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The In the spirit of how other SE communities expanded on their current FAQ entry of "What kind of questions can I ask here?", I propose that ours read as follows:

This site is for academics of all levels—from aspiring graduate and professional students to senior researchers—as well as anyone in or interested in research-related or research-adjacent fields. If you have a question about...

  • Life as a graduate student, postdoctoral researcher, university professor
  • Transitioning from undergraduate to graduate researcher
  • Inner workings of research departments
  • Requirements and expectations of academicians

... then you're in the right place!

To help people answer your question, please recognize that this forum is frequented by academicians from across the globe, from across diverse fields research, and with a wide range of experience, from first-year graduate student to tenured professor. State your question as much context as you can to help ensure that you'll receive a directed, relevant answer.

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  • eykanal: Regarding your flag. The [faq] tag is used to mark the most frequently asked and answered questions on Meta (i.e. it comprises the 'faq'). It is not used to mark discussions about the faq.
    – Robert Cartaino
    Commented Feb 21, 2012 at 22:13
  • @RobertCartaino - Huh. Learn something new every day.
    – eykanal
    Commented Feb 22, 2012 at 0:04

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"Enrolled in higher education" means undergraduate students as well. So I think you'd want to say

This site is for academics of all levels—from aspiring graduate and professional students to senior researchers—as well as anyone in or interested in research-related or research-adjacent fields.

This allows us to cover the full range of people, while making clear that we're not really addressing undergraduate admissions.

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  • Good clarification. I'll take issue with one part: "post-graduate students", on first blush, reads as "post-doctorates". Unless you specifically mean something by "post-graduate", I think the term "graduate students" would be more clear.
    – eykanal
    Commented Feb 21, 2012 at 20:27
  • I mean by "postgraduate" anybody who's beyond their respective undergraduate degrees. This would include MD-PhD students, and other disciplines that might not fall under the traditional graduate student rubric.
    – aeismail
    Commented Feb 21, 2012 at 21:21
  • how about "post-undergraduate" then? Or, if the term "post-graduate" is the correct one and I'm just unfamiliar with it, let me know, as well.
    – eykanal
    Commented Feb 21, 2012 at 21:42
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    "Postgraduate" means "after the first degree," so basically exactly the definition we want. Perhaps we point them to this definition as part of the FAQ.
    – aeismail
    Commented Feb 21, 2012 at 22:22
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    I agree that the term "post-graduate" or "post-undergraduate" can be confusing, so I'd be in favor of "This site is for academics (from graduate-students to full professors and senior researchers), and anyone interested in research-related or research-adjacents fields"
    – user102
    Commented Feb 21, 2012 at 22:35
  • @CharlesMorisset - I like your idea, and I changed the answer based on the comment. What do you (and aeismail) think?
    – eykanal
    Commented Feb 22, 2012 at 0:19
  • I think "aspiring undergraduates" is exactly the group that should not be covered!
    – aeismail
    Commented Feb 22, 2012 at 3:03
  • I agree with aeismail, I understand "aspiring undergraduates" as those who are not yet undergrad, and who want to be, which is not really the focus of this site. But if you put "aspiring graduate students", then I think it's much better :)
    – user102
    Commented Feb 22, 2012 at 10:13
  • The sooner we get the expanded faq in place, the better its gonna be - there are some rogue users who really need to read it!
    – TCSGrad
    Commented Feb 22, 2012 at 10:28

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