Questions tagged [europe]
On standards or conventions specific to the higher education system in Europe which differ in structure and style from the systems in other parts of the world. Keep in mind that many different countries, customs and regulations coexist in Europe, so many questions will not have a unique answer that applies to the whole continent.
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How to build healthy working relationships with my male colleagues as a young-ish, attractive-ish woman?
I'm a PhD candidate from Asia currently visiting a prestigious university in Europe. Recently I've noticed quite some "strange" behaviours of male "colleagues" around me (by "colleagues", I don't mean ...
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6
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Could Brexit negatively affect PhD students in the UK who are EU nationals?
This question relates to the potential withdrawal of the UK from the European Union, a.k.a. Brexit.
I am an Italian citizen, and I will start a (funded) PhD in the UK in September.
Right now I don'...
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9
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How to deal with systematic rigging of academic position job postings?
In a discussion with some of my close friends in other academic institutes, we noticed the common experience* in which it seems that well over 80% of the advertised job postings for permanent or ...
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6
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Do universities prefer not to hire their own PhD graduates in faculty positions? [closed]
I have heard that universities tend not to hire people who earned their PhD there for professorships (tenured or not). (I've read this question, but it's about postdocs: Is it normal that research ...
51
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5
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Is it common to drop 50% of PhD students in a program?
I recently spoke to a graduate coordinator of a mathematics PhD program I was planning to apply to. I asked about admission, requirements to complete the degree and such. The program coordinator ended ...
51
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6
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How do I know how well I am progressing in my PhD?
A striking difference between being a student following courses and a PhD student doing research is the independence and lack of rigid structures such as homework and exams. I started a PhD in ...
48
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10
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Is education in Europe really this cheap?
Is tuition in Europe really US$300 or €200 a year? That is one tenth the cost of the tuition in the developing country university where I took my bachelor's and master's.
Is it really true that some ...
41
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7
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I insulted a professor by using an anti-Semitic slur in a department seminar. How bad is this?
I am in a research group in a French university in physics (I am a 1st year PhD student) and in a seminar in my university I used a slur against an Israeli professor, Professor X.
I am from an Arab ...
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7
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Why are US PhDs different from European PhDs?
So apparently I heard from here, here and here about the differences in PhDs in the US and in Europe.
To sum up, it takes longer, on average, in the US than in Europe to finish a PhD since US PhD ...
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6
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What is (if there is one) the equivalent of the tenure-track phase in Europe?
In the US, tenure-track (TT) positions seem a common and natural step in the progression towards an academic career and quite "stable" state-wise in terms of what one might expect from them, in that ...
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Teaching the daughter of a lecturer, while being simultaneously enrolled in his course
I'm a student in a bachelor program at a local university, while I'm also a teacher (professional school) of apprenticeship students within the same sphere of study.
A few days ago I received the ...
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What is the "chalk talk" at job interviews?
It was only recently that I heard about the academic "chalk talk" at job interviews (from biologist friends). As I understand, this is a closed-doors talk the applicant must give to the existing ...
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Why are there so many PhD positions and so few PostDoc positions?
I don't have hard numbers (if you know a good source, please do share), but it is quite apparent that there are many more Ph.D. student positions advertised than PostDoc positions, at least in my ...
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Education or employment: What is a post-doc? What is a PhD student?
I’m afraid this question is mostly opinion-based, but I was wondering if there is any piece of material out there that covers the spectrum of opinions.
What exactly is a post-doc? Is it an education, ...
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PhD in the US compared to Europe
I start my master studies this fall in quantitative finance/economics in Europe. Since this will just take 3-4 semesters I want to take a look ahead and obviously PhD is one option to do.
So I am ...
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What are the long-term advantages of a US PhD compared to Europe/Oceania?
I have applied to PhD programs in ecology in Europe (Germany, Denmark, UK) and Oceania (Australia/New Zealand). Now the deadlines for US programs are coming up and I am debating whether I should apply ...
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Does any country have free college & open admissions?
Here's my rough understanding of differences in higher education in different countries:
In the U.S., college is paid for in general by the individual student, not the state. On the other hand, ...
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Is it possible to restart a PhD due to issues with supervisor (and should I do it)?
I am a PhD student in Europe and I am in the state of permanent crisis because of my PhD supervisor. He is a very nice person, who is very active with public engagement, very successful at grant ...
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How does one go about doing a Ph.D. in Europe as an American?
I'm entering my senior year of college in the US and I'm starting to consider my options for graduate school next year. My field is kind of blurry, in that I have certain research areas that I'm ...
29
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4
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What does it mean to have vacation time in European academia?
I am a US-based researcher who recently accepted a postdoc in Sweden. My offer letter states that I will be entitled to a 6-week annual vacation during my appointment. Being from the US where I have ...
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In what language do scientists communicate with each other in European research institutions?
I was just wondering out of curiosity. Nothing relating to my own circumstances.
In what language do scientists in facilities like the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (whose campuses are there ...
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Dealing with discouragement during the academic job hunt
Similar to this site's question on impostor syndrome, what strategies would people recommend for dealing with self-doubt and discouragement on the academic job market?
It's not that I think I'm an ...
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Is a PhD degree from a European university considered equally valuable as one from the US?
I earned my PhD in continental Europe. Except going to a few conferences outside Europe, my network, collaborations and events were all in Europe so I was pretty much living in a European bubble. I am ...
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Can I live off post-docs?
I'm currently a theoretical/mathematical physics PhD student in Brazil. I still have little more than a year until my PhD finishes, and as far as tradition goes, it's soon time to look for a post-doc ...
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When do most students publish in a European PhD?
in US PhDs, it's typical to start publishing (first author or not) in their latter-half years. How does that work in the EU? Since EU PhDs are shorter than US programs, is it common for EU phd ...
23
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2
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Potential disadvantages of a math postdoc in Europe vs US
I am a mathematics Ph.D student in the United States, and recently received a 3 year postdoctoral offer in Germany, which I have only a few weeks to accept or decline. The offer is very good (high ...
23
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2
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Are European schools experiencing the same cost raise as American schools?
After factoring in government subsidies (or lack thereof), is the total price for one year of undergraduate education in Europe increasing at a rate similar to America?
21
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3
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Why did UK quit Erasmus?
Why did the UK throw away something that has been one of their most valuable assets in higher education?
It is a bit like a company that has successfully manufactured items which generated the lion's ...
21
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7
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Adding a quiz to an application form
I have thought about setting up a quiz as part of a job application form (see background below for details), where I ask about 5 multiple-choice questions which are trivial to answer (or require a ...
21
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5
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How should I email quite a few professors for PhD positions while also not 'mass emailing'?
I will be applying for PhD positions towards the end of this year and maybe early 2023. My query is specifically about cold emailing professors in Europe about possible PhD positions. Until now, I ...
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Is there a good source to compare academic salaries at European universities?
Is there a good source to compare academic salaries at European universities? For example, what are the salaries of full professors in different countries?
I would particularly welcome a possible ...
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3
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How well should one understand a PhD's topic when applying for a PhD?
I'm looking into applying for a PhD in math in Europe (I've seen positions in Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Sweden and Norway). A concern that I've encountered is regarding PhD advertisements that ...
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How important is my Master's degree after obtaining a PhD?
I am about to complete my Master's and start a PhD. While I probably should not concern myself too much about what comes after a PhD when I have not even started it, there is something that has been ...
18
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2
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European style PhD in the US
I'm wondering are there any PhD programs (specifically in machine learning) in the US that are structured more like the European ones, i.e. where you immediately start doing research and don't spend ...
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How long is it reasonable to wait for a graduate student or postdoc to obtain a visa?
For a recent position for which an offer has been made, a colleague of mine has been waiting for more than eight months for a visa to be issued. Is there any reasonable point at which it makes more ...
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Under which conditions can a person use the title of "Professor"?
Is it enough to hold a contract as professor (be it a major university), to use this title in official communications?
What are the rules (also unwritten rules) in your country?
I am interested also ...
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Is a PhD from a developing country worth paying for?
In my country, Egypt, some well-known institutes offer PhD degrees. I want to apply for a PhD program in biostatistics for which I will certainly pay a lot of money.
How much would such a program ...
17
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Semi-administrative position in academic/research setting after finishing Ph.D. and postdoc(s)
I would like to know what are the scopes for semi-administrative positions like research coordinator, scientific coordinator, program manager or something similar that are available for someone with ...
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How much salary can I expect as a physics post doc in the Netherlands?
I am considering a post doc in the Netherlands. I am a bit spoiled -- currently doing a post doc in the US with a salary of about $75000. I found a PI in the Netherlands whose project sounds very ...
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What sets "top" universities apart from "mediocre" universities in continental europe?
Every year rankings are published that list Oxford, Stanford and the like at the top, while many(most?) universities in continental europe share ranks well beyond 100. I myself am a Phd student at a ...
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A potentially trans student is misgendered in university records. What should I do?
I have noticed* that an undergrad student in a course I teach has "female" written in the "gender" field in the university intranet database (used for course enrollment, grading, ...
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3
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Does it make sense for the professor to write a recommendation letter that is directly readable by the student?
It seems that US universities usually provide a link to the professor of the applicant, and let him/her directly upload the recommendation letter to that link, meaning that the student would have no ...
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How to improve myself as a recitation (discussion,lab,tutorial) teacher?
This question is related to How to improve myself as a lecturer?. However, being a PhD student, my main teaching obligation is leading recitations, i.e. sessions for groups of ~20 students that take ...
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Is the status of postdocs perceived differently in western Europe vs. North-America?
In a footnote at this answer by on leaving a postdoc early, user Luke Mathieson writes:
A postdoc in the US has lower status that it does in Europe/Australia/New Zealand/...,
I'm aware that ...
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Disclosing hidden disability to employer
I'm doing a project-based postdoc in an European university.
I have serious ongoing eye conditions that significantly affect my reading speed and as a result it took me 5 years to complete my PhD in ...
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3
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If a research project leads to potential financial benefits, who owns such benefits?
I am deciding if I should follow the academic path or work in industry. One of the perceived benefits of academia is the ownership of your own work, be it papers or patents. I want to know how much ...
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Online resources for summer schools in software engineering?
I'm looking for an online resources that lists all summer schools of the actual year in a specific domain. Are there any sites? I just found one: Summer Schools in Europe, but this site seems to be a ...
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How to show special respect to a famous PhD advisor?
I am about to enter a 3-year PhD. Neither my bachelor’s nor my master’s were research-oriented nor very typical for my field, and I had to find a potential supervisor on my own. Due to my background, ...
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How usual/feasible is it for European universities to accept PhD candidates right after their bachelor's degree? (computer science field)
I am nearing the end of my bachelor's degree and wish to know what my options are for continuing. Optimally, I would be able to immediately pursue a PhD, but I get conflicting information on the ...
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Can one be kicked out of Doctoral School because of not being able to find a supervisor?
I proposed a project about twistor formulations in noncommutative geometry for alternative theories of gravity to a professor to apply for a PhD program in physics in 2019, and though the professor ...