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Thursday, January 12, 2006
Paper-Writing
An interesting incident at school today, about which initially I was over-joyed, but now I'm not so sure about. So I was talking with my supervisor, and he mentions someone's thesis, and I say "speaking of which, I've been meaning to make my thesis into a paper, do you have any recommendations on which sections to modify?" He turned to me, looking kind of sheepish, and said "Well, I have a confession to make. [A postdoc] and I have been looking at that over the past couple of weeks, and are working on fleshing it out and making it into a paper".
Ok, so initially I was pretty happy with this. I didn't like the thought of going over the whole thing, changing certain sections, it all seemed kind of dull, and here were several people willing to do it (and of course, I would be one of the authors). Moreover, I was probably even more happy about the fact that someone was actually interested in what I'd done (over than my supervisor, that is). So hooray.
But I started thinking about it more this evening, and it all seems a little bit underhanded. Now, it was my supervisor who had the idea, and apparently had talked about it to this postdoc, so this was something they had been thinking about and were interested in, and I just filled in the neccesary pieces. But I wish he would have told me earlier. Actually, now that I think about it, we haven't had time to talk since school began, and it's not like I really care....but still. As you can see, I'm a bit conflicted on the whole thing.
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The whole idea of paper-writing kind of frightens me. I've looked at professor's cv's, and most seem to average about two papers per year. That doesn't initially sound like a lot, but (to my mind anyway) each paper takes a lot of work, like a good summer's worth of research. Maybe that's a bit much. But even publishing less, I don't know how I'm going to get the drive to actually put down thoughts on something in a format someone else can read. The only reason I finished my thesis was fear of not getting funding the next term. Maybe that's what drives professors on - the funding cycle (or perhaps just the ego-boost of seeing your name in print). On the other hand, maybe I should worry less and follow Gian-Carlo Rota's route (read the third point).
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Finally, if anyone from Waterloo has read this far, what are you doing the week of Feb. 18-25th? I'm thinking of dropping by Waterloo and/or Toronto.
An interesting incident at school today, about which initially I was over-joyed, but now I'm not so sure about. So I was talking with my supervisor, and he mentions someone's thesis, and I say "speaking of which, I've been meaning to make my thesis into a paper, do you have any recommendations on which sections to modify?" He turned to me, looking kind of sheepish, and said "Well, I have a confession to make. [A postdoc] and I have been looking at that over the past couple of weeks, and are working on fleshing it out and making it into a paper".
Ok, so initially I was pretty happy with this. I didn't like the thought of going over the whole thing, changing certain sections, it all seemed kind of dull, and here were several people willing to do it (and of course, I would be one of the authors). Moreover, I was probably even more happy about the fact that someone was actually interested in what I'd done (over than my supervisor, that is). So hooray.
But I started thinking about it more this evening, and it all seems a little bit underhanded. Now, it was my supervisor who had the idea, and apparently had talked about it to this postdoc, so this was something they had been thinking about and were interested in, and I just filled in the neccesary pieces. But I wish he would have told me earlier. Actually, now that I think about it, we haven't had time to talk since school began, and it's not like I really care....but still. As you can see, I'm a bit conflicted on the whole thing.
---------------------------------
The whole idea of paper-writing kind of frightens me. I've looked at professor's cv's, and most seem to average about two papers per year. That doesn't initially sound like a lot, but (to my mind anyway) each paper takes a lot of work, like a good summer's worth of research. Maybe that's a bit much. But even publishing less, I don't know how I'm going to get the drive to actually put down thoughts on something in a format someone else can read. The only reason I finished my thesis was fear of not getting funding the next term. Maybe that's what drives professors on - the funding cycle (or perhaps just the ego-boost of seeing your name in print). On the other hand, maybe I should worry less and follow Gian-Carlo Rota's route (read the third point).
----------------------------------
Finally, if anyone from Waterloo has read this far, what are you doing the week of Feb. 18-25th? I'm thinking of dropping by Waterloo and/or Toronto.
Comments:
That does sound kinda shady, I'd want to be informed if people were going to publish something I wrote.
You are saying you think two papers a year sounds harsh, but also say it takes a good summers worth of research, doesn't that work out to about two a year? I think the motivation does come from funding, and as far as making it readable, a lot of papers I've read convince me they don't bother (I think that will lead to Rota's fourth point). Goulden told us that on average a paper is read by three people, including the referee and yourself.
I should be in waterloo for at least the first half of the week, and aside from class and thesis work, I don't have any particular plans yet. Keep me posted
You are saying you think two papers a year sounds harsh, but also say it takes a good summers worth of research, doesn't that work out to about two a year? I think the motivation does come from funding, and as far as making it readable, a lot of papers I've read convince me they don't bother (I think that will lead to Rota's fourth point). Goulden told us that on average a paper is read by three people, including the referee and yourself.
I should be in waterloo for at least the first half of the week, and aside from class and thesis work, I don't have any particular plans yet. Keep me posted
Now is the time to be assertive! At least your professor had the grace to look sheepish, but I think you have to work a bit make sure you don't end up with being a minor co-author on a paper made out of your own thesis. I mean, I don't think your supervisor is evil, but the pressure to publish weighs heavily on all academics, and I wouldn't want to see him taking credit for your work.
Oh, and I know you're assuming this, but I'll be home during Reading Week the same time you are. And I formally request that you're home for dinner at least a few nights so that you and I can cook together. (if you don't mind, of course)
Oh, and I know you're assuming this, but I'll be home during Reading Week the same time you are. And I formally request that you're home for dinner at least a few nights so that you and I can cook together. (if you don't mind, of course)
Ha, didn't even see this comment for a while. One thing to note about mathematics is that there is no such thing as minor and major co-author; everyone gets equal credit and the names are usually just listed alphabetically. But I should have another chat with him about the whole thing.
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