Should I include an "acknowledgments" section on my CV?

[harrisonfjord]

I recently visited with the graduate coordinator for the Ph.D. program that I will be applying to (mainly for informational interview purposes and to get a feel for the program). I do not have a lot of publications and she suggested that I add an "acknowledgments" section to my CV. Basically, it would be a section where I list the dissertation projects that I have worked on for other students (because my name is directly mentioned in these works, even though I am not an author). Is this a typical thing? I've never seen it before.

Edited May 4, 2014 by harrisonfjord

[bsharpe269]

I would make sure the info is on there somehow, either in a section like that or under your research experiences section. For example, if you helped with a big project and the diessertation stuff was a small part of it then you could include bullet poitns under that project for the dissertations you were acknowedged in. Alternatively, you could mention this in your SOP when talking about the project.

 

I would definitely make sure the info gets into your application. I don't know if the way it happens matters that much so I would just go with what looks best.

[TakeruK]

I agree with bsharpe--I wouldn't make an "acknowledgements" section for this, but every bit of research work I did (whether it was for my thesis or someone else's) went into the second section of my CV (under "research experience").

[fuzzylogician]

I agree with the others -- if you're acknowledged for research contributions, you can mention that project in CV under "research experience" with an explanation of the duration of the project and what you did for it. If you're acknowledged for some small technical support, suggestion, helping to proctor an experiment that you otherwise didn't contribute to, etc., I don't think it should be on your CV at all. Either way, people are thanked in acknowledgements for lots of reasons, not all of which are serious research contributions, so an "acknowledgements" section wouldn't actually tell me whether a particular project actually deserves to be on your CV.

[harrisonfjord]

I apologize guys, I'm not sure I was totally clear on what I worked on. I spent months working on dissertation projects during undergrad (and after I received my degree). I basically helped three graduate students with lit reviews, running the experiment and data analysis for their dissertations. The acknowledgements section would be to show evidence of my contributions since I don't have any publications. These aren't just little experiments that I helped with here and there. I worked on two projects for over 6 months and the other for over 9. I already have them listed in the research experience section, it just seems weird to include a citation for a published work there. In the acknowledgments section of all three dissertations, I am mentioned as part of the research team, so it would be obvious that I contributed more than just some little piece of work here and there.

 

I just figured it would be wise to follow her advice since she's the one who sits in the admissions meetings. She doesn't make final admissions decisions but I'm sure she's seen enough to know what they look for.

Edited May 5, 2014 by harrisonfjord

[TakeruK]

Yes, it makes sense for follow her advice for that particular school since that prof on the admission committee told you to include it. But I am not sure if this is always generally true and it is definitely not the only correct way to do it!

 

In my opinion though, appearing in the "acknowledgements" section is not worth a lot from an outsider's perspective because as fuzzy says, there is no standard on what is included as an acknowledgement. Therefore, whether or not you were acknowledged is not very meaningful. Instead, what you actually did, as you specified in the Research Experience, is what most people will care about. So, I think if you already have that, there is no need for an acknowledgements section. But it will probably not hurt either, so I'd say to not worry about it so much and do whatever makes you feel comfortable!

[harrisonfjord]

Thank you for the input. I agree, there is no real standard for that, I just figured I would find a way to incorporate it since she suggested it specifically. I have made my research contributions very clear on my CV and in my SOP so hopefully it won't to hurt to have it on there. I'm not applying to a traditional program and it is still very new, so I am just following the advice of the faculty/professors in that program. I appreciate you all responding and pointing out the problems with including such a section. From the way she explained it, it seemed like a common practice and I am realizing that it isn't. 

Edited May 12, 2014 by harrisonfjord

[themmases]

I work in research and contribute to lots of projects I'm not an author on (although I do have publications so my situation is not exactly the same as yours). I don't use an acknowledgements section. Instead, one of the bullet points for my job is a count of all the completed, peer-reviewed projects that used my assistance. The other bullet points can give a sense of the type of assistance your job entailed.

 

Here is my description of my current job:

• Screened and enrolled over 300 subjects in [technique] research
• Collected and coded medical data for 16 research studies
• Managed projects resulting in 6 papers, 10 presentations, and 4 posters accepted to academic journals and conferences, many by first-time investigators
• Assisted the authors and editors of 8 book chapters in [field]

My reasoning is that people who will see your CV generally know what types of tasks research assistants help with in their field, but what they need to know is how much responsibility you had and whether you were a net contributor to the program. Acknowledgements kind of get at this (and if someone making admissions decisions at a school you want to attend wants it, definitely put it on the version of your CV you give them), but they're an imperfect measure and there aren't really clear norms about their use like with authorship. I've seen admin assistants acknowledged for proofreading; but in my department people mostly use the acknowledgements section for their colleagues they discussed the idea with, and they either give me authorship or not-- rarely an acknowledgement.

 

If you're worried about this, format a CV for this school the way the person asked and give a more conventional one to other schools that haven't expressed a preference. Your SOP will add extra detail about your contributions, which can be significant even if they didn't result in authorship.