naturalog

American History
R_Escobar (20th century, American Indian), crazedandinfused (antebellum, intellectual), hopin'-n-prayin' (southern, religious), stevemcn (transnational), Simple Twist of Fate (early American), zb642 (20th century, labor/working-class culture), BCEmory08 (19th-20th century Catholicism, labor)

European History
Kelkel (Modern Germany, political), goldielocks (Britain), SapperDaddy (Eastern and Central Europe), kotov (Modern Romania, Holocaust, labor), RevolutionBlues (Modern Western Europe/France labor and leftist politics), theregalrenegade (18th/19th cent British Empire/environment), jrah822 (19th century Britain; emphasis on colonial relationship to India), grlu0701 (Intellectual & cultural history, fin de siecle Germany and Italy), naturalog (modern European [mostly German] intellectual and cultural/sexuality and gender/political radicalism)

African History
Oseirus (precolonial/early colonial West Africa), Singwaya18 (20th century East Africa), Safferz (20th century Horn/Northeast Africa)

Latin American History
teachgrad (20th century, Southern Cone), BH-history

East Asian History
alleykat

Near/Middle Eastern History
uhohlemonster

Atlantic World
sandyvanb

Global/World History
cooperstreet (Cold War)

Jewish History
uhohlemonster, hopin'-n-'prayin, kotov (Holocaust), naturalog (sometimes modern European/Holocaust)

Science/Technology
shaxmaty1848 (Cold War)

It's just like any other job with a "no-compete" contract. Any employer can stipulate requirements for funding if you accept them, and if one of those requirements is that you not work a side job, so be it. As I mentioned above, most of the competitive national fellowships (NSF GRFP, etc) have similar wording that prohibits any outside employment without the express permission of the program officer/advisor. You won't find any other salaried, full time job at any company that allows you to have side-employment without express permission of the management, it's a quite common requirement.

But then, lots of people get hung up on the "10 hour" or "20 hour" assistantships. A funding package is for you, full time, and includes your assistantship, tuition remission, and any other packaged benefits. And it's intended to go to someone that's a full time student, between research, teaching, and coursework. And most places that prohibit outside work consider it to be a full time job, which doesn't leave room for other employment. The point is that the assistantship is only a (relatively) small part of the duties that you are being paid for, although it's the "job of record"- it's just like any other salaried, full time job. Once you're no longer being paid for the hour, but rather by the job on a yearly salary, the type of work changes, and you're technically on the job around the clock as needed, until the job is finished.

The point is that you could be making *more* progress on any of your other work if you aren't working an outside job, since that time can be devoted to work instead. This doesn't apply in the same way to other "free-time" activitites, that are required for a healthy, happy and holistic life. No one begrudges you for having a life outside the lab, but if you're going to be working anywhere, it should be on your research.

And as to completing all obligations, if one of the obligations you signed off on is "not having an outside job", then you aren't completing all of the obligations.

And maybe I'm one of the crazy ones, but I TA for free every semester, because it's a great source of teaching experience for my resume.

NOTHING wrong with a side job. In fact, I think it is good for your wallet *and* your mind. I really want a part-time job (even though I am fully funded) to bring in some extra cash and help me manage my time. There is nothing wrong with a waitress, retail, library, coffee shop, whatever job as long as it doesn't take over your study time.

Where have you seen this enumerated; I would be very curious.

And it has nothing to do with disrespect/respect so lets please not get into histrionics on this issue. There is ZERO credible reason an instructor has to not allowing his or her course to be recorded by a student for private/personal use and as a study aid.

They can take the matter as "seriously" as they want; at maximum we get to have a discussion about protected intellectual property and allowable reproductions of - garauntee the student comes out on the winning end of that conversation.

Like far_to_go, I had several professors who were very much against being recorded, and my school took this matter VERY seriously. I would never recommend that anyone try to hide or otherwise conceal recording devices from professors. You run the risk of getting caught and landing in some serious trouble, for one thing. But it's also just downright disrespectful to go against a professor's legal right to not be recorded.

That instructor is blowing smoke out of their ass and should be ashamed for having such a reaction. Theres no way they wouldn't get laughed out of the Presidents office if they even tried such a thing.

If the instructor says "no", just get a Livescribe pen, or find a spot where the instructor can not see.

A note on using voice recorders: MAKE SURE YOU ASK THE PROFESSOR'S PERMISSION BEFORE RECORDING, Even if you're only doing it for your own personal use, it's important to ask first. Apparently, recording without asking can be some kind of violation of intellectual property rights. One of the profs in my department got very upset when she found out that a grad student was doing this and threatened to have the student expelled (not kidding, wish I were!)

As for the notebook question: yes, I use a notebook. I only use one, with different sections, for all my courses and meetings; I find that it's much easier than carrying a bunch of different notebooks. Having my laptop open in class usually creates too much distraction for me, so I try to avoid it.

Sehr geehrte IIE/FSB,

Wir brauchen eine Antwort! Vielen Dank.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen,
Die ungeduldigen Finalisten

I know it's still too early for Sub-Saharan Africa notifications, but when the time comes, any BOTSWANA grantees are welcome to PM me for advice about moving here, living arrangements, etc. I am a current grantee in Botswana and would be happy to impart what I've learned about finding a place to live (and I have a car to sell too!)

Omg, please don't tell me they're notifying people on Sunday!

ARE THERE NO SAFE DAYS?!

will this be the week?

Ray1246 only pointed out the troll... Sheesh. And the other person stating that their friend had heard was the person who said they were aware a "CANADIAN ETA"... Another troll... We're becoming a magnet for them I guess. Guys, I don't think any German ETAs have been awarded yet. Don't panic. And don't give Ray negative-whatever-those-things-are on the side.

I just found out today! I won a full grant to Austria! I can't believe it! This is my third time applying...so third time is the charm! Good luck to all of you-

They don't "deserve" your time? What about you? Do you think you deserve their time? What if they think you don't because you look like you don't even care enough to dress appropriately. Especially in a university setting, you are one or several ranks below others. If you don't think they deserve your time, they'll send you home. Problem solved. I doubt that's what you're going for.
Ad. sweatpants being comfortable: Yes, they are. The most comfortable clothing for me is none. I like running around naked. Seriously. I do it a lot at home. But I don't go outside like this because I respect others (and I think it's even illegal in many states ;-))

In your previous posting you list so many things that are very rude and impolite: being late, putting your feet on an empty seat, copying others because you're too lazy to do your own work etc. And that you want to seem like you are confident about it is another sign of arrogance. I think you might be pretty young and you remind me of my 24-year-old brother who is going through the same phase in his life where he thinks he is the center of the universe and he can dictate the rules or at least break them without any consequences. You can of course do this (he's been doing it for some years now, although not in such an extreme way) - but don't be surprised if people don't react the way you want them to and if they just decide it's YOU who doesn't deserve their time.

You know the message you're sending out to the world with these sweat pants? You're telling the world: "I give up. I can't compete in normal society. I'm miserable, so I might as well be comfortable."


At least that was Seinfeld's take on it

Personally I never got the people who couldn't pull on a pair of jeans to go out. I definitely witnessed the creation of the leggings-as-pants craze at my university. Dressing up for anything formal is a definite must. I even dressed up for class presentations.

Think of the situation and whether that is appropriate or not. Sitting in an office or the library, studying, it shouldn't matter. Presenting a paper at a conference, you will want to dress nice.

Guys.... just so we can get this out of the way I'm pretty sure no one on this board has any idea:

When acceptances for any country will be going out
When rejections for any country will be going out
Anything about the Germany ETA program's notifications
Where Cara Doble is
How many people were recommended for certain programs (except Germany - 280).



On the bright side, I've learned you could not PAY me enough $$$ to work as a program officer somewhere like IIE. I think I would have an aneurysm from answering so many emails about the same thing.

Ich hoffe, dass heute der Tag ist! Vielleicht werden die Fulbright-Götter glücklich sein, weil dieser auf Deutsch ist. haha

I hope so! I don't think it's unreasonable to believe that the new form of communication will cut down on wait times. Still, the postmark dates on notification letters for our region have been almost surprisingly regular over the years...'tis a blessing and a curse, I suppose

A few weeks after my first semester in grad school started, I asked a visiting speaker (in a personal chat) what she did to make it through her first year of her PhD. She said, "I bought a comfortable reading chair and a very large bottle of vodka, and I made good use of both." I followed her advice ;-)

It is an example. Being a manager does not exempt one from administrative work, as I am 100% sure any manager in an office would tell you. People have corresponded with their program managers and posted about it earlier in this thread-- all evidence points to their plates being full. It is part of their job to correspond with us, it is NOT their job to cater to our near-neurotic need for information overload. If you do get a hold of them, I'm sure you'll hear the vague "in the near future" or "sometime in April (or May or June)" that other people have gotten.





Sound advice. Clearly this wait is driving us to the brink.

Hey...take it down a notch. We're all friends here, and there's no reason to be so negative. Just a thought.

Do you really think that the program manager is doing all the administrative work? You think he is on the phone with applicants while typing out acceptance emails? That's utterly absurd.