CiaranD

Yeah, for sure! The fact it took that long to catch is baffling.

Riveting, sure, shocking? Less so. The guy got to Princeton and almost got away with it! Reinhart and Rogoff also got exposed for errors in their work on the role of austerity in navigating the financial crash at Harvard — like the banks their ideas ended up protecting, it turned out they too were too big to fail. They didn't recant or exhibit remorse, or even express regret for the errors which, when exposed, served to render their conclusions as no more worthy than chance. The entire Eurozone justified punitive policies on the back of their bungled calculations - they didn't even care when the mistakes surfaced and neither did Harvard! It seems then, that the only time you actually get punished for dishonesty and being disingenuous is when you're the little guy. Marc Hauser, the evolutionary biologist, was also kicked out of Harvard, eventually, for falsifying data on experiments — after a protracted period of inquisition. Given the pressures in academia, the catastrophic financial and personal consequences of failing and, of course, the lucrative remuneration and perks for getting a tenured gig at an Ivy or somewhere similar, based on a single paper, is it any wonder that struggling grad students sometimes give in to the temptation to make the "perfect" result — to fabricate the answers advisors are only too happy to accept? In short, I'd absolutely report a fellow grad student who is cheating and fabricating results. I'd see it more as a duty than a conflict - (s)he is sullying the discipline and the hard work of everyone else! How can you possibly tolerate the corruption of the field you, and others, are working hard honestly to further? I'd have a long hard word with him/her first, however, and try to get them to own their own mistakes. But the problem lies in the culture that pushes otherwise or once decent people to the point of cheating and risking everything for a chance to succeed. This is compounded by a lack of accountability for the big stars in academia who are seemingly permitted to err or mismanage things whilst their lessers are dismissed, contracts terminated, or permanently barred for the same transgressions.

Yeah, it's an interesting contradiction! Didn't NASA lose one of their Mars orbiters due to a unit mix-up of this ilk? The danger is real and seemingly very expensive! http://www.wired.com/2010/11/1110mars-climate-observer-report/

This seems to form a basis for at least half the hilarious gifs and humorous Tumblrs on grad school. A lot of the PhD students in the latter years of my program and of many others I'm aware of are engaged or married before they finish. I'd say it's definitely possible, just a case of getting into stuff outside of your program I would imagine.

It may be of interest to note there are aspects which I'm certain I will have to change, for example in music theory, British/Irish convention is to use certain nomenclature for rhythmic values in musical notation: crotchets, quavers, semi-breves etc. In the US, the terms quarter–note, 8th note, half–note etc. are used. So, there are probably in-discipline things we all need to consider on switching code, maybe perhaps miles/kilometers being pertinent. Though, in Britain, they still use imperial forms in many respects - not so in Ireland or New Zealand for that matter!

Such idealism - such hope! I spent months battling with MS Word to stop correcting my British 'misspellings' for my Master's. That was in spite of the fact both my computer and Word were set to UK English and I'd gone through and changed things manually. We can dream of a perfect world!

Thanks, all! The points are all very informative. I had a PhD instructor during my undergrad who came from Boston and wrote his PhD, in Dublin, in U.S. English so I guess the flexibility is reciprocated everywhere. The journal convention, I suppose, is an obvious point - though changing referencing style is likely more of a headache than accommodating spelling convention in this instance! Regarding idioms, as an Irishman, I've already learned that the majority of our often highly illogical verbal idiosyncrasies are utterly baffling to even some of the English, so I wouldn't dare include them anyway!

I'm interested to hear others' views on English language spelling while studying in the US. I write in 'British' English and find the 'American' versions of words I've looked at since I was an infant to be slightly unsettling and counterintuitive — it would take a mindful effort to change convention. I'd imagine it's a similar experience too for Americans moving East, as it were. We enjoy the familiarity and automaticity of ingrained spellings. So, my question is, though I anticipate having to change my vernacular vocabulary to accommodate convention (it's only polite to speak their language and make an effort!), I am not as sure about the necessity to change my written spellings in the academic setting? This may only be of interest to the particularities of fellow humanities students but I'm curious to find others' thoughts, nonetheless.

Hey there! I'm from Wicklow (near Dublin) in Ireland and did my undergraduate and master's at Trinity. I was also elected scholar of the University in 2010 (basically an archaic and largely irrelevant title that more importantly gives you a daily formal dinner, rooms, and the postgraduate degree of your choice for 5 years), so I don't think I could be better qualified to help! I lived in the grounds of the place for 3 years and am still a scholar there till 2017 (I took a sabbatical) — though I am going to be at Northwestern for my PhD so my TCD scholarship will lapse. I did my undergrad and Master's in the music department which is part of the School of Drama, Film and Music so I've had a lot of contact with theatre students and the facilities. To address your questions: 1.) International students are looked on very favourably. Basically, you guys pay more fees than the domestics so you are a big cash cow for them. Secondly, Trinity has a reputation that punches well above its weight internationally (and its facilities). It is a sister college of Oxford and Cambridge and was founded in the 16th century with the countless famous alumni you already probably heard in an advertising spiel. It is quite a formal place with a large emphasis on academics and scholarly achievement. We don't use GPAs or anything as 'modern' as that, it is a place that is steeped (stuck) in tradition. It is no problem that you don't have a major, but you may need to corroborate your grades or standard of achievement in some manner to appease the traditionalists in admissions. If you have an interest in Irish playwrights or areas that the faculty have expertise in, then great. I produced some shows in the Beckett theatre there and there are phenomenal tech people who you can work with to produce/direct and create all sorts of productions. There is a lot of emphasis on performance within the theatre area and will suit you if you've acting or directorial ambitions. I've done loads of work with the student acting society, DU Players, and come highly recommended to get you stuck in to all sorts of projects while you're in Dublin, though be warned, it's mainly undergrads. Also, bear in mind that Irish/UK grad programs are often less structured than the U.S. equivalents, though M.Phils are generally taught programs with classes, coursework and assignments. 2.) I'd imagine you'd have to wait till the deadline. No rolling admissions from my knowledge across the board at Trinity. I've spent a good bit of time in Scotland, mainly working/playing at the Edinburgh Fringe with said theatre people from Trinity. Dublin is a MUCH nicer and safer city than Glasgow which can be rough in places. I reckon the University is comparable in prestige. Trinity has fantastic lecturers and faculty in theatre, but the facilities are not superb as higher ed funding in Ireland is nothing like the U.S. There are little or no fees to speak of for Irish students to do a 3rd level degree - higher education is universally free bar a statutory charge of about 2k a year. Unfortunately this means our universities can be strapped for cash, particularly in the humanities. Less so for science where big donors come in and bankroll everything. However, drama have got some additions during my time and they seem to be sufficient for people to do world class things after graduating. I know TCD theatre grads who are fellows at Yale and Columbia, with others stage managers in major London venues and beyond. People seem to do pretty well. You'll be coming to Dublin at a good time, it's just getting back on its feet after about 6 years of incredibly harsh austerity and recession. If you've any more questions about Trinity, Dublin or anything else, I'm more than happy to help!