Latest in Comments on Science and Academia
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Pay-walled Research Papers Do Not Constitute Published Work
I just had another discussion with a reviewer (by way of an editor) who insisted that I cite (presumably their) work buried behind an Elsevier paywall. How obnoxious can you be? It is 2019 and there are still editors and reviewers who consider articles, which are not freely accessible on the web, published research? That’s…
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How Software Engineering Teaching and the Legal Department Collide
Any non-trivial university has a legal department, often several (at least one for matters of teaching and one for matters of fundraising). The legal department concerned with teaching has to protect the university from lawsuits by students. By extension, this department protects students from professors who ask too much of them. Often, there may be…
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Inverted Research Funding
Most people believe that scientists first perform basic (“fundamental”) research and then perform applied research. Basic research delivers the fundamental insights that then get detailed and refined as they hit reality in applied research. Along with this comes the request that basic research funding should be provided by the country (because few companies would ever…
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It Does Exist!
During a trip to Porto’s Ceija I was able to confirm that one of the professorial caste’s most cherished yet elusive objects does exist: The conceptual machine. In this case, it is a 3D metal printer, and it printed this piece of hardware (and many others); this one took about 12h to finish.
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Sunday’s Ultra Short Story: That’s so Crazy!
At the doctor’s office, the nurse said: “Oh, you are a professor! That is so crazy!” I had to agree. PS: I understand that this post may feel facetious to some. To me it is comic relief that I want to share with similarly inflicted colleagues.
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The Uni1 Project (2016)
Abstract: The aim of this project outline is to describe how universities and other higher education institutions (HEIs) can work with businesses to conduct teaching projects for and with students. Both parties stand to benefit; the projects generate recruitment, outsourcing and innovation (ROI) for businesses and provide HEIs with new partners for cooperation, a source…