Thesis Contribution: Useful for EB1A/NIW?

K

kiwigc

Registered Users (C)
I have contributed to some thesis in the US. Wondering if it is useful when applying for EBA1/NIW.

The situaiton is an student's advisor contacts me and arranges for discussions in which I answer a list of the advisor and student's questions. The student has acknowledged this in his thesis.

If it is useful at all, what proof do I need? The thesis? Or can I just ask the advisor for a 1 page letter confirming my contribution?

Thanks for any/all help.

Regards,

KiwiGC
 
I think, you can get a letter, has to be a strong one, if it's an independent prof, that will help showing your recognition in the field. Otherwise, it wouldn't have much effect as getting acknowledged in thesis and papers are quite common.
 
What might be useful is if the advisor is willing to "recreate" the letter asking you to contribute to the thesis... it would start off something like "Dear Dr. X, I am writing in the hopes that you could lend your expertise to the thesis of one of my graduate students, Ms. Y. We would greatly value your opinion as we consider you to be the leader in the field of Z, and Ms. Y is incorporating your previous work on Z into her project.... etc.

Rather than another long, tedious reference letter for the adjudicator to read, this type of invitation that explicitly refers to you as the expert in the field can be viewed more as objective evidence. For the years leading up to my application, any time I was asked to do anything (review manuscripts, serve on committees, etc), I always asked if they would be willing to put their request in writing and clearly state that I was being asked because of my reputation in the field.

these types of letters are also shorter than reference letters and easier for the adjudicator to read. Of course I have no evidence for this, but it just seems to make sense!

Best of luck.
 
So Wary OR
I have received a couple of invitation letters from editors of journals asking me to submit manuscripts. It states the following:
" The journal xxx publishes original short reports on all areas of rational drug design and drug discovery including ........and structure-activity relationships. The emphasis is on publishing quality papers very rapidly. Letters are processed rapidly taking full advantage of .......
In view of your expertise and contributions to this field, it is my pleasure to
invite you to contribute a letter article to "Letters in Drug Design &
Discovery" in a cutting-edge field"
Does such a letter help in the application as an evidence.
THank you
 
hnks:

As an expert of your field, you know more or less what are the most relevant journals in your field. I receive such letters too, but I am not going to use them as I know they are only after my money (to be paid for publication).

Does the journal tell in its invitation letter or website how much they charge for publishing your paper? If so, forget it. If not, check with your friends in the field, do they receive similar invitations? If yes, forget it.

If no to both, they you may consider them.

You should know there are plenty of fake conferences and journals out there. I know of a famous university group who managed to get a fabricated paper into one such conference!

I hope this helps.

Regards,

KiwiGC
 
I agree with kiwigc-
"Invitations to submit" are essentially solicitations from journals who need submissions to stay afloat. The exception would be a request to write an editorial for a major, reputable journal to discuss an article in that issue, for example (e.g. the cover story of JAMA, NEJM, etc usually have an accompanying editorial from an expert in the area).

USCIS could easily argue that being invited to submit an article is not evidence of achievement, but rather having journal articles accepted in high-quality journals is evidence of achievement. I think they know that pretty much everyone (even grad students!) get these generic invites.

Good luck!
 
kiwigc said:
I have contributed to some thesis in the US. Wondering if it is useful when applying for EBA1/NIW.

The situaiton is an student's advisor contacts me and arranges for discussions in which I answer a list of the advisor and student's questions. The student has acknowledged this in his thesis.

If it is useful at all, what proof do I need? The thesis? Or can I just ask the advisor for a 1 page letter confirming my contribution?

Thanks for any/all help.

Regards,

KiwiGC
Click to expand...

Here is how I would approach the problem and its solution



For EB1-EA:They look for unsolicited letter reviewing your work or requesting opinion or advise in the field
Evidence:To substantiate that go back and look for original letters written by thesis/adviser requesting your help ,or requesting your advise.(paper letters is good but even emails are fine). Second Then get a current letter from them attesting to the above that help was requested because he is top most expert in the field.Third take the print of the acknowledgment from thesis.
Taken Together they point that you well known expert in the field and you reviewed the work.

Now the second part is problem is that this amount of work is more than normal{remember you are EA:) ]

Evidence: Get statistics of how many people are reviewers say a faculty is reviewer for average 2-3 thesis and you do 5-6 that is excessive. look for stats on education and university workforce sites.
If you cannot get that evidence then ask the 2 senior professors to opine write that this kind of reviews is excessive in their opinion.

When you prepare the petition put all these must be together (because taken together they support your statement) and underline the work unsolicited (ie the evidence was available before itself and not manufactured for the petition

for NIW:it is not useful (They want your contribution not your caliber) but still you can write it as that your expertise has been used to evaluate or critique other people thesis .the evidence is similar as above
 
I have one more question
I received a couple of emails from researchers in Pakistan who want are interested in having a postdoc in my lab.
One specifically wrote:
"I went through your article entitled “XXX” and thus have interest to conduct research work under your skilled supervision. I hope I will be capable to satisfy you with my research performance. I hope my proposal and the details information in enclosed CV will attract your vision and you will be kind enough to take measure to appoint me as your co-researcher to work on. I am waiting for your valuable comments and suggestion. Your prompt reply
will enhance my next steps."

I am simply a postdoc in a lab, but because my publications have me as a corresponding author, they contacted me thinking I am the PI or something.
DO these emails help in your application? Are they better for NIW or EB1?
Thank you
 
hnks said:
I have one more question
I received a couple of emails from researchers in Pakistan who want are interested in having a postdoc in my lab.
Thank you
Click to expand...

Hnks
NO USE I CAN THINK OF
As another postdoc I know you are very qualified person .so said please remember the person looking at your application is hard nosed USC.So avoid
any letter from your home country if possible.When needed get really big people like chied and head of department
 
Thank you drak70

I wasn't sure even if I use it, where and under what heading to enclose it.

Anyway, I am not from Pakistan, so that email came from another country. I am from an African country (non-retrogressed)
But since you mention it. Can I include a reference letter from Vice president of Research in a University from my country??
Here is what I planned to include as reference letters:
- 4 letters from independant professors who do not know me (One from UK who cited my work, one from Harvard whom I met in a professional meeting and 2 from chiefs in NIH/NCI)
- 2 letters from collaborators (One in LA and one from Spain specifically detailing our collaborations)
- 3 letters from professors who closely supervised me (One from USA whom I am currently having my postdoc with, one from a vice president of research in my home University, and one from an associate professor from my home country and who directed the Institute I worked at for a year)

SO what do you think??
Thanks
 
hnks said:
Thank you drak70

I wasn't sure even if I use it, where and under what heading to enclose it.

Anyway, I am not from Pakistan, so that email came from another country. I am from an African country (non-retrogressed)
But since you mention it. Can I include a reference letter from Vice president of Research in a University from my country??
Here is what I planned to include as reference letters:
- 4 letters from independant professors who do not know me (One from UK who cited my work, one from Harvard whom I met in a professional meeting and 2 from chiefs in NIH/NCI)
- 2 letters from collaborators (One in LA and one from Spain specifically detailing our collaborations)
- 3 letters from professors who closely supervised me (One from USA whom I am currently having my postdoc with, one from a vice president of research in my home University, and one from an associate professor from my home country and who directed the Institute I worked at for a year)

SO what do you think??
Thanks
Click to expand...
Thats is good combination
, try some more if possible for NIH/NCI have you already got the letter Or you are guessing they will give you since you know them well. (regulation made last 2 year forbid visa support letter from NIH)
 
drak70
I already got the letters from NIH.
According to them, they wrote so many before and are familiar with it.
I only know one of them as I met him in meetings but the second, I do not know him at all, I just emailed him.

I wonder about this new rule, so will they accept the letter in the USCIS? or will they ignore at as it is forbidden. I recalled when I started emailing independent people asking for letters, I had a response from one NIH lady that she cannot write it since it is forbiden but then the other 2 wrote letters.
???

Can you also tell me a bit about the physical preparation of your petition, I almost got all my letters and will start writing the petition soon. I know that the well organized the case, the easier it is for the adjusticator to go through it and the faster it is to get a decision.

Thanks
Thanks drak70
Good luck to you.
 
You can pubish your thesis in a national conference (which should be easy) that ways it gets indexed and you get citation.
There are some xxxx coureses on how to build eb1a profile you can check them out.
 
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