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90 votes
12 answers
17k views

Why do researchers need universities?

This is a follow-up question to How are junior professors evaluated for promotion? and probably an even more naive question. If I'm understanding the answer correct, professors need funding to do ...
Allure's user avatar
  • 133k
81 votes
3 answers
26k views

Life as a math professor

I am currently an undergraduate math major in my 3rd year (in America). I have taken lots of pure math courses, and anything I put in my resume tells potential employers I'm probably going to be an ...
DCT's user avatar
  • 959
71 votes
5 answers
42k views

What ratio of PhD graduates in STEM fields ultimately end up as (tenured) professors?

I recently saw this infogram circling around various social networks: It appeared in this Tweet with the following claim: Got a PhD? Your chance of becoming a Professor is 0.45%. Good luck. Being ...
badroit's user avatar
  • 13.7k
56 votes
6 answers
6k views

Is it normal to feel dread before starting a faculty position?

I need some advice. After several months of interviews and work, I secured a faculty position at a good business school, which was a relief since jobs are so hard to get around here. Everyone tells me ...
Skunkness's user avatar
  • 1,451
55 votes
6 answers
11k views

What kind of career path might be possible for a professor following a plagiarism scandal?

Prior to transferring to another university, I attended a college in a different state with a renown reputation for integrity and academic rigor. The year before I left, I enrolled in a course that ...
daOnlyBG's user avatar
  • 742
49 votes
7 answers
7k views

What's the point of maintaining a CV after tenure?

Once you have tenure, presumably you're never going to have to search for a job again. However almost all professors have a CV on their website, and fairly recent ones. Why? They already made it.
user avatar
42 votes
9 answers
18k views

What happens to unproductive professors?

I notice that past a certain age (sometimes as early as 50), some professors tend to be significantly less productive, to the point that they essentially do not publish or have graduate students and ...
user2562609's user avatar
  • 7,454
39 votes
3 answers
10k views

How should a student deal with personal criticisms from an assistant professor?

I am a PhD student. In the past I have met with an assistant professor for some general advice about my research, both times he has made off the cuff comments on my lack of competence as a researcher ...
Kelly's user avatar
  • 874
39 votes
3 answers
2k views

How is Google Scholar changing academic evaluation?

Google Scholar is making it very easy to track (their measure of) citation counts, h-index, etc. for individual researchers. Is this changing how academics are evaluated? Do tenure committees now ...
Santosh Luzstig's user avatar
36 votes
4 answers
8k views

Should I email old supervisor about my progress?

I might collaborate with an old supervisor in the future and would like to keep in touch. Is it a good idea to send an email to him about the progress I've made in my career? Also, what's the best ...
user56948's user avatar
  • 317
33 votes
2 answers
4k views

Why do some individuals who are productive PhD students at leading Western institutions, then publish infrequently as faculty in their home country?

I am a computer science student from Turkey. While I was checking the websites and publications of various CS Professors in Turkey for my future studies, I noticed a strange trend. (Excluding minor ...
mehdi's user avatar
  • 331
32 votes
3 answers
142k views

What academic functions does a Professor Emeritus usually serve?

I for one have never understood the distinction between a regular prof with a prof Emeritus/Emerita aside from the obvious fact that a Prof. Emeritus is someone who is usually fairly elderly and has ...
Fraïssé's user avatar
  • 11.5k
31 votes
5 answers
26k views

Why is a professorship sometimes called a chair?

Why is a professorship sometimes called a chair? Are chairs only the correct term when the professorship has been endowed? (I don't think so, because endowed professorships are rare in the UK, but ...
flashton's user avatar
  • 539
27 votes
13 answers
33k views

What is the advantage of becoming a full professor if you already have tenure as an associate professor?

What is the advantage of becoming a full professor if you are already an associate professor with tenure? Why not just stay an associate professor for life? What is the key difference between an ...
guesjnree's user avatar
  • 319
27 votes
6 answers
5k views

Why do research faculty pursue administrative positions, such as dean, provost, president, etc. ? Do such positions spell the end of one's research?

At a recent seminar talk, I was amazed to note that one of the two coauthors (not the presenter) was the president of a large and well-known university, since I had always assumed that taking on such ...
Aru Ray's user avatar
  • 20.8k

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