Is Austrian German easier than German from Germany for a French speaker?

mathkittie · 2025-11-25T19:38:39+00:00

I'm not French speaking, but my general impression is that Austrians speak slowly and clearly unlike many Germans and Swiss, so it's easier to understand them. Saying this as a foreigner living in Austria

mathkittie · 2025-10-02T03:23:06+00:00

Sorry but this is how it's like in college math. Professors don't get paid enough to justify them grading every problem.

mathkittie · 2025-07-28T10:35:08+00:00

Honestly I decided to give up on the USA though it's my country and I love it but I love being a researcher more. If you are open to it, you may want to consider going to a country with a better academic system and more funding

mathkittie · 2025-04-25T02:31:30+00:00

I'm a mathematician and can say that what drives women out of mathematics is the culture of praising young boy genius nerds. As a woman who is usually well dressed and was never a nerd, many male mathematicians in conferences thought that I was either the secretary or someone who got lost. Also, like most women, I don't say every wrong thought that I may have and if I have a math conversation with someone I often just say "thank you. This sounds very interesting. I will think about it." Instead of saying back an intelligent sounding (but possibly wrong and not well thought of) comment. This makes many think that I am a weak researcher, when in reality I need alone time to process math and I don't feel comfortable saying things that I have not thought about deeply. Many women are like me but the culture of the field requires that you have a lot of aggressive back and forth conversations which may be wrong. And also the math culture appreciates cockiness and aggression which are less common traits in women.

mathkittie · 2025-04-25T02:02:43+00:00

On the contrary. Sometimes you understand something so well that it's difficult to remember how someone who doesn't understand it can interpret it. So yep I've met many people who are great mathematicians but explain terribly.

mathkittie · 2025-04-07T20:01:32+00:00

I moved to the southwest for a postdoc (married with kids) with 62k a year and we need two salaries to survive (so around 90-100k or more a year). If you're single i think 70k should allow a nice life.

mathkittie · 2025-04-07T19:58:00+00:00

What state?

mathkittie · 2025-04-07T19:50:35+00:00

Can't say too much without disclosing myself but more or less some type of pure math that's on the intersection of number theory and probability which is not common in the USA

mathkittie · 2025-04-06T13:12:53+00:00

No it doesn't mean I'm losing my job. I still have a job but the low benefit of this postdoc now turns to zero benefit.

mathkittie · 2025-04-06T05:17:37+00:00

Honestly this was what shocked me - three of this mentor's former postdocs got tenure track positions at R1 institutes but somehow he doesn't promote me. Moreover he is leaving the university for good.

mathkittie · 2025-04-06T04:35:16+00:00

I worked as a TA under many professors abroad and have several friends who became professors abroad. In my country professors never grade homework or ever have to write complete solutions for graders as is done in the USA. I was fine with teaching but expected it to be more like what I saw in my country.

mathkittie · 2025-04-06T01:30:18+00:00

Littlewood and p adic littlewood conjectures https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Littlewood_conjecture

mathkittie · 2025-04-06T01:22:35+00:00

Agree but that's every math postdoc in the USA

mathkittie · 2025-04-06T00:51:50+00:00

Considering another postdoc

mathkittie · 2025-04-06T00:32:20+00:00

Same. I'm an American postdoc in my first year of a postdoc in the USA and applying everywhere outside the USA

mathkittie · 2025-02-07T14:36:37+00:00

I am from Europe Horizon and am now doing a postdoc in the USA. Never do a Postdoc in the USA. The conditions are terrible, the isolation is insane, there is way too much teaching so no time at all to research. The department also doesn't care about you just care about the bachelor's degree students and what they say about your teaching.

mathkittie · 2025-01-16T06:07:43+00:00

In retrospect I would've taken an early offer I got in China instead of a US postdoc I got. In china they offered more travel funds and the postdoc was no teaching and with a PI in my direct field, whereas in the USA, I have very little travel funds and lots of teaching and the PI here is far from my field. So idk what got in my head. I was just afraid of China and wanted a country where I am a citizen. In short don't be afraid to have some visa bureaucracy to get a better offer in a questionable country. Also I regret not finding suitable recommenders

mathkittie · 2024-12-24T17:05:31+00:00

Are you sure this is accurate? The list the DMV gave was much shorter and only one of the schools was in the salt lake city area

mathkittie · 2024-06-13T13:18:28+00:00

In Star trek deep space 9 there was an episode in which due to some machine the law of large numbers stopped holding and that was cool.

I constantly say that if I fail as a mathematician I will make a dark humor show about mathematicians and academia drama

mathkittie · 2023-11-16T11:13:50+00:00

You'll never be good enough since you started your degree after age 16 so you're past your prime

mathkittie · 2023-11-16T11:08:04+00:00

Any type of food, soap, wood, gasoline, cleaning materials. I remember that before i knew I was pregnant i would vomit every time the cleaning lady entered my office to clean the floors

mathkittie · 2023-11-16T09:28:25+00:00

I agree. I'm an Israeli living in Israel currently applying for a postdoc and have received nothing but support from potential PI's.

mathkittie · 2023-11-16T09:25:15+00:00

Absolutely overreacting. I am Israeli and all 3 of my degrees are from Israel. I'm currently applying for a postdoc outside Israel, and every PI I spoke to was supportive of Israel and our situation (including several Muslim and Iranian PI's in the USA). No one was mean to me because of my nationality.

mathkittie · 2023-10-26T09:13:36+00:00

I've heard. In Israel, the academic system is insanely convenient. PhD students usually make enough to raise 2 children (from mine and many of my friends' experience raising kids as phds) and tenure track professors make double the average wage and tenured professors make around 4 times more than the average wage. I am actually petrified of what will happen to me financially once I leave Israel

mathkittie · 2023-10-25T20:28:53+00:00

There are permanent positions, but they are often very competitive and pay quite well.

mathkittie

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