers are often still unpublished and therefore "embargoed?"
Are there any criteria that applies specifically to postdocs that might not be considered in, say, hiring for industry or business?

A:

My answer, item by item:

I think that there is a difference if this is yet another postdoc or your only postdoc. But most important, we should pay attention to the ratio postdoc/permanent researchers. If the ratio is low (few postdoc, lot of permanent researchers), you can choose to work with "junior" postdoc (=someone not completely capable for working alone), while if the ratio is high, you need postdoc that are in fact already at the level of an assistant prof.
But at some point I think we must ask ourselves if we always need one more postdoc. I guess this will depend on the field. In theoretical fields, when we hire a postdoc, this is to work with him. In some more practical fields, we tend to hire postdoc to make them working for us. The two cases are different : in the first case we need someone that will have ultimately an academic position, in the latter we need someone for coding, experimenting, etc.
Personally, I am not interested in the letters. I ask for references and I take my phone to know more about the candidate. Letters are always telling that the candidate is great, even if this is not completely true.
I ask the candidate his/her papers, even those unpublished, and I read them. Then I contact some of the other authors to know more about who done what.
Clearly yes. A postdoc is a researcher, I think that the way of working is very different : you can spend a lot of time without being "productive" when you are a postdoc, which is not the case in industry. This can be depressing, so we have to make sure that a postdoc (which has less guidance than a PhD student) can handle that.<\|endoftext\|>Q:

As a postdoc with a one-year contract in Switzerland, am I allowed for a B visa?

I worked for a year in Switzerland, but I have been given an L visa, even as a European. This has strong limitations in terms of rentals and bank services. Other people got a B visa for the same contract. Was this a mistake, and how can my university enforce a request for a B visa ?

A:

When did you graduate? A new law came into effect in 2010 which requires that all new postdoc hires of individuals who held a PhD for more than 2 years at the start of the contract be only given L permits. (I only found out after I had a similar discussion with human resources a few weeks ago.)
If you have had your degree for less than 2 years, it is possible your university can sort it out for you. If you have had your degree for more than 2 years, there's pretty much nothing the universities can do (aside for lobbying for a change of the law).
In regards to bank services: for a place to put your money, try PostFinance for which you can open an account at most post offices. They care a bit less about the issue with the permits. The main problem with having an L instead of a B permit, with regards to banking in general, is that they may be unwilling to give you a credit card or extend you a loan; you shouldn't have problem getting a place to put your money.<\|endoftext\|>Q:

Teaching Assistantships and research

I'm working as a TA now, and I've found that I'm spending an inordinate amount of time on my TA-ship. Is this normal? Furthermore, is this expected? I'm worried that my research career will suffer because of my lack of research productivity.

A:

I suppose it depends on the factors that are causing you to spend more time teaching than you think you should. You should talk to (1) the other TAs and (2) the course leader/director. Find out what is expected and what others are doing.
If you are a relatively new graduate student, then I think it's normal to spend more time teaching and preparing for your teaching. As you start teaching the same courses repeatedly, the time you have to spend in preparation will decrease.
If you think of the time you are teaching as working on a craft that you will use for the rest of your career, then it is time well spent.

A:

In Canada, TA's usually have a contract that specifies how many hours they should be working per week / TA term. If you are going way over that you could talk to the course coordinator.
Your supervisor may also get upset if you are spending a large proportion away from you research project, which his / her grant is paying you to work on. This is especially true if you are approaching your reclassification exam -- assuming you are going that route.

A:

<|endoftext|>Q:

How do I select a graduate program?

I've applied to several graduate (MSc) programs overseas, and I've received several acceptance letters. Now I have the problem to select one of those programs. How should I do it? What should I look into each program?

No program offers funding, and some programs are elegible for a local scholarship.

I can fund some programs with my own money.

A:

May I ask why you chose an MSc instead of a PhD? What is your career goal? I don't mean to imply one is better than the other. If you are going to spend a lot of money and time, it should be well-spent.

In some places, like the UK, not much more time is needed to get a PhD beyond an MSc. In the U.S., PhD's in the sciences are usually completely funded. Per badp this seems not to be the case in Italy.

For either an MSc or PHD I suggest looking at the career paths of former graduates of that lab. This is something I wish someone had told me when I entered my lab. The charisma of the lab boss or excellence of the equipment are meaningless if, after 2-3 years, you can't move on as you hoped. Trace the career path of the last few graduates - from MSc all the way to how many wanted to and got faculty positions and how long it took them. In my experience what you do is much less important that who you know, which comes from getting into the right environment.

A:

As you are presumably pursuing this degree so you can eventually work in industry, I would consider the following:

Find out which programs are more highly regarded in industry.

Consider the success rates of each university in helping their graduates find employment; this can vary significantly from institution to institution.

Consider the extra-curricular aspects; what does each program's city have to offer? Programs with ties to local industry may help you obtain some useful internship experience.

A:

Depending on which country you are talking about, there may be league tables for the universities in that country. While the total ranking can be misleading, they provide useful information such as staff to student ratios -- the higher the ratio, the more opportunity you will have to ask questions.

I would also look at the reputation of the universities in the specific field that you want to do your MSc in, e.g. how many people work in that area and are they well-known (involved in many conferences/journals and similar).

In the end it might boil down to money though, so you should probably look at what you can afford first (not only in terms of tuition, but also living expenses in that area).<|endoftext|>Q:

Submitting a subset of my work to ArXiv

I've been thinking of publishing a subset of my work in fluid dynamics to arXiv. I realize the following about arXiv:

ArXiv isn't a journal

I would need to be endorsed to submit an article on arXiv

The reasons I would like to submit a subset of my work to arXiv are:

It would only be a subset of my work thereby NOT negating my chances of publishing work in a regular journal.

I would like to disseminate information to the society as soon as possible.

Does anyone have any thoughts or comments about this? Is there something that I'd need to feel uneasy about?

I realize that there has been another question regarding submission of work to arXiv and I read it here.

A:

Opinions on when to submit things to arXiv vary both between and within fields. See

To Post or Not to Post: Publishing to the arXiv Before Acceptance

How to use arXiv?

for lots of opinions. You should talk to your advisor/colleagues who can give you a better sense of how people in your field think about this.<|endoftext|>Q:

What are the most important criteria to consider when hiring postdocs for a research group?

One of the most important challenges that academics will face is group management. Although this takes many forms for graduate students, undergraduate assistants, and so on, I believe postdocs are a fairly "universal"—a professor hires a postdoc specifically for his group.

However, it's not necessarily clear what qualities to look for in a postdoc.

Does it make a difference if it's your group's first or second postdoc, versus the n'th postdoc?

How much weight should one give to letters of recommendation?

How do you analyze a publication record, especially when towards the end of the PhD, many papers are often still unpublished and therefore "embargoed?"

Are there any criteria that applies specifically to postdocs that might not be considered in, say, hiring for industry or business?

A:

My answer, item by item:

I think that there is a difference if this is yet another postdoc or your only postdoc. But most important, we should pay attention to the ratio postdoc/permanent researchers. If the ratio is low (few postdoc, lot of permanent researchers), you can choose to work with "junior" postdoc (=someone not completely capable for working alone), while if the ratio is high, you need postdoc that are in fact already at the level of an assistant prof.

But at some point I think we must ask ourselves if we always need one more postdoc. I guess this will depend on the field. In theoretical fields, when we hire a postdoc, this is to work with him. In some more practical fields, we tend to hire postdoc to make them working for us. The two cases are different : in the first case we need someone that will have ultimately an academic position, in the latter we need someone for coding, experimenting, etc.

Personally, I am not interested in the letters. I ask for references and I take my phone to know more about the candidate. Letters are always telling that the candidate is great, even if this is not completely true.

I ask the candidate his/her papers, even those unpublished, and I read them. Then I contact some of the other authors to know more about who done what.

Clearly yes. A postdoc is a researcher, I think that the way of working is very different : you can spend a lot of time without being "productive" when you are a postdoc, which is not the case in industry. This can be depressing, so we have to make sure that a postdoc (which has less guidance than a PhD student) can handle that.<|endoftext|>Q:

As a postdoc with a one-year contract in Switzerland, am I allowed for a B visa?

I worked for a year in Switzerland, but I have been given an L visa, even as a European. This has strong limitations in terms of rentals and bank services. Other people got a B visa for the same contract. Was this a mistake, and how can my university enforce a request for a B visa ?

A:

When did you graduate? A new law came into effect in 2010 which requires that all new postdoc hires of individuals who held a PhD for more than 2 years at the start of the contract be only given L permits. (I only found out after I had a similar discussion with human resources a few weeks ago.)

If you have had your degree for less than 2 years, it is possible your university can sort it out for you. If you have had your degree for more than 2 years, there's pretty much nothing the universities can do (aside for lobbying for a change of the law).

In regards to bank services: for a place to put your money, try PostFinance for which you can open an account at most post offices. They care a bit less about the issue with the permits. The main problem with having an L instead of a B permit, with regards to banking in general, is that they may be unwilling to give you a credit card or extend you a loan; you shouldn't have problem getting a place to put your money.<|endoftext|>Q:

Teaching Assistantships and research

I'm working as a TA now, and I've found that I'm spending an inordinate amount of time on my TA-ship. Is this normal? Furthermore, is this expected? I'm worried that my research career will suffer because of my lack of research productivity.

A:

I suppose it depends on the factors that are causing you to spend more time teaching than you think you should. You should talk to (1) the other TAs and (2) the course leader/director. Find out what is expected and what others are doing.

If you are a relatively new graduate student, then I think it's normal to spend more time teaching and preparing for your teaching. As you start teaching the same courses repeatedly, the time you have to spend in preparation will decrease.

If you think of the time you are teaching as working on a craft that you will use for the rest of your career, then it is time well spent.

A:

In Canada, TA's usually have a contract that specifies how many hours they should be working per week / TA term. If you are going way over that you could talk to the course coordinator.

Your supervisor may also get upset if you are spending a large proportion away from you research project, which his / her grant is paying you to work on. This is especially true if you are approaching your reclassification exam -- assuming you are going that route.

A: