Professor Definition and 296 Threads

In my philosophy course it says: (translating it into English, don't mind typo's) Isn't this very wrong? If you only had the particles (H's and O's) and were able to analyze the force fields around them, wouldn't you perfectly be able to predict that there would be something as a liquid as a...

Hello, Has anyone done this? It may be considered very rude, but it's pretty custom among math/physics majors to do the coursework and just skip their classes (and in fact some math/science profs recognize this). The reason to do this, of course, is time. I generally find it quite difficult...

Advantages of being a professor at a "top" school? Hi PF, What advantages are there for professors who go to highly regarded schools, as opposed to mid level schools? I am assuming there may be higher quality peers (professors), but what else could one get at a "top" school that one couldn't...

Homework Statement My professor wants us to derive a differential equation for the current in a circuit. The circuit has a battery with voltage E, resistor with resistance (iR)??, and inductance L. It's in series. The Attempt at a Solution What REALLY confuses me are these things...

My dream is to be successful as a researcher in some area of physics that I haven't decided on yet (I am going to start my Freshman year at the University of Arizona in September, so I don't have the experience to know which area I will find most enjoyable or find the most meaning in). I am...

In recent debates of whether to pursue a career in Computer Science or Economics (both hopefully in academia), I've wondered how the measure of success differed between the two. It seems that "success" in computer science is a little bit more straightforward, whereas economics... I have no...

First time I've ever heard of anything like this: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100213/ap_on_re_us/us_ala_university_shooting

Hi all, I wanted some advice on my research-advisor. I was fortunate to have enjoyed a nice night in town with my research-advisor and his girlfriend. He insisted on paying for everything, and he did. I was quite grateful, and have been wondering about a way to return the favour, and/or conduct...

Hi everyone, I wanted to ask a question. How do you find out about a professor's demeanor, approach to problems, temperament, extraversion, introversion, and other things that enter into "researcher"/"grad-student' interactions? That's not something I can really e-mail a professor and ask them...

I would like details (e.g. salary, working conditions, hours) about being a college professor. I've often contemplated it. By the way, I know all of those vary from college to college, but please try to give an average.

There are many threads that talk about the importance of Undergraduate Research (for Grad school apps), but I just have a few questions, that maybe someone with experience could answer. 1.) What use is an undergrad to a professor? To me I don't see what we could do for them that they...

For a lot of programs, you're supposed to ask for recommendations from 3 different professors. In an ideal situation, one could develop close relationships with 3 different professors, but that usually doesn't happen. So, I'm thinking, how well should I (or anyone else) know a professor before...

Hi all, I graduated with a B.S. in mechanical engineering in August, started my job in November, and have definitely enjoyed myself. I like my job, it's a great company, and I definitely see myself staying here long term. But a question one of my supervisors posed to me about a month ago really...

Just as the thread title says, what does it take? The reason why I am asking this is because I've been a math tutor for the past 2 years and I actually enjoy helping and tutoring students with algebra. Algebra is definitely my strongest subjects that I tutor and people find that I make most of...

Letter to a professor! Hello, I'm doing my PhD work and I'm planning to go to a university that has experimental opportunities on my thesis. I'm thinking to send a letter to the professors who are the heads of those experimental laboratories. I found some places and profs. But I have a...

I've heard from PhdComics, a fair few members here, and from a person I know that's not from the internets that becoming a professor is basically impossible. I have a hard time believing this. It seems to me that if you get a PhD at a decent university, did a legitimate thesis, and found a...

Hi everyone, Could you give me your thoughts on the following?: I am currently doing double major in math an physics, and doing pretty alright in both (although better in physics than in math). My long term goal is to get a PhD in pure math, because although I love physics, math has been my...

I would like to discuss my solution to a particular limits problem on my exam. I was to evaluate the following limit: = \lim_{x\to 0}\frac{tan(5x)}{sin(2x)} 3. The following is the exact solution I wrote on the exam My work is in BLACK My professors corrections are in RED = \lim_{x\to...

I had a physics test last week. When I got the results, there were some correction mistakes in my opinion, so now it's being revised. I had a small disagreement with my professor over one of the theoric exercises, and tomorrow i'll probably be having the same argument again, so I thought of...

In any general university, which professor tend to make little more money? Or, are they about the same?

So is it true that if you have a constant velocity therefore you have no change in acceleration so A=0 and if you have no acceleration then you have no Fnet? And is that the case in ANY force problem? Thanks!

Help on "Frequency Distribution" - disagreement with professor... Homework Statement Refer to the following frequency distribution on days absent during a calendar year by employees of a manufacturing company: Days Absent Cumulative Number of Employees 0 up to 3...

I for one am not satisfied with my professor's presentation of QM. The book she uses for the class is terrible(Peebles) and doesn't do a good job transitioning students from a classical mechanics mindset to a quantum mechanics mindset; Peebles is a graduate level textbook and so many of the...

Ok, I am currently in school in Queesnland, Australia and I want to become a Professor in the field of Cosmology/Quantum Gravity (theoretical not experimental physics). Now what I want to know is would I have to do my undergraduate/postgraduate studies overseas in the states or Europe to be...

Homework Statement I recently was counted off during a math quiz stating that I made a mistake in my arithmetic regarding the derivative of a function using the limit approach. (The long way with the lim h->0) The equation was f(x) = -16x^2 + 20x and I was suppose to find f'(x) using...

I have heard that at the University of Minnesota there was one professor opening with 300 candidates. This makes it sound very unrealistic for anyone, however smart, to ever hope to be a professor. So could it be there are worse schools, with less competition? I know part of the equation is...

Hello, I haven't posted in some time but I've got a question. How does it feel like to be a physics professor? What do you do throughout the day? How much flexibility do you have as one? How much do you have to teach and how much can you research? Also, can you chose what you want to...

To be more specific, are there any statistics on the percentage of physics PHDs who want to become professors, and the percentage that actually do become professors?

Hey everyone. I was wondering if anyone here could help me please? I've been struggling for several months now trying to find an opportunity to do research with a professor. I've sent emails to several professors. In the email I would ask directly if they had any positions available for...

He said that the integral below equal to zero by an easy application of the divergence theorem. \int_{\Omega }^{}f^{5}(f_{x}+2f_{y})=0 where f is some function Can somebody explain how?

So I talk to a professor about an undergraduate position in his lab (I'm in my second year) and he accepted me, got me a scholarship, and even offered me a fellowship for the summer if I am available during the summer. But it seems that he is always busy and did not arrange for me to meet with...

Here is the dilemma that I am facing with these two professors. The question is should I work with Prof A or B. With Professor A, I have a 35-50% chance of publishing a paper. I have been working with Prof. A since this semester. He is only a research assistant professor who works under the...

When you consider joining a professor's research group, how can you bring up the subject of publication in a discrete way. What's a better way than to ask the professor straight up "if I work for you, will I get a publication in a relatively short period of time?" How do you raise this...

I thought this was pretty funny. I can't believe people get paid to write this crap. :smile...

Alright, well I wanted to see what help I could get here, my professor had assigned this problem and when someone in class asked a question, he started doing it on the board and after using ~15min of class time decided there was an issue with the problem. The problem got progressively harder...

i'd like to thank one of my professors for writing me a letter of rec to help me get into the REU program. i can't think of any ways to thank him other than writing a thank-you card or buying him chocolates? :smile: can you guys think of better ways? also, i have finals this week and then have...

Hello, I am currently in Australia. I want to become a professor in Mathematics and Theoretical Physics and do research in those fields. I also what to use my ability in IT and computers. More specifically, i would like to work with Apple computers. Can i do both? That is, can i be a...

Hi all, I was wondering what are the prospects of becoming a professor as a particle physicist. Since the LHC experiments have over 5000 scientists and then there's neutrino, heavy ion, dark matter/energy searches, and more, it seems that getting a professorship after ~3 yrs of postdoc work for...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24273418/

When I submitted my article I did not provide any titles. I'm not a Prof, so I was wondering how on Earth they decided that I'm a Prof. The first message I received from the journal was an automatic message and it already put the title Professor before my name. In communications with the...

I am a freshman undergrad in physics and want to apply for a summer research scholarship which is given to one or two physics undergraduates in the university. The catch is that you need to have a "proposed faculty supervisor." Tomorrow, I plan to ask my physics professor from last quarter if...

I've been taking this numerical analysis class for 6 weeks. I should be getting an A+ in the class based on my understanding of the material and how hard I work. However right now I only have a B.(I've working my ass off to boost my medicore gpa) On the midterm there was a proof where we had...

Hello, I am incredibly, curious. Who was the youngest professor? Also, generally what age do you become a professor of pure mathematics? And, I am going to uni at the age of 16, when should i become a professor? Thanks

Hello, recently I was listening to a radio talk given by Professor Brian Greene. I have always been able to understand him in his books, but on this particular occasion, he said something that I couldn't quite understand. He said that there is no edge to space, only an edge to time. If the...

Is it more or less than 6 hours per day?

Recently I attended a tutorial conducted by a professor in an introductory course. After the lesson, a female student approached the professor for the answer to the last few parts of a question in the tutorial which he did not cover due to time constraints, saying that the answer may be derived...

And also check this one. Homework Statement A physics professor on the Earth gives an exam to her students.who are in the spacecraft traveling at a speed v relarive to the Earth.The moment the craft passes the professor,she signals to start of the exam.She wishes her students to have time...

Well I know it must be hard obtaining a Ph.D, but assuming you are capable of obtaining it, how hard, generally, is it to be a professor? On what criterias do they depend on? What are the odds of becoming one?

Is there a website that most US universities use to post open positions for science & engineering tenure track professorships? Regards

I'm about to start my graduate life and was wondering if anyone has any experience being a college professor. I know the obvious, publish papers, be good at research, etc... I have no idea how to publish a paper right now, but hopefully I'll learn that in grad school. I noticed that there is...