writing physics papers 101 - uni-regensburg.de

J. F. Presentation of Scientific ResultsJ. F. Presentation of Scientific Results

PHYSICS CAREERPHYSICS CAREER

Physics Today, 46, April 2001


ACADEMIC CAREERACADEMIC CAREER

1.1. UndergraduateUndergraduate: : BachelorBachelor‘‘ss (3(3--4 4 yrsyrs))2.2. GraduateGraduate: : MasterMaster‘‘ss oror DiplomaDiploma (1(1--2)2)3.3. GraduateGraduate: : PhDPhD (3(3--8)8)4.4. PostdocPostdoc (2(2--3)3)5.5. PostdocPostdoc (2(2--3)3)6.6. AssistantAssistant ProfessorProfessor----tenuretenure tracktrack (3(3--5)5)7.7. AssociateAssociate ProfessorProfessor——tenuretenure (1(1----))8.8. Univeristy Professor, FullUniveristy Professor, Full Professor (Professor (11----))88‘‘. Chaired Professor, Distinguished Professor. Chaired Professor, Distinguished Professor

Professor Professor EmeritusEmeritus----retiredretired


GRADUATE STUDIESGRADUATE STUDIESUS styleUS style

TOEFL and GRE TOEFL and GRE examsexams11--2 2 yearsyears of of advancedadvanced coursescoursesPreliminaryPreliminary comprehensivecomprehensive examexamAdvancementAdvancement examexamSupervisedSupervised researchresearchPhDPhD defensedefenseRoleRole of of adviseradviserRoleRole of of fieldfield of of researchresearch


GREGraduate Record Examinations

www.gre.org

Subject

•Physics

General

•Analytical•Verbal•Quantitative

TOEFLTest of English as a Foreign Language

www.toefl.org

http://www.toefl.org/


Choosing graduate school

ranking

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/grad/rankings/rankindex_brief.php

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/grad/rankings/rankindex_brief.php

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/home.htm


SCHOOL NAME

OVERALL RANK

SOLID STATE

SPACE PHYSICS

ATOMIC/ MOLECULAR NUCLEAR ELEMENTARY

PARTICLECHAOS NON-LINEAR

Caltech 1 13 1 10 6 5 Nr

Harvard 1 5 3 4 22 1 12

MIT 1 2 8 2 1 6 4

Cornell 4 3 7 nr 20 8 5

Princeton 4 8 2 14 17 4 5

Stanford 4 4 nr 3 nr 3 nr

UC—Berkeley 4 5 4 5 8 2 8

U Chicago 8 9 5 12 nr 7 3

Uf Illinois--Urbana-Champain 9 1 20 nr 9 18 11

Yale 10 nr nr 11 7 14 nr

Columbia 11 nr 20 nr 12 11 nr

U of Texas—Austin 11 23 9 12 nr 9 1

University of California--Santa Barbara

13 7 nr nr nr 16 8

U of Maryland--College Park 14 10 14 nr 11 19 2

U of Michigan--Ann Arbor 14 16 16 7 22 9 nr

University of Washington 14 20 nr 5 2 20 nr

SUNY--Stony Brook 17 nr nr nr 5 13 nr

UC--Los Angeles 17 13 20 nr nr nr nr

UC--San Diego 17 12 nr nr nr nr 8

UPennsylvania 17 nr 18 nr 17 17 nr

U Wisconsin—Madison 17 nr 13 nr 15 12 nr


choosingchoosing advisoradvisoradaptedadapted freelyfreely fromfrom How to do Research At the MIT AI LabHow to do Research At the MIT AI Lab

HowHow muchmuch directiondirection youyou wantwant??HowHow muchmuch contactcontact youyou wantwant??HowHow muchmuch pressurepressure youyou wantwant ((cancan handle)?handle)?HowHow muchmuch emotional emotional supportsupport youyou needneed??HowHow seriouslyseriously youyou wantwant to to taketake youryour advisoradvisor??WhatWhat kindkind of of researchresearch groupgroup therethere isis??Do Do youyou wantwant to to bebe partpart of a large of a large projectproject??Will Will thethe advisoradvisor fight fight forfor youyou??

http://www.cs.indiana.edu/mit.research.how.to.html


choosingchoosing advisoradvisor contcont..

Will Will thethe advisoradvisor promotepromote youryour workwork and and givegive youyou just just creditcredit??ReadRead recentrecent paperspapers of of thethe advisoradvisor and and makemake suresure he he ororsheshe isis activeactive and and workingworking in a in a fieldfield in in whichwhich therethere isissubstantial substantial interestinterestWorkWork withwith thethe advisoradvisor forfor a a summersummer projectproject to to seesee ififyouyou likelike it. it. IfIf youyou do do notnot likelike itit, , gogo elsewhere!elsewhere!ChooseChoose thethe topictopic AND AND thethe advisoradvisor. Not just . Not just thethe topictopicand and thenthen pick pick whoeverwhoever wantswants to to supervisesupervise youyou..Good Good lecturerlecturer isis NOT NOT necessarilynecessarily a good a good researcherresearcher, , and and vicevice versaversa..


In a forest a fox bumps into a little rabbit, and says, "Hi rab, what’s up?" "I'm writing a PhD Thesis on how rabbits eat foxes,“ said the rabbit. “Sure, I can eat you right now! What scientific methods you use?"“Just follow me to my office" They go into the rabbit's burrow and after a while the rabbit emerges alone and happy.

Comes along a wolf. "Hello, what are we doing these days?" "I'm writing the second chapter of my thesis, on how rabbits eat wolves." "Are you crazy? Where is your academic honesty? I could eat you now!" "Come with me and I'll show you that I am right" As before, the rabbit comes out with a satisfied look and a Thesis in his paw.

After a minute a mean-looking lion comes out.

The moral: It's not the contents of your thesis that are important -- it's your PhD advisor that really counts.

Rabbit, PhD


WRITING Thesis:WRITING Thesis:http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/~jw/thesis.html

http://www.phys.unds.edu.au/~jw/thesis.html


ApplyingApplying forfor studentstudent stipendsstipendsPaulPaul--Urban StipendienstiftungUrban Stipendienstiftung der KFUGder KFUGHeinrichHeinrich--JorgJorg StiftungStiftungGrazer Grazer UniversitatsbundUniversitatsbundForschungstipendienForschungstipendienFWFFWF: Fonds zur Forderung der Wissen. : Fonds zur Forderung der Wissen. Forschung (Forschung (www.fwf.ac.atwww.fwf.ac.at))OAWOAW: : OsterrOsterr. Akademie der Wissenschaften. Akademie der Wissenschaften((www.oeaw.ac.atwww.oeaw.ac.at))EUEU ((www.oead.ac.atwww.oead.ac.at))

http://physik.uni-graz.at/itp/pus.html

http://www.fwf.ac.at/

http://www.oeaw.ac.at/

http://www.oead.ac.at/


ACADEMIC JOBSACADEMIC JOBS

basedbased onon

J. A. J. A. DantzigDantzig::LandingLanding an Academic Joban Academic Job

http://http://quattro.me.uiuc.eduquattro.me.uiuc.edu/~/~jonjon/ACAJOB//ACAJOB/academic_job.htmlacademic_job.html

http://quattro.me.uiuc.edu/~jon/ACAJOB/Latex2e/academic_job.pdf


STEPSSTEPS

adsads and and networkingnetworkingApplicationApplication ((covercover letterletter, , cvcv))RequestRequest forfor transcriptstranscripts and and referencesreferencesInterviewInterviewOfferOffer


Etc.


DOB possibly in Europe


Publications, Conferences, References


M. Anderson, Physics Today, page 51,April 2001


WHAT DO PHYSICISTS DO?


ACADEMIC HONESTYACADEMIC HONESTYProper Proper referencingreferencingAcknowledgingAcknowledging ideasideas of of othersothersRespectingRespecting competitorscompetitorsUnbiasedUnbiased recommendationsrecommendations forfor positionspositions,,invitedinvited talkstalks, , seminarsseminarsFair Fair grantgrant evaluationsevaluationsHonestHonest reportingreporting of of researchresearch methodsmethods, , approximationsapproximations, , resultsresultsHonestHonest reportingreporting on on accomplishmentsaccomplishments


web web resourcesresources

http://careers.aps.orghttp://careers.aps.orghttp://tiptop.iop.orghttp://tiptop.iop.orghttp://http://jobs.uni.hd.dejobs.uni.hd.de//logflogf//

http://careers.aps.org/

http://tiptop.iop.org/

http://jobs.uni-hd.de/logf/


"It has long been known..." = I didn't look up the original references "A definite trend is evident..." = This data is practically meaningless "Of great theoretical and practical importance...“ = Interesting to me "While it has not been possible to provide definite answers to these questions..."

= An unsuccessful experiment, but I still hope to get it published"Three of the samples were chosen for detailed study..." = The results of the others didn't make any sense "Typical results are shown..." = The best results are shown "These results will be shown in a subsequent report..." = I might get around to this if I'm pushed "The most reliable results are those obtained by Jones..." = He was my graduate assistant "It is believed that..." = I think "It is generally believed that..." = A couple of other guys think so, too "It is clear that much additional work will be required before a complete understanding of the phenomenon occurs..."

= I don't understand it "Correct within an order of magnitude..." = Wrong "It is hoped that this study will stimulate further investigation in this field..."

= This is a lousy paper, but so are all the others on this miserable topic "A careful analysis of obtainable data..." = Three pages of notes were obliterated when I knocked over my beer "Reasonable order of magnitude..." = Wild guess "Non-trivial problem..." =It doesn't work, but if we throw enough money at it, something's bound to happen "Within the current state of the art..." = Maybe we can do it "On the leading edge of technology..." = It ought to be possible - send more money! "Given a reasonable preventive maintenance program...“ = Buy our service contract “Our results confirm and extend previous conclusions” = We find nothing new”I thank Joe Blotz for assistance with the experiment and Cindy Adams for valuable discussions“

= Joe Blotz did the experiment and Cindy Adams explained it to me

Some useful phrases in communicating research

writing physics papers 101 - uni-regensburg.de

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