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orange turtle

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Everything posted by orange turtle

  1. I can second the definitely not too late part. I published my undergrad thesis 7 years after my undergrad :-)
  2. @TakeruK and @fuzzylogician: I asked a professor (different department) somewhat off-hand what does one do with "this type" of work generally and she said it was quite unusual for someone of my level to train people although she says she agrees it was definitely training. She suggested I put it under "knowledge translation" or "volunteer work" under the Canadian Common CV (CCV) as that would make it raise less red flags of what is going on in this lab. Also "training" under the CCV often implies also having financial responsibility (as @TakeruK said) and overall responsibility (i.e., if screw up = point gun at you). At my stage, if I screw up, I can still look meek and somebody else has to answer for it :-) Which section I ultimately choose would depend on where I have less entries or where it might look more impressive. I guess I could lead my discussion with the PI somewhere along those lines...and try and gauge, as you both say, what he might say in the LOR. Thanks, both!
  3. By the way, for anyone interested and for those who still handwrite... I use a LiveScribe pen for notes, meetings, lectures. It records voice/sound and allows me to organize my notes. It's actually pretty awesome for those days when my medication fogs me up terribly--it allows me to store my handwritten notes online and as I relisten to it, I can add notes I missed, and the Livescribe will be smart enough to link it to the recording. Also, for a minimal one-off fee ($20), I can get a software to convert handwritten notes to computer text. The big downside is you need special "smart" paper for this--the special paper costs like $35 for a set of four (4) 8.5 x 11 books. So if you get slides for class, it's a bit tricky. And it doesn't work if you're reading a book or something. The LiveScribe pen is supported by my university's disability office. I get it on loan from them.
  4. @fuzzylogician and @TakeruK: the two of you are always such sound lifesavers on this board! Thank you. You are both right, of course. I will have to somehow bring this up, but ultimately, there isn't much I can do as I can't burn the bridge. (I didn't want to check though!) As for Takeruk's question: the credit claimed is on the Canadian Common CV, the "normal" paper academic CV, and the professor's CV on his website. So essentially, in every public and non-public domain of his work, he has claimed credit for the work my lab partner and I and other predecessors have done, without any hint we did it with him. We have just been written out altogether. All of them say "I personally train and (insert the rest...)" as opposed to "my lab and I train..." which would hint that there were other people involved. As for what stage I am in, I am starting out in my career in terms of graduate training. However, I have been training people for several years as I worked in this field coordinating this professor's research and using his technique before going back to school. That's why he uses me to train people in the proper application of his technique.
  5. I started 1st year last year with a chronic illness myself--neurological, can get epic. It sucked major amazeballs. I was so stressed out from the move and the big city and trying to make sure I didn't fail. On retrospect, I learned several things I wish I knew earlier, including that I should have asked questions here on Grad Forum. What I learned this last 8 months: 1) Your department chair can make or break your experience--find out which camp your chair belongs to. Mine was and is a lifesaver and had many great tips on navigating the system. When I finally confessed to him I was on the verge of collapsing from an ongoing chronic health problem, he looked at me and said "Well, what took you so long to ask for help? I'm paid the big bucks to help you through this! That's why I get the fancy office and wear the fancy tie!" 2) Ask for help, but be careful who you ask for help from. You will need people to support you, but not everyone will be your ally. Find out who your lifesavers are, treasure them, and always remember to say thank you. Learning to say sorry doesn't hurt either. Never apologize for your disability and/or health condition, but it's never too late to learn to say, say "I'm sorry I'm running late." Better to not run late, but being sick sometimes affects the space-time continuum. :-) 3) Know your limits, and know when to say, well, f*** you, I come first. 4) Do not overdo classes, no matter how tempting it is. 5) Talk to the disability office. They have some amazing services; maybe they have some suggestions on how to get diagnosed, or services they can recommend. Like I have a program that reads to me so when my neurological condition acts up, and I am quite ill, and can't read well. Like whaaat? The program reads to me. Yes, it gets pretty hilarious when it tries to read scientific words, but it still reads to me. 6) Learn to laugh at yourself. 7) If you take medication (I do), don't forget. Always have some at home, on you, and in your office. I needed the emergency room because I, of course, forgot mine on exam day, and landed in the hospital. Got a nice lecture from my neurologist and paramedics. (if my drug levels drop, I'm in trouble) 8) Do something outside your program. Doesn't matter what it is. Run, swim, bake, see family, see friends, garden, party, volunteer, go to church/mosque/temple, watch movies, have sex, rock climb, travel, knit, play music, campaign for something, have a pet, paint, collect something, judge others, shop, repair cars, paintball, do yoga, whatever.
  6. So, I'm applying for scholarships (yahoo, it's that time of year!), and for Canadian scholarships, I have to include my supervisor(s)' CVs. One of my professors created a paradigm that is widely used in my field. My lab partner and I now use this protocol to teach people in the field in several countries including Asia, South America, North America and Europe. This includes training people (online, in person if they visit, and making sure everybody implements it exactly as it should), helping them create their study protocol (e.g., population, how to approach a certain group, etc), implementing the protocol (e.g., feasibility, apparatus sourcing), troubleshooting (because things usually go wrong), etc.. Here's the problem! My professor then takes the names of all the people my lab partner and I train and work with and puts it on his CV as people he personally trains and works with and also reports this as output on his grants, leaving both our names out. He phrases his CV as "I personally (insert every thing my partner and I do + Professor designing paradigm 15 years ago + every RA's work 15 years since then)." In reality, the extent of his involvement currently is he developed the original paradigm and he answers our questions if we have trouble or hit a dead end. He also signs off the permission slip saying we have permission to train. I fully acknowledge that without him, this paradigm doesn't exist and we wouldn't be doing our work today if he didn't design the paradigm and give permission for the use. All I am saying is it would be nice if he included us as part of the team doing the work. Does this mean I cannot include any of the work I have been doing in my CV? Will I just look like a big fat liar? N.B., I have to include my professor's CV in my application.
  7. I wanted to share that my experience has been quite different, to give a little perspective to the other side. Most of my professors have been very pleasantly surprised when somebody has offered an opinion that contradicts that. Some even beam. One professor right out said they were thrilled a student "finally disagreed because that's what graduate school is supposed to help you do." Of course not all faculty like to be disagreed with, and they are in every school. I would suggest that *how* you disagree with someone in academia can make a big difference. Having a healthy discussion requires acknowledging that the person you are speaking with has a valid point, but, hey, maybe they missed this other side of the coin: would they consider this other perspective? I acknowledge the school you attend has a bunch of "arrogant morons" as you put it. But could it be the way you phrase your different opinions, maybe, just maybe, be putting them on the defensive of the 25 years they spent studying a particular thing? (I also acknowledge maybe my school is just more chilled) Cheers!
  8. First, congratulations on being admitted! Hair colour: I wouldn't dye your hair neutral. Makeup: I think it's fine to wear makeup as long as you don't overdo it, like you said. I wouldn't go with long fake eyelashes, extra fake long nails, mascara that runs if the day is too hot, blush that makes your skin too blotchy, etc. My rule of thumb is to wear what you would usually wear so you know you're comfortable with it. This is not the time to experiment with that free gift from Sephora. Clothes: I second what @TakeruK said about it depending on the field/school you're visiting. In most areas though, you would be pretty safe with a nice pair of jeans (no holes, no rips, no faded wash) and a nice top that doesn't hug too much. You mentioned you're busty. I am on the bustier side as well. I make sure to check that whatever top I am wearing doesn't "pop" when I bend and doesn't show sideways (carry safety pins!), and I also make sure that it doesn't give away anything on the rear end as well. For this reason, I personally steer clear of leggings (awkward panty lines--people know if you're wearing a thong or not) unless I'm wearing a skirt on top. Since your hair is bright, I would recommend a simple/plain blouse, shirt, or top. You want most of the attention to be your work. If it helps, I interviewed/visited with a simple white top (striped top for a different school), black pants, a scarf, no coat, and flat black shoes. Boring, but it worked. I wanted the profs to focus on my work, not what I wore.
  9. @.letmeinplz//, @TakeruK: Thank you for the suggestions. I will bring it up with my PI at the next meeting and see what she says!
  10. My research involves high-risk/vulnerable populations and I will be using video recordings. The ethics board has okayed video recording on the condition I guarantee there will be no audio captured because of the sensitive nature of the material that might be captured. Does anyone know of any video equipment I can buy that will guarantee that? The only way I know how right now is to mute the video recorder, but if I can buy a specific type of video recorder, I would much rather do that so I am not on any grey zone. I have to buy the video recorder anyway, so it's best I invest in the right one from the beginning. Thank you.
  11. @TakeruK, @Need Coffee in an IV, @fuzzylogician, and others who might be interested; So my grades were all released today and it turns out I didn't do as badly as I thought. I actually managed an A in all my classes. I just saw my graduate director this morning as he asked me to come by after the grades were released and his conclusion was that I didn't do as badly as I thought I did. He looked like he was trying so hard not to laugh while he talked to me this morning. I'm putting this here just in case somebody else is going to panic at the end of the year for similar reasons and wondered if there was going to be light at the end of the tunnel.
  12. @TakeruK, @Need Coffee in an IV, and @fuzzylogician, Thank you very much for your replies and words of support. You don't know how much this means to me. I've taken your advice and contacted my advisor at the disability resource centre at the university. The autoreply said she was away but she replied quite quickly (guess I sounded frantic enough!). I then contacted the department chair who also got back to me almost instantly. Both said to come and see them when term starts next week. Both had been, naturally, unaware I've been struggling from a disability- and health - related problem. The department chair also said he hadn't heard any complaints about my performance so far when they had their year - end review of all the students in my cohort so I'm not entirely doomed yet. He also mentioned students struggle in various capacities in the first term (usually from just the shock of transitioning from undergrad to Grad work) that faculty are used to seeing zombie students for the first couple of terms that they shrug it off as normal when students don't sleep or party too much. He's not sure yet what to do about all the different profs I have every day but I guess it's a good start. I also emailed my PI who also said to come chat - - she thought I was having trouble talking to her because I was nervous around her and just needed time to warm up (that's true, too; the stress of trying to figure out how to tell people without being labelled incompetent just made my problem so much worse) Thank you for your help. And happy new year.
  13. Hi. I have an invisible disability that involves a chronic health condition and a language processing disability. This recent fall, I started my graduate program at a new university. The university is an R1type university in Canada. Moving to a new place meant I had to adjust to a new health care system and wait in line for a new specialist, which I have yet to see till today. The wait line at student health services was also very long (7 weeks for a new appointment). Long story short, I have been struggling terribly. The stress of a new program and such has also left me sick most of the beginning of the first term. (Note that my disability allows me to have the standard accommodations in place like a tape recorder and extra time for exams, but it doesn't address the actual realities of my situation.) Every day in class and lab has been a terrible uphill climb for me. As I missed a bunch of work at the beginning, I spent an inordinate amount of time playing catch up. Of course by then, a lot of other work started to pile up and i was behind again necessitating more catch up. It was a vicious cycle. I felt like the stupidest person in class as I constantly feel like I'm in a fog from the lack of sleep, my speech is affected because of my disability, and I'm just stressed out, period. It doesn't help that my classes are taught by different professors every day. They call on me in class and I struggle to talk on the spot due to my language disability. I am terrified of approaching my profs because it feels like I will be telling the entire faculty (because classes are taught by a different prof every day) about my problem by the end of the year and I will be known as the stupid student. Being new, I also don't know whom I can trust yet. My new supervisor is great but she is only tangentially related to my program and I don't know if she would appreciate playing "mommy" to personal issues when I really should be able to figure this out. And so I spend so much time studying "extra" hoping that I will be "extra familiar" with the material that when they call on me I can by-pass my language disability and answer them (I can't but I try). That, of course, just means I spend more time stressing, less time sleeping, and digging myself deeper into the hole I'm already in. Has anyone been in this "I really should know how to deal with this better by now" situations? When I was an undergrad, I had the opportunity to get to know my profs and could explain my disability to them. The problem with the way my current doctoral program is structured just makes this so much more difficult. Also I am worried how performing badly so early on in the program is gonna affect my chances of applying for fellowships? (I have a very strong undergraduate GPA and publications) Will the department think they made a mistake admitting me? I will be applying for fellowships in the summer and will have to impress my department before I can get to the university competition. How will a bad first term affect me? And if you're wondering, yes, I'm terribly tired from this horrible term and just overwhelmingly stressed and sleep-deprived. Thank you. Edit: I know this post falls under several sections such as "The bank" and "Coursework, advising, and exams." Apologies if this should have gone there instead!
  14. You could tactfully ask if the program has funds. Don't be rude or pushy. Just enquire respectfully. I did for the programs that interviewed me. Phrase it such that you want to know if there is funding you can "apply" for and you understand if there is none. All were very understanding when I asked. I asked at both schools and one school said when the application gets shortlisted, I get a flat stipend to come out. The second school said they didn't have funds and to ask the PI I was interested in. And surprise! My PI offered to fly me out on her grant. I am now working with her :-)
  15. I know this is late but just in case. My PI was placed on administrative leave that lasted for about 2 weeks. Came back and it was like nothing happened. Whole lab continued as normal. I would advise going directly to a department chair and asking for guidance for future students in this position and whatever you do, don't gossip because the usual suspects of inappropriate relationships with students and such were wrong with this case (and might be for you as well). Department chairs usually know what is going on and can best advice. In my case, PI had a mental-health related outburst that affected some personnel and the department advised us we had no need to worry about our own positions and offered support.
  16. I had a question for previous awardees of the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship and those who have previously tried to apply for this award. I was told that the scholarship is more likely to be won by those in their upper years and to not apply until I was more senior. I am starting my PhD next fall. Is this because more senior students have more things to show for in their application / CV, or does the scholarship just favour those who are more senior? Has anyone tried applying as a 1st year student and been successful? Thank you.
  17. I know this is quite late in the game for an answer, but I'm putting it here because I have a feeling others have the same questions. It is quite dependent on your university and your department the different rules they put in place. I would check. e.g., From McMaster: https://fhs.mcmaster.ca/hr/documents/PermissionToWorkForm.pdf From UBC: https://www.grad.ubc.ca/forms/request-exception-employment-limit-form Generally, the logic is they don't want students to be working so much they neglect their studies, research (and publishing!), and health, especially if what you will be doing is working at a coffee house somewhere or a job that pays minimum wage. However, if you can show you are able to keep your productivity up, are on track for graduating, still be healthy, and that your employment is synergistic to your research, you might be able to build a case.
  18. I'm working on that, too. You probably already read this online, but here's what it says on the CIHR website: The applicant can provide the following information as it cannot be captured in the CCV, that is: Applicants must, for each multi-authored publication relevant to this application, define their role in the publication and indicate their percent contribution to the team effort. Applicants are invited to comment on environmental factors that affected their capacity to publish and to add any other contributions/activities that cannot be captured in the CCV. Does anybody know if they strictly refer to only journal articles/chapters or do posters/conference papers/abstracts count as well? Thank you.
  19. For what it's worth, I find being completely upfront the best thing for me. I remember a conversation with a prof I TA with where she mentioned in passing that it was annoying that she needed to wait at home for the pool cleaners to come and that interfered with her golf outing with a friend. The story then goes that the golf was supposed to lead to some dressage show. I made some comment about loving horses and she asked how often I rode, and I said never, even though I used to volunteer with them just so I could be around them. When she asked why, I told her upfront I didn't have the money to ride. The prof looked at me quite puzzled and I had to explain that the money it cost to ride (equipment, clothes, riding lessons, etc) is equivalent to X number of meals I could eat in a week or month, or maybe part of my rent. She really had zero clue what her students make do with.
  20. Another thing you might want to check is quota. Some departments might only have a quota for a specific council. I was deciding between CIHR and SSHRC, too, but that decision was taken out of my hands when I found out the department I was interested in didn't have a SSHRC quota so I automatically defaulted to CIHR. Then it became a question of tailoring my question to meet CIHR's eligibility.
  21. Thank you for starting this! I'm hoping to apply (CIHR). It sounds so scary though. I would appreciate any and all help as well!
  22. I'm not sure if my answer will help you, but sharing my experience if it would help you. I never applied for the USRA because I was an international student and you had to be either a permanent resident/Canadian citizen to qualify for the USRA. Because of my international student status, I also didn't qualify for mostly all research funding. I very recently became a permanent resident. And not having those other awards didn't seem to hurt me. I got a CGSM this year under CIHR.
  23. I'm probably going to apply this year and completely lost as well!
  24. @Imaginary. Thanks for sharing, and I'm sorry you didn't get it.
  25. Hello! Long time lurker but first time posting. In fact, I just signed up. I am thinking of applying for the Vanier next year. I am curious what candidates who got forwarded by their institutions put for their leadership section. Also, what about research potential? It says in this section that "both the prestige of the Vanier CGS and the stage and nature of the candidate's academic career should be considered." Does this mean if you're a 1st year Phd, they expect you to have fewer publications than a 2nd year and so forth? Or that different research councils have different expectations? (I will be applying to CIHR) Thanks, and good luck for results tomorrow! I wish everyone the best!
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