how to write a letter to professor for phd admission

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The Ultimate Guide to Writing a PhD Admissions Email to a Professor

Whether you’re trying to get into graduate school or looking for a professor to work with as an advisor, you’ll want to make a good first impression with your initial email. If you’re finding yourself sitting in front of your computer, unsure of what to say, you’re not alone. 

(Find out what your professor really thinks of their students in this article).

Sending an email to a grad school professor can be intimidating. These are highly educated and intelligent professionals. And sometimes, you may feel like they hold your future in the palm of their hand. So before you throw caution to the wind and shoot your email from the hip, let’s discuss some tips to help you be more successful in making contact with a potential PhD advisor. 

This post was written by Abbie Van Wagner (freelance writer) on behalf of Dr. Dave Maslach for the R3ciprocity project (check out the YouTube Channel or the writing feedback software ) . R3ciprocity helps students, faculty, and researchers by providing an authentic look into PhD and academic life and how to be a successful researcher. For over four years the project has been offering advice, community, and encouragement to students and researchers around the world.

First: Identify the Right Match 

Before you contact any professor, you should spend some time doing some self-reflection. Consider what you’re looking for in a potential PhD supervisor or advisor. For example, would you prefer to work with a younger professor who’s more likely to be looking to publish their research (like an Assistant Professor)? 

Or do you see yourself working with an established professor with a lot of experience and a catalog of existing publications? In either case, take the time to read the research and review some of the publications. Does the type of research and style of the writing seem like it’s a good fit with what you’re hoping to accomplish? 

Other things to consider include what schools the professor’s been at, where they’re located now, and what training they’ve had. It’s important to identify potential advisors who’ve worked in areas that you’re interested in researching. For some PhD candidates, it’s important that their advisor has worked in certain key schools, while other candidates are most interested in highly specialized areas of research. 

Whatever you focus on, be sure to choose potential advisors and supervisors that you believe you’ll feel good about working with. You could end up spending a lot of time with this person, and they will have a big impact on your future endeavors, so you’ll want to invest the time on the front end reflecting and researching to find a good match. 

If you’re still in the early planning phase, you may be wondering if a PhD is worth it. Read more about whether a PhD is actually worth it . 

Start With the Subject Line

Remember, the subject line on an email is the very first impression your recipient will get of you. Those will be the first words the professor will read when they come across your email. Do you want it to be something that catches their attention and prompts them to open the email, or will it be something that causes an internal eyeroll or causes them to scroll past? 

Keep it simple here – identify yourself as a prospective graduate student and indicate the semester you’re hoping to attend. For example, you could use “Prospective PhD Student – Fall 2023” as the subject line. 

Focus on the Research

Once you’re ready to compose your email, it’s critical to stay focused on the research (check out this blog post about the importance of consistent research) . Professors are busy people, so don’t waste their time by writing up your life story. They don’t need to hear about the different clubs and committees you’ve been involved in or what your GPA was in college. Unless you have some special accomplishments to mention, just stick to the relevant research area and what they are doing.

When you discuss the research and what they’re working on in the email, it demonstrates that you’ve taken the time to read their work. In the end, you’re asking for an investment of the professor’s time and social capital, so be sure to acknowledge their accomplishments and published works to show why you’re interested in working with them. 

Write With a Professional Tone

When you send an email to a professor or graduate school, make sure that you’re extremely polite and respectful in your writing. Use only professional language. For example, don’t use phrases like “hey,” or “what’s up?” 

In fact, you may want to start by emailing the school first rather than emailing the professor directly. If you don’t already know or have some sort of relationship with the professor, you may not get a response right away (if at all).

Start with a simple address such as “Dear Dr. Smith.” This is the easiest way to avoid sounding too casual or unprofessional. From there, you can indicate that you’re simply inquiring about their work, let them know what you’re doing, and let them know there’s no pressure in the email. 

Close the email with “Sincerely,” and your name. You can attach your CV to the email so it’s there if the professor wants to read it. Don’t use any abbreviations and definitely don’t use emojis anywhere in the email. 

Don’t Ask For Things 

If you’re emailing a professor about graduate school admissions or looking for an advisor to work on a thesis, it’s not the time or place to ask for anything. Be sure you don’t even hint around at it. 

It’s not the time or place to ask for tuition stipends, money, time, or resources. Instead, focus on what you can do for them. How can you be of service or contribute to their work? What do you bring to the table? 

Asking for money (or anything else, really) isn’t going to get you anywhere. Instead, it’s likely going to put a bad taste in the reader’s mouth. Remember to focus on what you can do to add value to the professor’s work or research. 

If you want to find out about what kinds of resources are available, you can find that information on the university’s website or by contacting the appropriate department. Don’t go directly to the professor to make those kinds of requests. 

To really show you’re a go-getter and someone who’s serious about working with a specific professor, find something you can do to be helpful and send it along with your email (if appropriate). 

For example, if you know the professor is interested in a specific topic or you’ve read a certain piece of research, maybe you could do some additional analysis on the data and send it over. Or, if you have a skill like coding or running statistical models, you could offer up those services to the professor. 

In addition, showing your skillset demonstrates that the professor won’t have to spend their valuable time training you on basic tasks. 

What to Expect

It’s important to keep in mind that many professors and faculty won’t reply to your email. Some individuals simply don’t engage with those sorts of requests or reply to those kinds of emails in any case. Others may not have received the email, or they just might be too busy. 

Sometimes, you could receive a response that says they’re accepting or considering students or it may encourage you to apply. In that case, you should apply, but don’t expect any follow-up correspondence from that professor. 

Sometimes, you may get a detailed response or even an invitation to discuss the matter further. In that case, you’ve hit the jackpot and you’ve gotten the professor’s attention. 

What If You Need to Ask For Things? 

There may be times when you need to contact a professor to ask for something, like a letter of recommendation . Don’t think that’s completely off limits; there’s just a different approach you should take. 

First, try to put yourself in your professor’s shoes before you ask for a recommendation. Consider your relationship with the professor and how comfortable they may feel writing a letter for you. Does the professor know you well enough? For example, did you participate in class or go see them during office hours? 

If you aren’t sure if you’ve invested enough time developing a relationship with the professor, there’s still time! There’s no shame in stopping by their office to see if they need help with anything. Offer to assist with administrative or housekeeping tasks to help them get to know you. 

You could also read a couple of their papers or look at their research so you can have a conversation with them about it. This is an easy way to start a relationship and help them feel comfortable with who you are before you request a letter of recommendation. 

When you’re ready to make your request, provide the professor with a simple, pre-written letter that you write yourself along with a resume or CV. You can also provide a one-page bulleted list with other information about yourself that’s not on your resume to show things your’e involved in and other things you’ve done. This will give the professor all the materials they need to write the letter without creating too much extra work for them. 

Show Gratitude

Whenever you email a professor to look for opportunities for graduate school admissions, to advise you on research, or even simply ask for a letter of recommendation, be sure to show gratitude. Go out of your way to demonstrate that you appreciate what the professor did for you. 

In many cases, it could just be a simple email or handwritten letter thanking the professor for their time and efforts. A small gift or token ( everyone loves cookies! ) goes a long way in showing your gratitude. 

When you build good relationships with these professors, you can continue to keep in touch with them even after you graduate. Building your academic and professional network is all about relationships, so don’t take any of them for granted. 

Putting it All Together 

Emailing a professor for graduate school admission can be stressful. In fact, all parts of the grad school admissions process can be overwhelming. There’s a big difference between undergrad and graduate school , so you’re not alone in feeling that way. 

Keep in mind that professors are people, too. They’ve all been where you are at some point. That doesn’t mean that every professor will be willing and able to help you, but most will at least be willing to hear you out – if you use the right approach . 

By following the tips we’ve shared here, you’ll be more likely to get a response and be on your way to following your dreams. 

For more tips on improving your writing for graduate school, check out the following articles: 

David Maslach

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The Professor Is In

Guidance for all things PhD: Graduate School, Job Market and Careers

How to Write an Email to a Potential Ph.D. Advisor/Professor

By Karen Kelsky | July 25, 2011

Please note that I no longer respond to comments/questions to this post! 

Grad school application guidance package and other help listed below the post..

One of the most common points of confusion among undergraduates and new graduate students is how to write an email to contact a professor to serve as a potential Ph.D. or graduate school advisor.  This can be a minefield.  Yet the email inquiry to a potential advisor is one of the most important steps in your entire graduate school process, in that it is your chance to make a first impression on the person who will dictate many elements of your life for the next five to ten years.

I have been on the receiving end of many emails from hapless students who clearly had no guidance, and whose communication with me ended up appearing flippant and rude.

Here is that sort of email:

“Dear Professor Kelsky, I am a student at XXX College and I’m thinking about graduate school on xxx and I’m getting in touch to ask if you can give me any advice or direction about that. Sincerely, student X”

This is an instant-delete email.

Here is what an email to a professor should look like:

“Dear Professor XXX,

I am a student at XXX College with a major in xxx.  I am a [junior] and will be graduating next May.  I have a [4.0 GPA] and experience in our college’s [summer program in xxx/internship program in xxx/Honors College/etc.].

I am planning to attend graduate school in xxx, with a focus on xxx.  In one of my classes, “xxx,” which was taught by Professor XXX, I had the chance to read your article, “xxxx.”  I really enjoyed it, and it gave me many ideas for my future research.  I have been exploring graduate programs where I can work on this topic.  My specific project will likely focus on xxxx, and I am particularly interested in exploring the question of xxxxx.

I hope you don’t mind my getting in touch, but I’d like to inquire whether you are currently accepting graduate students.  If you are, would you willing to talk to me a bit more, by email or on the phone, or in person if I can arrange a campus visit, about my graduate school plans?  I have explored your department’s graduate school website in detail, and it seems like an excellent fit for me because of its emphasis on xx and xx,  but I still have a few specific questions about xx and xxx that I’d like to talk to you about.

I know you’re very busy so I appreciate any time you can give me.  Thanks very much,

Why is this email good?  Because it shows that you are serious and well qualified.  It shows that you have done thorough research and utilized all the freely available information on the website.  It shows that you have specific plans which have yielded specific questions.  It shows that you are familiar with the professor’s work.  It shows that you respect the professor’s time.

All of these attributes will make your email and your name stand out, and exponentially increase your chances of getting a timely, thorough, and friendly response, and potentially building the kind of relationship that leads to a strong mentoring relationship.

If the professor doesn’t respond in a week or so, send a follow up email gently reminding them of your initial email, and asking again for their response.  If they ignore you again, best to probably give up.  But professors are busy and distracted, and it may take a little extra effort to get through.

HOW TO CONTACT A PROSPECTIVE PHD ADVISOR

Guidance package.

Encapsulates all of the advice that we provide in our graduate school advising services, including:

1. General instructions and overview of the function and “best practices” of an initial query email to someone you hope to work with

2. A template for what an email like that should look like

3. A sample email to a business school prospective advisor

4. A sample email to a comparative literature prospective advisor

5. A sample email to a computer science prospective advisor.

AND FOR HANDS-ON INDIVIDUAL HELP WITH ALL ASPECTS OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL APPLICATION, WE OFFER THESE SERVICES:

• EMAIL CONSULTATIONS
• SKYPE CONSULTATIONS
• EDITING YOUR STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
• INTERVIEW PREPARATION

SEE MORE HERE  AND EMAIL AT [email protected] TO LEARN MORE AND GET ON THE SCHEDULE, OR CLICK BELOW:

Similar Posts:

• How Do You Write an Email or Letter to a Professor?
• How Not To Invite The Professor To Your Campus
• Working the Conference: A Letter from a Client
• Don’t Go To Graduate School (An Inadvertent Guest Post)
• Advisors, #dobetter

Reader Interactions

July 25, 2011 at 2:18 pm

Thanks for posting these bits of advice. There are so many little things about grad school that we don’t know but we are expected to know! Even though I always try to be respectful and professional in my emails to professors, having a template like this is helpful.

July 25, 2011 at 4:06 pm

You’re very welcome, Liana! I agree, it’s these little unacknowledged and untaught things that can make or break a graduate school career…. I am genuinely mystified as to why graduate colleges don’t keep a full time advisor on the staff to help undergrad and grad students with these small but critical processes. But since they don’t, I’m going to try and be that here at The Professor Is In!

January 21, 2014 at 2:28 am

I wanted to ask about: what if i sent a professor an email, which has no subject line? how will he see me, and how can i fix this problem?

2nd: i didn’t write my email as much detailed as shown above, and i sent my CV as a detailed introduction about me. so how will he see me and how can i fix this?

Please Help!

October 26, 2020 at 7:30 am

Hello there! I know this reply is late, but I just want to put it out here so that other students who had the same problem as you can know what to do. I have a question, how long ago did you send the email? If it is just a short while ago, like five minutes, you can send the professor another email saying that you clicked the send button by mistake, and this time round make sure you include a subject. If it is more than five or ten minutes, then it is best to wait for his reply. By waiting I mean one week. If he does not reply in one week, send him another email. This time you can be more detailed. And also do not forget to include the subject.

November 5, 2014 at 10:17 pm

I have sent phD project proposal to the potential advisor 12 days back, but I have not received any reply from her till today. What Shall I ask her, whether she has gone through the proposal or not or else she is not interested in that topic. Kindly advice

October 26, 2020 at 7:32 am

12 days are quite long, I will say send her a reminder email. Just one line will do, asking if she had the chance to read your previous email. If she does not reply in one week, then just move on.

August 2, 2011 at 11:26 am

This is really helpful. Actually, I had sent my first email to the potential supervisor which I had written myself without consulting to anyone or any websites and I am happy that I covered all the things that Karen has explained here. After I sent my first email he responded very well and we exchanged three emails as well. Finally he asked me to send my Masters dissertation, CV, and the proposal as well which I did after 20 days and I also got an email from him saying he received it and will get in touch with me soon. But now it has been nearly a month since I haven’t heard anything from him so I thought to write a follow up email to him and once I started writing I myself was not satisfied with the email that I wrote because I thought it was bit arrogant to directly ask what is happening with my application. So I would really be grateful if anyone could help me with that and I also don’t know how long should I wait before sending him follow up email. Any help highly appreciated. Thanks

December 5, 2017 at 4:06 pm

hi Niraj, What is happened after? I did and sent couple of professor and i did not get back yet. please advise me furhter. Thanks mohammed

November 30, 2021 at 7:10 am

Can you share with me your format of email?

August 5, 2011 at 9:00 am

What about writing an e-mail to request the addition of someone new to your committee? I have had one professor leave the University and another…well…let’s just say he is no longer a welcome member of my committee and I need to fill two spaces.

August 5, 2011 at 1:55 pm

I will do that, jenn. Look for it next week, on Monday.

September 20, 2013 at 8:44 am

Thank you! I could also use this advice, as I need to approach professors for my exams and it just feels … awkward.

October 22, 2011 at 8:37 pm

Dear Mrs. Karen, I am a Chinese stduent at Beihang University, and I want to get the first contact with my potential PhD. supervisor via E-mail, thank you very much for this constructive suggestion. Thank you very much! Best Wishes! Xu Chen

November 14, 2011 at 10:44 am

Good job demonstrating to students how to suck up to their “superiors” (and I use the word very, very lightly) by providing an example of how to properly be a subservient schmuck and schmooze a highly over-inflated, narcissistic ego. But then again, as many will end up wage slaves to people like you, it is a good skill to have. Then again, to others it reads like a massive endorsement for self-reliance.

What I find simply amazing is the endless self-congratulation that many professors give themselves for jumping through hoops in what amounts to an essentially, a pointless bureaucratic game. Hopefully your research contributes to the whole of humanity. Otherwise it is simply a waste of time in the larger scheme of things. There are people starving and dying out there, and we are worried how to properly impress the likes of you? You need to seriously examine the implications of this. In other words — get over yourself.

June 14, 2012 at 8:23 pm

You are not being fair at all. I thought you would suggest something more helpful after all the ranting. If you can’t help others don’t criticize those who are

March 14, 2013 at 10:12 am

I found this comment to be stimulating and engaging! Well done! Next time, you could also try to look at things from the other side of the argument. Many of us feel that in order to achieve success it’s important to perform in a way that academics recognise and sadly hoop jumping is a necessary facet of life whether you are a street performer looking for a permit from your local authority or an artist applying for grants from a Charitable Trust. The point of this post and the point it makes quite clearly is that many students such as myself are not trained or advised on the correct protocol concerning contacting people who are probably already quite busy and who have to read literally hundreds of emails a day. If you think you could do a better job or don’t like academia no one is forcing you to do it and there is certainly even less of an obligation to do a PhD. You site doing good for humanity as the goal we should live by. I think you also need to assess the assumptions that this makes and the moral and ethical values you espouse but don’t seem to understand.

May 12, 2013 at 10:06 am

July 15, 2013 at 6:02 pm

McDonald’s employee detected

October 13, 2013 at 2:46 am

Anunomus just about sums it up. All of this advice perpetuates academic arrogance because many of the students reading this will eventually become professors themselves and will in turn want to be treated the same way by future students.

October 11, 2015 at 8:09 am

With respect?

December 31, 2020 at 12:50 am

What’s wrong with telling a professor you like their research? Isn’t that the whole point you want to study under them? Because you respect their intellect, the unique way they approach a subject and because your interests align?

September 11, 2018 at 3:08 pm

I was hoping to find a comment like this. The author of this article “instantly deletes” an email asking for help on a matter? And for what reason, other than a disdainful hubris? Disgraceful, in my opinion.

December 29, 2011 at 10:56 pm

Dear Mrs. Karen i am really thank full to you providing such a nice post. this is very very helpful to student like me. i really appreciate your work. best wishes! and happy new year vishal mehra

January 31, 2012 at 5:00 pm

Dear Mrs. Karen

Thank you very much for your clear and concise post regarding this small but nevertheless quite important and hard to find advice.

I’m from Portugal. I’m starting my PhD in Clinical Research and i will focus my attention in resistant schizophrenia. Would it make sense to have a supervisor from a foreign country and which i don’t know personally? Don’t you think that he would accept?

Thank you very much for your help, Nuno

January 31, 2012 at 9:28 pm

Your advisor has to be in the Ph.D. program you enroll in. If you are interested in enrolling in a foreign program (and are still exploring options), then yes, you can get in touch with a potential advisor there, and if accepted, you can then attend that program. They won’t discriminate based on the fact that you are from another country, if your application is strong.

October 14, 2014 at 11:52 am

I know I’m replying to an old thread, but it occurred to me that nuno might mean getting an external advisor from a different institution than the one nuno is doing his/her PhD in. Is this done in the States at all? In a lot of European universities it seems to be possible to have an advisor from another programme or even another university.

February 20, 2015 at 12:24 am

Hey Christina,

In the US usually you are at the institution where you adviser is. However you usually have outside committee members that supervise your thesis and the can be from outside universities.

February 13, 2012 at 2:14 pm

I have a question about how to title the subject line of the email. What is a respectful and concise subject heading for an email to a potential advisor?

February 13, 2012 at 4:52 pm

Inquiry from a Prospective Graduate Student

October 10, 2013 at 2:15 pm

Thank you, this was the exact question I was trying to find an answer to. I wrote a professor earlier in the week just to introduce myself, and now I have an appointment set up with the department grad advisor and I want to meet with the professor while I am up there. I wrote a second email and asked if they had time to meet with me while I was in town. Is this rude?

February 16, 2012 at 11:19 pm

Karen, Great job ignoring anunomus, in fact I’d hugely disappointed if you do him the honor of trading words with him. This is a very helpful template. Thanks.

April 5, 2012 at 1:47 am

Dear Mrs. Karen It’s give me pleasure to visit your webpage, relay your post is very helpful, useful, and rich. I’m from Palestine, I awarded DAAD scholarship in 2008 to get M. Sc. in computer information systems, now I am looking to begin my PhD. in Germany, I must find a supervisor then we arrange to write the PhD. proposal. Finally, I found my supervisor , he send me acceptance letter after finishing PhD. proposal but my application was rejected for scholarship for some special reasons, now I am working to find another supervisor , what is your advice to me , it will better to inform the new supervisor about my previous one .. Or not? and could you provide me with a template for comprehensive motivation letters and statement of propose .

Thank you very much for your help, Rasha

April 5, 2012 at 12:16 pm

Thank you so much! I have been sitting here stumped as to how best to contact potential supervisors, as you only get one chance at a first impression. This was so helpful, and I just wanted to let you know my appreciation for sharing your advice.

Thank you, Amna

April 5, 2012 at 12:37 pm

you’re very welcome, Amna!

May 1, 2012 at 6:38 am

Professor Karen, thanks for this post. It is actually very helpful.

May 4, 2012 at 4:11 am

This is an excellent forum you have created. Thank you very much. Please i Just want to ask whether it is wise to call a Professor who has an open PhD position in his Lab and you are strongly interest, but you sent him and email and recieved no response. And is it generally a good idea to call a Professor on phone when you find interest in his research and hope that he takes you in into his Lab.

May 20, 2012 at 9:13 pm

This is what look for last long month ago. I have to say thank you very much for thing you have done, in my country we not familiar with this. Your advise help me to appropriate starting and encourage to step forward on my ph.d pathway. Thank you kullat,

May 28, 2012 at 1:21 pm

Dear Karen,

Thank you for the very insightful postings and advice.

Do you have any suggestions for a mature applicant for PhD program, who is older than most of targeted potential supervisors? I am currently working as an assistant professor as PQ faulty in a foreign institution and trying to pursue a doctoral degree starting from forthcoming fall semester.

Many thanks,

May 28, 2012 at 5:32 pm

My advice is don’t do it. I don’t say that to all potential PhD applicants, but I do say it to older ones. It’s generally a disastrous choice both financially and psychically.

July 2, 2013 at 9:47 am

I just wanted to say that I was quite pleased by this advice until I read this response. I entered higher education as a “non-traditional” student and it has turned my life around. I’m now a masters student looking at PhD programs. It pains me to see an someone in your position advising someone against further education because of their age.

July 9, 2013 at 4:17 pm

Unfortunately with the abysmal job market and the likelihood of massive debt, age becomes a major risk factor in any phd decision. I have seen the tragic outcomes among my clientele. Some do still prevail, but many more do not.

July 1, 2014 at 10:02 am

What do you consider as a “mature” applicant? Past age 25, or past age 30?

September 20, 2016 at 3:35 am

I suppose it depends what field you are in and if you are paid to be at the institution or not. In my field PhD students are typically given full funding packages and stipends, eliminating the need to take out loans. Of course, these stipends aren’t exactly generous and the job market is still dismal, but at least you don’t necessarily have to go into debt to receive a PhD. That being said, are you suggesting that there is another factor, perhaps some sort of “ageism” that also works against older students?

June 13, 2012 at 11:04 pm

Dear Karen, thanks for you rsuggestion! Do you think that including the CV as attachment might be a good move?

June 14, 2012 at 9:40 am

yes, you could. I have the slightest hesitation though. At your stage your cv won’t be very impressive, and may well be completely improperly formatted, so it could do a lot more harm than good. I suppose my instinct would be to not send it, until asked.

June 14, 2012 at 3:45 am

Dear Professor Karen Kelsky, I do appreciate creating such a great website for us as students. Actually your advice, comments and tips are very very helpful to me and I’m sure to others too. I check this website everyday indeed! Thanks Sepideh

June 14, 2012 at 8:27 pm

Thank you professor. this came at a good time.

June 14, 2012 at 8:28 pm

please continue to ignore the likes of anunomus .

June 15, 2012 at 10:41 am

June 20, 2012 at 4:12 pm

Thanks for this outline! I am currently looking into potential advisors for Fall of 2013 and would like to contact them. When would be the ideal time to do so?

July 2, 2012 at 8:58 pm

Hi Thank you for your great advices. It was all about phd application, but what about masters? What graduate school are looking for in master applicants to accept them? Thanks

July 15, 2012 at 12:04 pm

i am 3rd year medical student and want to go abroad for research elective.i have no past research experience but now i am interested in doing research in immunology.how should i write letter to any doctor.kindly paste a format here so that i can send it to docs. thanks

July 17, 2012 at 8:08 am

Thank you for your advice. Your example is the best I read so far! 🙂

April 25, 2013 at 9:14 am

http://pixie658.wordpress.com/2010/02/15/contacting-potential-advisors/

July 25, 2012 at 12:26 am

Dear Professor Karen, Thank you very much for guiding prospective Ph.D students towards the realization of their dreams. These essential things add up in a big way to help secure an admit. It becomes a bit confusing as to how to convey all your thoughts to the professors and yet be concise in your approach. After all you just get once chance to hit the bull’s eye.

Thank you for your timely help.

Regards, Ashwini

July 25, 2012 at 9:41 am

Hello Professor Karen,

Thank for sharing this king of information.. Could tell what is subject line for seeking Phd Supervisor. And could you send the separate email for asking about that..

Thank You..

July 31, 2012 at 5:27 pm

Dear Professor Karen, Thanks so much for your help , it is highly helpful as I am in the process of communicating a potential Advisor . Hope I find an Advisor like you . By the way , Who Would Care Communucating With an anonm…… ?!

August 7, 2012 at 9:46 pm

It’s great to see you posting something like this, it has really helped me out. I was wondering though, I’m in a situation where there are two professors at the same University that I am interested in speaking with. Should I contact them both or just pick one and stick with it? They are in the same department, but are focused on different aspects of the same field (one is shellfish restoration and the other is shellfish aquaculture).

August 8, 2012 at 9:10 pm

It’s ok to contact both, but just disclose to each that you’re also contacting the other.

August 13, 2012 at 10:48 am

Thank you very much for you great input. Can you please post a followup email sample. I am working on one for about a week. But I think I came across rude.

Warm regards, Ashran

August 14, 2012 at 9:39 am

Thank you for your great post, that’s very helpful.

I have used your post as an email template and send it to several professors. About half of them respond positively. I think your template is a very good format for PhD application.

Could you also give me more suggestion on how to continue the communication with professors? shall I first talk about my own experience? Or I should do research about the professors’ current projects and talk about that. Thanks very much

Best regards,

Ruoyu(Ryan)

August 25, 2012 at 10:55 am

Dear Prof. Karen,

I would like to thank you for your post, it is very helpful. I am in the process of communicating with two potential Advisors and this will be my last effort to attend a PhD.

Best Regards,

August 29, 2012 at 5:14 am

Thank you very much for this post. I am about writing my very first letter to a potential supervisor. I hope with these few tips you shared, that I get a good response.

Best regards.

September 2, 2012 at 3:28 am

thank you very much for your effort, i just want to ask if i can use this form to contact a professor in my faculty and i took some clases with him before

September 3, 2012 at 1:50 am

September 3, 2012 at 1:15 pm

Is it ever ok to send more than one inquiry to professors in the same department? Especially if it’s a large department?

September 3, 2012 at 2:28 pm

Yes, it’s ok, as long as you disclose in the email that you are doing so.

September 4, 2012 at 10:59 pm

Dear Karen, I’ve finished my master about 5 years ago. since then, I am working in research institutes. I want to apply for a one-year research fellowship abroad which needs to prepare research proposal. I do not know how to choose my subject. If I ask about it from a potential supervisor, would it be harmful?? It is very kind of you replying. Bests, Mary

September 5, 2012 at 10:23 am

Yes that would be harmful. the expectation is that you have a full-fledged research program of your own.

September 11, 2012 at 3:36 am

Thank you for your reply but do you agree with me that it is really a difficult decision what to choose for your PhD topic which is innovative and also appealing to yourself and others??

September 11, 2012 at 6:09 am

No, not necessarily. I think most phd students have a deep impulse or drive to do a topic and it just flows out of them. that was the case for me, certainly, and most others I know. If you don’t have that, I think doing the Ph.D. might be difficult.

September 17, 2012 at 8:40 pm

Thank you! I’m terribly nervous about communicating with professors–I was always the kid that sat by the door and snuck away at the end of class because I was too nervous to talk to adults–and the sample letter was hugely helpful in formatting the inquiry I just sent. Thank you, thank you for helping us would-be grad students not look dumb!

September 19, 2012 at 5:26 am

Dear Professor Karen, Thank you for posting such important information. I actually got your information after i sent my first email to my potential supervisor. I understand i made many mistakes. Now it has been days since i sent it. So will wait the response. God help me! My question for you, is it appropriate to contact another professor from the same university & the same department in case i get no response from the first professor?

Thank you very much,

Mesfin G. (Ethiopia)

September 19, 2012 at 10:34 am

Yes, you can do that. Just disclose that you have.

September 19, 2012 at 11:48 am

I wrote to one of the potential advisor and he has replied back the same day with a request for cv.

Can you please advise me for the tips for CV? I am in the University town. Do you think it is a good idea if I request him for a meeting?

thanks guneet

September 19, 2012 at 1:00 pm

Read the post, Dr. Karen’s Rules fo the Academci CV.

I would not meet him yet.

September 25, 2012 at 9:59 am

Thanks for this awesome post. I followed your advices and wrote an e-mail to potential faculty for Ph.D program that I want to join. And it worked very well. I received an e-mail back from him the following morning! I did not ask whether he had time to talk to me though, and I only asked whether he is accepting students this year. His e-mail was very brief (2 sentences), saying # of students he is accepting, and he encourages me to apply. Should I send another brief ‘thank-you’ e-mail? If so, should I try to talk to him more about his group/program? or would it be better to just keep it as ‘thank-you’ e-mail? I would very much appreciate your time and help!

October 7, 2015 at 5:26 am

what did you reply to the professor? I got same response.

Professor encouraged me to apply in the admissions. and he wrote nothing else.

December 12, 2016 at 1:36 pm

can you show your email to apply for phd i’d like to apply for phd program and want to contact w?th faculty member about the application and asking for schollarship.

September 26, 2012 at 1:55 am

Dear Karen Have you any suggestion for applying together with our spouse!! My husband and I are planning to attend in a same school. how should we contact with the potential supervisor?? Do we have to mention this in our first email? Do we have to send emails separately?? How can we improve our chance to get admitted in same place???

September 26, 2012 at 5:45 am

Thank you for your info. I found your advice reassuring. I have one question though. I have had some good responses and offers in Europe. Now I am planning to apply to some high-ranked US universities for a research position in electronics. My master’s institution in Sweden is not that famous which I perceived as a disadvantage. How much weight does professors in the US give to GRE and grade when selecting students for a PhD? My GRE (Q:800, V~510) and B+ GPA.

Thank you again. Daniel

September 27, 2012 at 6:16 am

i faced the same problem. i’ve sent email to one prof at uni. X, but after 3 weeks, he didint reply me. so i’ve sent another email tp another prof at uni. Y… after few hours he reply saying, im ready to supervise you, welcome to uni Y.

Then, a week after that, the Prof from Uni X replied me saying. plese send your 2 pages proposal for my consideration.

What should i replied him? Seeking for your kind opinion…..

September 29, 2012 at 11:53 am

Dear Dr. Karen Hello, Thank you very much for your helping. I’ve finished my master (marine biology) about 1 years ago and i would like to continue my study in PhD, but i don’t know, how i can to apply how i can obtain Scholarship and etc. Is it possible that i send email to head department and ask him/her about that? Would you please give me any advice or direction about that. Thanks in advance Regards Parisa A.Salimi

September 29, 2012 at 1:11 pm

Thank you very much. I am a senior, finishing up my B.S., and in the process of applying to Ph.D. programs. Writing to professors can be extremely intimidating. I found that your example was a wonderful tool for organizing the information and thoughts that have lead me to apply the my individual programs.

October 8, 2012 at 12:33 am

To what detail would I need to present my hypothesis?

October 12, 2012 at 11:20 am

Dear Karen there were great tips i have never known. i just want to know if it works if i mention that i completed a first year of PhD in my home country and i dont want to pursue it any more or not? What if i guess my publication is not enough strong to compete with other candidates in the university i want to apply for? Does it mean i will not be able to attract a supervisor? It is a big problem in my mind and i dont know how to deal with.???

October 15, 2012 at 7:31 am

Dear professor Karen, Thank you for this advice. could you please advice me about few matters. i have completed my M.Sc in Biomedical Genetics last year and now i am planning to do my PhD in genetics in Canada, for that i would like to contact a supervisor and in my letter what all the information should i have to include and another problem is, i am planning to publish an article in the last of this month i have already send to the journal, so whether i should try to contact the adviser after the article is published or i should contact the adviser now itself as there are only limited seats for PhD . please help me Thank you

October 16, 2012 at 9:00 am

DEAR COMMENTERS TO THIS “HOW TO WRITE AN EMAIL TO A POTENTIAL PH.D. ADVISOR” BLOG POST: I AM UNABLE TO RESPOND INDIVIDUALLY TO ALL OF THE REQUESTS FOR ADVICE IN THIS COMMENT THREAD. I KNOW THAT PEOPLE DESPERATELY NEED GUIDANCE ABOUT THIS CRITICAL TRANSITION INTO PHD PROGRAMS, BUT THE LARGE VOLUME OF REQUESTS FOR ADVICE THAT I RECEIVE HERE ON THE BLOG AND IN MY EMAIL INBOX PREVENTS ME FROM RESPONDING TO INDIVIDUAL QUERIES. I APOLOGIZE AND WISH YOU THE BEST. IF OTHERS WISH TO PROVIDE RESPONSES I WELCOME THEM. SINCERELY, KAREN KELSKY

October 20, 2012 at 12:09 am

thank you so much.

October 22, 2012 at 4:40 am

hello Thank you so much for this site, but what should be the subject of our emails?

October 23, 2012 at 6:29 pm

“My specific project will likely focus on xxxx, and I am particularly interested in exploring the question of xxxxx.”

While the second part of this sentence is fine, I’d be rather cautious about the first half. I am in the process of writing a letter to a potential supervisor myself and have gone to talk to different professors in my current university to ask for advice. I do have a topic in mind, but almost everyone told me NOT to mention a specific topic in the e-mail but rather general idea. One of the professors even told me that more often than not the person who says they have something specific in mind will be stubborn about changing their topic (because let’s be honest, PhD topics change) and consequently not asked for an interview.

Then again, I’m speaking from an European’s point of view. Maybe the grad school application approach is different in the States.

October 24, 2012 at 9:12 am

My advice reflects US expectations.

January 11, 2016 at 4:25 pm

I think you are right in that the approach is different in different countries. I am in Australia and I have met up with a university professor. He told me that most people would not be able to choose their own PHD topic and that it is important to be flexible while still making sure you will enjoy the topic you end up doing. This is because the professors apply for grants on specific topics and then need students to do that topic in their PHD. The only way you could do your own topic is if you do a self-funded PHD, i.e. apply for grants yourself. For this reason I will be including broad areas of interest in my emails rather than specific topics.

January 15, 2017 at 3:49 am

Hi Laura, I saw your reply and I though of send you this message as I am in Australia too and planning to work on my PhD. If usually we have to work on professors projects, I couldn’t find much published topics /projects online. The only thing I found was interests of supervisors and in few universities some research projects but not relevant to my field. I hope you can give me some guidance.

August 5, 2022 at 1:39 pm

Thank you, so helpful that it confirms the similar advice I got from a reliable source.

October 26, 2012 at 12:17 pm

that was a good manuscript sample for the astudents who intend to applying and they first language is’nt english.thank u

November 6, 2012 at 8:20 am

Thank you for your advice! Could you also suggest what I should include/how I should organize an email to a professor I met at a conference but don’t know well? Thanks again in advance!

November 23, 2012 at 2:32 pm

Thank you so much for your blog!

I am currently applying to graduate school programs and was wondering if you had any advice on interviews. Some programs do on-campus interviews, and others do phone/Skype interviews. I was wondering what I should expect.

November 27, 2012 at 9:51 am

Hi Karen, Thanks for the advice. I am an undergraduate student and will be applying for graduate school in the Fall of 2013, but I need to ask graduate schools if they will accept my pre-requisites for Speech Pathology because it varies at different schools… What would your advice be to go about emailing them?

November 28, 2012 at 1:22 am

Dear Prof. Karen Kelsky,

Thank you very much on posting such a wonderful e-mail template. It helped me a lot. I was wondering if you could kindly help me about writing ‘ Statement of purpose’ (SOP). I tried on my own and took the help of many seniors but all was in vain. I will be aplying for a masters degree in US for fall 2013 and I am very desperate to write a good enough SOP.

I would be obliged if you could reply as soon as possible. Thanks very much

December 28, 2012 at 4:26 am

thank you very much for your valuable hints

January 15, 2013 at 3:53 am

Thanks for providing such a nice insight and useful suggestions for admissions. I am 44 and wish to do an engineering MASc in Canada. Will my age(44) go against me ?? I am working in government of India R&D sector and can get a leave (without pay) for two years only (otherwise I would have opted for a PhD). I Will require funding. I hold a patent in Canada (should I mention that in my email ? This patent however is for a practical device and not related to professor’s field so much…)

January 16, 2013 at 12:58 am

Dear Professor Karen, Thanks for your suggestion . However, I am having a problem. I could not find any publication or research work available on the internet of the supervisor I want to work with. So what sort of comment(regarding his work) may I make which can help me grabbing his attention? I am a prospective MSc student.

Best regards Sanjoy

February 19, 2013 at 3:14 pm

Dear Karen, Your description was very helpful on how to write the e-mail, but what continues to stump me is what to put into the subject line. During my time as an undergraduate, I have had many professors tell my classes to chose our subject lines wisely because they delete mail not directly related to their classes or from faculty memebers. What would be short, to the point, and attention getting as a subject so the professor doesn’t just immediately delete the e-mail without reading it?

Best Regards, Danielle

August 15, 2013 at 3:46 am

I concur. I just finished composing my email to a potential Professor in an Ivy league school, and I am now confronted with the question of what subject would be appropriate for my mail. Please Karen, your help is really needed. Thanks

October 14, 2014 at 2:55 pm

This is probably of no use to you now, but she answered it in the above comments already. “Inquiry from a Prospective Graduate Student”

February 20, 2013 at 11:55 am

Very thanks Karen about this informations, it was so helpful to me. Regards >>

February 25, 2013 at 8:58 pm

Thank you so much for such a nice and informative article.I was about to send an email to professor with many mistakes. I have just visited your site and found your page likes on facebook are 3999 and i would be the lucky one to make it 4000. So congratulations from my side on reaching 4000 likes in FB.

Thank you again. Regards, Engr Nouman Khattak Junior Design Engineer BAK Consulting Engineers.

February 26, 2013 at 11:33 am

thank you, Nouman! good luck.

February 25, 2013 at 10:30 pm

Dear Professor Karen, Thanks for your valuable post . You have provide a good idea to write in a correct and polite way. This post is very helpful and guiding me to write an email for a professor.

Best regards Lia P.

March 2, 2013 at 4:30 pm

Dear Karen, I must confess that I have been terrified just thinking about contacting the professor in a program that I am interesting in. After reading your posting and your template, I feel so much better. I plan to pursue a master degree in biomedical engineering with a focus in medical instrumentation at the university of Saskatchewan. I have been on the program website but not quite sure how to address the section in your template: my specific project will focus on xxx and I will be interested in addressing the question of xxx Furthermore, how does one credit you for the information? Sincerely, Linus Luki

March 5, 2013 at 10:15 pm

Dear Professor Karen, Thank you for posting this guide! It’s taken the fear out of initially contacting a potential advisor. I was wondering if you have any suggestions or additions to this for students looking to apply to M.Sc. coursework programs? Tailoring the program to my interests is heavily dependent on my potential advisor, however I also feel that any competent faculty member would be able to assist me with this. I’m now questioning the value I’m placing on selecting the right advisor to contact. Thank you kindly in advance for any advice. Ana M.

March 8, 2013 at 7:10 am

Thanks for this very useful post Karen. I do have a question – it has been 9 years since I graduated from University (BSc. Hons) and have been working in a separate field since graduation (except 1 year spent teaching the Sciences to high school students). I am now looking to return to complete an MSc in Environmental Management. Should I mention/explain my break from the field in my email? What would be your suggestion on the best way to approach this?

March 26, 2013 at 9:21 pm

I just wanted to say I agree wholeheartedly about following up if you don’t get a response (and you’re serious about the professor and/or line of work). I wrote to a professor enquiring about full time openings in her lab but she didn’t reply. I followed up after 2 weeks, and she replied almost 2 seconds later apologizing for not getting in touch sooner because she was out sick and the email then got forgotten. In this case, there was a happy ending. The prof flew me out for an interview, and I’m still at the same lab working full time. I was never more glad of my persistent stick-to-it-ness.

p.s., I should probably add I didn’t send a form email and that my email was tailored specifically for that lab and the research the PI does.

May 29, 2013 at 6:00 am

Dear Professor Karen, Thank you so much for this valuable post. It was so informative. I am aspiring to do Phd in fall 2014. I would like to the right time for contacting professors regarding Phd and what are the things I should mention other than the info provided in your article

June 5, 2013 at 2:34 am

Dear Prof. Karen, Thank you so much for this very useful and valuable post. I would like to ask question about , how to reply a mail after a supervisor giving negative feedback for an application.

June 11, 2013 at 8:50 am

Hi Karen. Your advice was very useful in helping me figure out and frame my email to a potential supervisor. There is one concern however, and I have been frantically searching online for a tip on the same. I am a student doing my Masters (Thesis-based) and after three years I have decided to switch to a different university for a Course-based degree in the same program. I have completed 6 courses and a part of my research but it took me a while to figure out that research (long term research) does not suit me very well. My confusion is if I should mention that in my email and if I do then how to put it across in a polished manner, so that it does not have any adverse effects on my application. I would appreciate if you could kindly advise me on this. Thank you.

June 27, 2013 at 2:22 am

Thank you for your advice. I’m graduated 3 years ago (MSc.). I have 2 papers published and attended some workshop and 2 national congresses. I had been working as a teacher assistant. Meanwhile I had to work that is not related to my education for 2 years. Now I’m worried and I don’t know how to explain about the gap since the graduation up to now. Could you please advise me about that? thank you very much.

June 30, 2013 at 8:04 am

Hi Ms Karen,

Thanks very much for such an incredible post. It will really guide us through the application process and applying for funding opportunities. I can not imagine what would have happened if we did not have such a nice person like you around us! Really appreciate your work. Thanks Shabnam

July 12, 2013 at 10:47 am

This is a great resource for learning how to properly contact advisers, thank you for making this!

I think it would also benefit for us to know about social/Facebook etiquette when involving potential graduate advisers. Should we befriend them on Facebook? I could see reasons for and against do that. Seeing the posts, pics, and etc., could be helpful in getting to know the adviser better. On the other hand, if the adviser seems something on your page he/she doesn’t like, you run the risk of losing them. What do you? Maybe right another blog on social/ Facebook etiquette with advisers? Thanks!

July 29, 2013 at 7:09 pm

Dear Pro Karen,

Thank you for your advice. It’s help me a lot. I have already emailed my prospective supervisor, however i found out we have different personalities, and i’m afraid that i can’t work well with him. I’m decided to find another supervisor but I not know how to tell him. Besides, he work on human isolates ( microbe and molecular field) while im interested to deal with animal isolates as i’m animal science student.

I hope you can give any suggestion on this matter. Thank you..

August 2, 2013 at 6:21 am

Thank you for this guide, I was lost what to write for a potential thesis adviser.

August 4, 2013 at 1:08 pm

Thanks for this informative post! Mentioning the potential research focus in the email is still a sticking point for me (“My specific project will likely focus on xxxx, and I am particularly interested in exploring the question of xxxxx”). In my case, there are many research questions I am interested in exploring within a broader topic. I don’t want to be generic, noncommittal, or scattered, but I also don’t want to be dishonest by picking a research question and declaring it my particular interest. How can I reflect this openness while still showing I am focused?

August 14, 2013 at 4:14 pm

Dear prof. Karen,

Thank you for this great blog and willingness to share your professional knowledge. Could you please, very briefly, address two issues: 1. If a topic can be supervised by several members of faculty and is rather specific (it`s in social sciences), would it be appropriate to address one (presumably “highest ranking”) professor at the department, but at the end to kindly ask that if she/he is not interested or not able to be advisor to recommend to me someone in the department who could be more appropriate/willing/able/suitable to contact? I don’t think anyone has raised this, but coming from Eastern Europe, I don’t know if this would be considered “weak”, or “improper”, or “insulting”?

2. This is not so important, but I read few people asked similar question and it remained unanswered, but is also in way related to the previous one. I am intending to apply with my partner/fiancee who is in the same discipline, we met on first year, and since have studied, worked and lived together (I am 26, she is 39), and are very successful in it and highly compatible and productive when together – studying the same issue, but from quite different perspectives and different aspects of it (we might need to have different supervisors). Would you consider it to be a drawback that we are applying together for PhD in the US? And do you think that in similar cases it is better to send one e-mail to a Prof., or two separate, or two separate to two Prof.s?

Once more, thank you very much, I assume it`s a hassle. Best regards, Milos

PS – Your text on passives was very useful not just for British, but I would say for most of Europe. PPS – Please answer my post (at least No. 1), it was my birthday yesterday and I am so depressed! 🙂

August 14, 2013 at 9:17 pm

Yes you can do as you say re question 1. Well actually, don’t do it in the initial email. Wait until you’ve had a negative reply and then ask. To ask up front would be a little awkward. Re question 2: it’s fine for you two to both apply but you must both apply independently and contact the profs independently.You can let drop informally that you are a couple, but formally in the apps, it’s got to be entirely individual.

August 14, 2013 at 10:44 pm

Thank you very much! When we are accepted (implementing positive (American) attitude), we will write you an e-mail on issues we had as Eastern European candidates and how we successfully resolved them! 🙂 Thank you, once again, very much, your whole blog gave us a lot of positive energy and motivation to apply for PhD! 🙂 Best regards, Milos

August 20, 2013 at 3:59 am

Dear Professor Karen,

Thank you for giving such a nice template. I must say this would definitely help me in writing it to the professor for my phd program. This is awesome. I was always confused how to approach to the professor, i did get the reply for the emails i have sent to different school but this will make it more precise and would be easy for a professor to explain. Really appreciate it.

Best regards, Komal Sharma

September 1, 2013 at 12:05 pm

I think you just saved me from being just-another-email-to-delete in my potential supervisor’s inbox. I was going to send a poorly written email but decided to get some tips on what exactly to include in my first letter and I stumbled upon your excellently written article. I really appreciate you taking time out to write these articles.

I am going to apply for a masters degree and I am currently writing a letter to some of the professors in whose research I am interested in.

Thank you, Abdullah Siddiqui

September 20, 2013 at 8:06 am

Prof. Karen, Thanks for this insightful post. I’ve already contacted some Professors for possible Ph.D. supervision and the content of my e-mail was close to (but not as detailed) as the template here because I was trying to avoid sending a lengthy mail. However, I’ve not gotten any reply for days now. Please, I need your advice; should I resend my mails following this template or … ? Here’s a sample of the mail I sent on Tue, 17th, Sept., 2013:

Hello Prof. XXX,

I am XXX, a graduate of XXX and a current research student at the XXX University. I am writing you this email to inform you of my interest in your field of research (XXX). My current Masters research is in XXX and I have also been researching into more problems in this area. I have been able to come up with a research proposal for proposed Ph.D. and want to solicit your support in seeing my dream come true by accepting to supervise my work. Sequel to my preliminary findings, I make bold to reiterate that I have come to respect your insight and experience in this field and I am open to suggestions and/or corrections to my drafted proposal.

I have attached to this mail, a copy of my CV, a brief proposal and an abstract of the same proposal so you can quickly go through it.

I am currently applying for XXX Scholarship and I need an approval letter from my supervisor to complete my application. In case you will not be able to supervise me, I will appreciate it if you can suggest some other people whom you know can supervise my work. I look forward to reading from you soonest to allow me complete the application on time.

Thank you, Sir. Sincere regards

September 21, 2013 at 7:23 am

Hello Prof Karen, Thank you for generous tips and advice. I got tired to get such kind of information to relief my stresses. On the other hand, I would expect that I will need a far more deeper guidance about my PhD application road map. I have selected USCD (Materials Science + Chemical Eng.), Carnegie Mellon U. (Materials Science), U of South Florida (Chemical Engineering). My challenge that I will be facing both the TOEFL on Oct 25th and GRE on Dec 19th. Additionally, I have my courses in the master that I study here in Brazil, UFRGS. While the sites of the aforementioned schools state that it is not advised to contact faculties as they can not give any prior admission unless to submit all the application materials; test scores, transcripts, etc, it is welcome to contact them if you want to talk about the research they do or you want to do. The problem is that I am missing mind duel to all this timed tasks that I have to carry out simultaneously. During that I feel that an optional transaction like initiating a contact with a professor who shares my research interests – specially they won’t respond mostly – is not so advisable. Do you agree with me? Second point I study here in Brazil in Portuguese. As an Egyptian, I used to study engineering in a mixture of English and Arabic. Thus, it was difficult to understand and communicate with the teacher and classmates during discussion. After all, it is a MSc and understanding to solve questions in exams is important than understanding the language itself. So that I used to study in English and then make such conversion from English to Portuguese in exam times. As a result, I usually get B grades. I got only one A. Do you think that will lower my chance of getting admission? Third about recommendation letters, I do not have the complete ability to determine which faculty professors I should ask to recommend me. For example, my supervisor is really a nice woman and supportive. However, some times she looks like angry from me and neither I nor my colleagues know a specific reason for that. I just try to relax, supervise, and educate myself. Like that, shall i ask her to recommend me or not. Other professor who was my 65 year old supervisor in Egypt. He was considering me as a son to him and he has written many recommendations to me. But due to out-of-control problems in my work as a TA in the same dept, I feel like he has changed towards me. I am sure that he still appreciate my hard work and traits and he is the most knowledgeable person about me. Shall I ask him to recommend me?

October 5, 2013 at 7:20 pm

I am happy to find this template. I definitely believe it is a great help. I have one concern though. I saw you stated that age is a big risk. I am applying to PhD in finance programs for fall 2014. I will 40 years soon. I hold a triple major and an MBA.

Do you have any advice for me?

Thanks in advance.

October 27, 2013 at 5:54 pm

Thank you for the excellent resource. I just used it to email a prospective graduate advisor. I feel I ALWAYS ask this question, but panels are often targeted on larger problems like GRE, NSF, and personal statement advice.

I was wondering if you could answer two questions.

1) What should a good signature for an undergraduate student look like at the end of an email?

2) How important is a personal website in the application process?

November 4, 2013 at 12:35 pm

Wow!!!!! What an amazing and informative resource. Thank you so much Karen for taking precious time to advice complete strangers on something extremely worthwhile…it takes someone with a good heart to do just that. I (and many others as I’ve seen from the comments) have really benefited from this post on contacting potential supervisors. May God bless you so much beyond your wildest dreams!

November 7, 2013 at 3:10 am

Have you any suggestion for applying together with our spouse!! My husband and I are planning to attend in a same university. please let me know how I can write such an email.

November 14, 2013 at 12:00 am

I really appreciate this post. I was trying to write an e-mail to my potential advisor and had hard time figuring out what to write about.

I referenced your format when I was writing my e-mail. It was a great help.

Sincerely, Cho

November 14, 2013 at 1:57 am

I sure could have used this about two weeks ago. Thank you for providing this template and sharing your information, it is greatly appreciated. If I may ask a question Prof. Karen, is it any good to send a second email with this template to a prof? I sent a less dense email to two potential advisors about two weeks ago and I was hoping I could redeem myself as it appears my first emails were not impressive. Do you have any thoughts on the matter?

December 5, 2013 at 12:18 am

i recently completed my graduation in biotechnology. i want to per-sue my PhD, but it is difficult for me how to write a impressive email to a supervisor who really take interest in my mail.

December 12, 2013 at 8:18 am

Prof.Karen,Thank you very much for your helpful posts.

I have a question about communication with a as a future research group member. what should we do when we feel that the coordinator is not very straightforward( in case it is impossible to meet him/her in their office).

Should we talk about it with our professors? given that most cases they are supporter of each other.

December 17, 2013 at 5:20 am

Dear Prof. Kelsky,

Many thanks for such an informative post. Some of your answers in the thread are very helpful as well.

Do you think it is a good idea to send a draft research proposal to a potential supervisor when approaching him/her?

Kind regards,

December 18, 2013 at 12:14 am

Great posting. I sent a professional email to a my prospective adviser and she gave ma a short

“I do expect to accept one, maybe two, students for next year. I will look forward to seeing your application! Let me know if you have further questions in the mean time.”

I am not sure if I should keep the conversation or leave it at that. I kept it professional, stated my goals and interest and my interest in her research. I don’t want to send unnecessary questions and make myself look bad

January 16, 2014 at 12:29 pm

Can you please advice on whether or not it is a good idea to make a first email contact with a potential advisor, after having submitted the PhD application to the university?

January 18, 2014 at 1:12 am

Dear Professor Dr. Karen,

I am an international student. Your article, “how to Write an Email to a Potential Ph.D. Advisor/Professor”, had helped shining the way to communicate with professors who live overseas.

After sending my email to three places, I received a good reply from a prospective professor who told me that I was a good fit to his/her laboratory.

Because this is only one month after submitting my applications, I do not know whether the email from the professor will guarantee my chance of acceptance. At least his/her reply helps me narrow down the researches that I should pursue.

Recently, I came across a problem. I found a university in which there are more than one professor that I would like to work with.

In fact, this problem is often, but I cannot make a decision for this department. Could you please give me advice on whether I should send the letter to more than one professor in the same department or what positive or negative consequences that I might have encounter.

Thank you for taking your time.

Sincerely yours,

Suvita Swana

February 3, 2014 at 11:45 am

February 20, 2014 at 4:34 am

thank you Mrs. Karen for such a good post, i read it and its quite helping .i wanted to ask you that would it be good idea to go for a Ph.D after completing M.Sc. while you have a business mind more than an academic? I have completed BS in Electrical Engineering in 2013. Secondly i need to support my family after MSc so would i be able to support them while pursuing a PhD.

March 14, 2014 at 2:14 pm

Dear, Dr. Karen: Thank you very much for this helpful post. Ahmed Eltayeb Sudan

March 17, 2014 at 11:54 am

Hello Dear, Thank you very much for your valuable post. If you don’t mind, I want to share with you my letter which I prepared for my Master’s Course in Surgical Oncology in a Canadian university for your experienced guidance.

Thank you Najmul Islam Sabbir

April 3, 2014 at 2:23 am

Hi Karen, Thank you for this post. I just discovered it yesterday,before sending the first version 🙂 I wonder- I am about to finish my master in Germany when I finished my bachelor in Israeli and worked in between. Should I write all of this info in the first paragraph? I feel it might be too much? (CV style) I will be happy to hear your opinion before sending. Thanks a lot in advance. Jasmin

April 4, 2014 at 5:49 am

Thank you Prof. Karen. This letter provides necessary way to connect PhD guide. thank you once again.

April 16, 2014 at 9:55 pm

I can’t help but echo what someone else had already mentioned in the earlier posts. I feel like you have to suck up to the professor to get any real attention. I’m a straight forward guy, and I don’t understand why we can’t just keep it short and sweet, like two or three sentences, with a CV/resume.

I don’t think I can bring myself to go into detail about how great the professor is, or how I’ve read all his/her papers, or how excited I am to start my research career. It’s politics, and I hate that game.

May 8, 2014 at 12:40 am

Oh my goodness, thank you soooo much!! I am so glad i stumbled upon this right before i was about to send out my email! I’m contacting a masters supervisor, and i can assure you, my email was going to be along the lines of the “instant delete” one!! Thank you so so much! I think you just got me into a masters!!

May 29, 2014 at 3:41 am

thank you for your brief guideline for the most of us. i will try this way and if will success i will tell you.

June 11, 2014 at 2:11 am

Dear professor Karen, This is really the most important and fantastic system of writing for admission application i ever had. Surprisingly, I was facing a big challenge how to write a constructive email for consideration of my graduate program this year. I have now alleviated this mountainous problem. Thank you so much Keren!

June 22, 2014 at 6:17 am

Dear professor Karen, Hello. I am a graduate student in physical chemistry (Master of Science). I am going to continue my study in Computational Chemistry fields for PhD degree in abroad. I preferred an Email (see bellow) to Ph.D. positions. Would you please read this letter and say you point of view about, is this letter suitable for sending to professors?

Dear professor ….,

Hello. I am a graduate student in physical chemistry (Master of Science). I have worked in Computational and Theoretical chemistry for more 3 years. I have many publications in good journals (see attached files). I have very good experiences in theoretical and computational chemistry (Ab initio, DFT, Post-HF, QM/MM) and also working with computer systems, UNIX operating systems and programming.

After graduation for gaining more experience and knowledge, I went to Isfahan University of Technology, department of chemistry, as a Research Assistant and continued my research under Professor H. Farrokhpour.

I am going to continue my study in Computational Chemistry fields for PhD degree. I visited your homepage and I think your research areas are fit to my interest, very well and I am interested in working with you as my supervisor.

Regarding my characteristics, I am a reliable, organized, and so enthusiastic student. I can learn everything fast. I am sure that I will carry over the same enthusiasm and skill in doing my PhD as I know that my background will prove to be an effective match for your demands. Therefore, I would like to have the opportunity to develop my abilities, for which I am confident that I have the skills, knowledge and competence. In addition, my English language is good and I can read, speak, write and listen. For more information, please see my CV in attached file.

Thank you for your time and consideration and I look forward to hearing from you. Yours Sincerely, Mostafa Abedi

Research Assistant,

Department of Chemistry, Isfahan University of Technology, Iran

June 30, 2014 at 7:37 am

I have sent a very similar e-mail to my prospective supervisor. It been a week but I have not received a reply yet.I want to ask if he received my email how should I write an email?

September 11, 2014 at 6:32 am

Thank you so much for posting this information. I have used this information to contact my desired mentor, and I received a response within 24 hours. The professor has now asked for a writing sample. After performing multiple edits, the sample is ready to be sent. Is there a specific response I should give when I send this sample? Thank you again.

December 17, 2014 at 12:36 am

I believe the nice thing about this post is that it reminds you to tell something about yourself; your GPA, your experience, your good qualities. I think those are always worth mentioning. The other really nice thing is that it tells you to get to know the supervisor’s research (after all, why would you want a supervisor whose research was not interesting?) But I disagree with being too concerned about pleasing the professor. I think honesty is way better, and I think people should remember that it’s not just the professor evaluating the potential student, but also the student evaluating the professor; if the professor is always busy, he probably won’t have time for you either. Sucking up will eventually *always* fail. Also, by attempting to please the professor too much I think people are supporting a system where professors pick their students based not on their qualifications and interests but how much they like the person. Just my two cents.

December 17, 2014 at 8:12 am

There is no ‘sucking up’ in this email.

January 2, 2015 at 9:51 pm

Thank you so much for this great post! I am wondering if it is ok to mention my undergrad and grad project? Because it is related directly to the professor’s research area.

January 5, 2015 at 8:53 am

January 25, 2015 at 9:28 pm

Hi Karen, thank you for sharing, it really help.

After i read this article, there is one thing i need to ask you. On the statement above: “My specific project will likely focus on xxxx, and I am particularly interested in exploring the question of xxxxx.” I wonder how specific i should fill on the xxxx and xxxxx. Do you mean that i Should fill it with my research title? I was intend to fill it with my research title but then i was confused because i have some alternative for my research project.

Thank you and i appreciate any answer.

March 19, 2015 at 7:22 pm

Hello Karen,

Thank you very much for the blog. it was useful to get to know about Prof’s mindset. I am getting some replys with the help of it.

May 22, 2015 at 8:36 pm

This is an awesome post, I am using it to contact some researchers of my own.

Thanks. Neelam

August 10, 2015 at 2:53 am

Thanks for your post. I have been thinking of the most polite way of going about this and I think I just found one

October 20, 2015 at 11:34 am

Thank you for writing this post. In my day job, I frequently write professional correspondence to senior management, clients, and team members. That being said, I’m a little nervous about my PhD application. I appreciate the few tips I pulled from these examples.

March 7, 2016 at 11:28 pm

Dear Karen Would you please send me a template for PhD application? I am a PhD student in my country but I want to apply for a part-time PhD research as PhD research opportunity in a foreign country. Thank you Best regards, Mahboob

March 9, 2016 at 9:26 pm

No, I don’t send templates for any type of writing, and especially not for Ph.d. applications.

May 30, 2016 at 6:21 pm

Thank you for your advice, it really helped me. I sent e-mail to a professor and he answered me asking to send CV, Cover letter, and Personal statement. Would you please help me about what should I write in the cover letter and what is the difference between it and personal statement.

Thanks a lot.

May 31, 2016 at 3:19 pm

We offer this help on a case by case basis. Please email me at [email protected] .

March 25, 2017 at 5:12 am

Dear Karen:

Your kind help is helpful to many new graduates.

Sincerely, Khurram ali shah

August 18, 2016 at 1:32 pm

Dear Dr. Karen,

Thank you for your informative article. I have a rather trivial question about … style (?)

At the end of the text of the email, is there a reason for using a comma after “Thank you very much” instead of a period (dot) or an exclamation mark? Thank you very much!

August 30, 2016 at 5:42 am

Dear Karen I must say you have done a good job in helping people like me regarding this area. Thank you so much for sharing. I would like to know if you offer any paid services in relation to research in general. Secondly, I am currently working on my research proposal and will be consulting potential supervisors very soon, however I do have a big worry. I am 32 years and I intend to start my Ph.D next year. I have 2 Bachelor of Science Degrees and a Masters of Science Degree. I have never worked, all I ever did was go to universities.If the supervisor asks for my CV, which has only a list of courses I have undertaken, would it be OK if I told them I never worked? Do you think having never worked is a disadvantage for me to be considered for a Ph.D? Thank you

September 5, 2016 at 3:36 am

You are amazing for doing this. I found this absolutely helpful.

October 4, 2016 at 7:00 am

Just used your advices for a PHD request in Finland. Fingers crossed!

January 27, 2017 at 7:42 am

Great advice, I just used then in my Master’s application. Thank you!

February 19, 2017 at 9:13 am

Thanks, it gave me a boost.

May 19, 2017 at 6:07 pm

99% of the professors will ignore the email since it is too long, and they cannot afford to read 200 such long emails which come to their inbox every day.

March 28, 2018 at 2:11 pm

Good, but most importantly, “How do we reply for a response?”

[…] with the potential advisor is perhaps the most important element of all; refer to this post for advice on how to initiate the conversation. Ideally you want the advisor to commit to you ahead […]

[…] some good “how not to sound like an idiot when writing to a potential advisor” templates here and here. There are plenty more where these came from, so don’t sweat it if this is an area that […]

[…] satu bloger menulis dalam blognya ( http://theprofessorisin.com/2011/07/25/how-to-write-an-email-to-a-potential-ph-d-advisor/ )tentang pentingnya sebuah email bagi para pencari beasiswa dan menjelaskan mengapa email tersebut […]

[…] Source: theprofessorisin.com […]

[…] TPII is a great resource for students (of all education levels). Dr. Kelsky covers everything from contacting potential supervisors to mental illness in academia to getting tenure. She also offers paid services if you’re […]

[…] Source […]

[…] have two websites about that subject, you can link here and here. But in short I can say […]

[…] made a list with all the academics conducting researches that might interest me. These were alternative supervisors that I could contact by email. Not only the ones doing similar stuff to what I was doing, but people whose style of supervision I […]

[…] emails daily and many, many requests from prospective students every year. You need to stand out. Here is a very thorough post about nailing the inquiry email. If you are able, try to arrange an informal […]

[…] How to Write an Email to a Potential Ph.D. Advisor/Professor. […]

[…] > http://theprofessorisin.com/2011/07/25/how-to-write-an-email-to-a-potential-ph-d-advisor/ […]

[…] OPTIONAL, IF NEEDED: The Professor is In (blog): How to Fire a Professor (from your committee), How to Write an E-Mail (to a potential research advisor) […]

[…] https://theprofessorisin.com/2011/07/25/how-to-write-an-email-to-a-potential-ph-d-advisor/ […]

[…] supervisor is not your laurels. They can find that in your CV. It is the part where you establish common ground. You must be able to connect the dots between the professor’s research interests and your […]

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How to Email a Professor for Master or PhD Positions: Sample Emails

Emailing a professor to serve as a graduate school advisor or Ph.D. supervisor is a very good idea, but it can also come with its fair share of challenges. It’s imperative to understand that sending an adequate email to a professor, where you present your ideas is very important. Ideally, you want to create a great email to the professor that shows how qualified you are as an applicant.

On top of that, the email should also have a great structure, proper keywords and the right email patterns. needless to say, your email doesn’t have to be very long, nor does it have to be repetitive. keeping it to the point and reading the professor’s research papers and ongoing before applying for the ph.d. position can be a major bonus., why to email a professor for a ph.d. position.

Email is a great way to get in touch with a professor to show you are interested in the Ph.D. position. It allows you to introduce yourself, show the professor your research interest while also making it easy to showcase any credentials. Emails to professors are a double-edged sword, however, since a badly written email to a professor diminishes your chances of reaching that Ph.D. position. So you must pay a lot of attention and ensure that your email to potential supervisor is well-written.

What are parts of an email to a professor?

An email sent to a professor for the Ph.D. position needs to have multiple different parts. The format might change depending on the situation, but for the most part, this is what you need to have in your email:

• The subject line needs to be to the point, and it needs to be something like “Prospective Ph.D. student”, “Request for Ph.D. supervision” or anything similar. You want to show exactly what you want to achieve and why you are sending an email in the first place. If you step away too much, then that becomes an issue and you want to avoid that as much as you can.
• Greetings are also an important part. You want to start with “Dear NAME” or “Dear Prof. NAME”, among others. Make sure that you only use professional greetings. Then you can write “Good Morning” or “Good Afternoon”, depending on the time of day when you are sending the email to the professor.
• The First paragraph has to be an introduction, showing who you are and where you come from. The intro should also have some info about your experience and qualifications, which is something important to keep in mind. Any slang terms or abbreviations should be avoided.
• The second paragraph needs to talk about your work experience, skills and previous research. Keep in mind this needs to be short and to the point, but you want to showcase your achievements and expertise, as it will make you stand out from any other competitors.
• The third paragraph is where you share your interests and motivation. Show why you chose this professor or their research group. It’s also a good idea to start what project you would like to get started on. It helps eliminate concerns, while bringing you an outstanding experience.
• At the end of the email, you want to have a formal acknowledgement. You also want to state that you attached your CV and any other relevant info regarding your previous accomplishments.

First sample email to professor

Dear Prof. _____

My name is AAA, I am a student at the AAA college and I have a major in AAA. Right now I am a junior, but I am preparing to graduate this year. I also have experience in the college summer program and a GPA score of 4.

I am looking to attend the graduate school AAA, specializing in AAA. During one of my classes, I had the opportunity to read your article on AAA, I enjoyed it a lot and it allowed me to gather some ideas regarding future research I can do. I’ve also bee exploring a multitude of ideas that I could work on. My project will focus on AAA and AAA, and I would like to explore multiple different questions.

I would like to inquire if you are accepting any graduate students. I’ve been working on numerous projects and received multiple awards, as you can see from my attachments. I would be delighted to work with you and receive all the necessary guidance needed to complete my research. 

Please find in the attachment my CV. I am looking forward to hearing your reply and potentially working with you.

Best regards,

Second sample email to professor

Dear Prof. ____

My name is AAA and I completed the AAA degree from AAA university with X GPA. I received the AAA certificates, achievements and medals (If available).

While doing my undergraduate/masters studies, I was able to read one of your articles and I was fascinated by it. Since then, I’ve been engaged in multiple research projects on that topic, and even was a part of research publications and internships that allowed me to further improve my knowledge on that topic.

I am turning to you for the AAA position on the AAA scholarship in the area of AAA. I read multiple publications of your research work and my current project, and I would like to ask for your assistance and guidance. I explored your department’s website in detail and I think your option would be an excellent fit due to the emphasis on AAA and AAA. I still have a few questions that I would like to talk with you about.

Please find in the attachment my CV which includes my work experience, the list of research publications, and academic achievements. I appreciate taking your time to read this message, and I am looking forward to your reply.

It’s very important to understand how to create an email for a Ph.D position, even if it can get very challenging at first. The main focus is to always ensure you share your ideas, while asking for guidance and support. Keep it short and simple, retain the structure listed above, and don’t hesitate to make this email your own. Doing that can help a lot, and it has the potential to eliminate many of the downsides that can appear. If you found this article and samples useful, don’t hesitate to share them with friends!

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Email to Professor for Supervision in PhD

Ph.D. is a research program in which students who have completed their master’s get enrolled. They perform the research in a specific area of knowledge and interest and once they have made a significant contribution to their chosen field, they receive a doctorate. It is important to note that conducting research is a rigorous process that a student cannot complete without someone’s assistance. Therefore, they look for a professor who has knowledge in the same area and who has a deeper insight into performing the research. 

What is an email to a professor for supervision in Ph.D.?

It is a formal email that an aspiring student writes to the professor and requests him/her to provide his/her supervision. The professor can be anywhere in the world and via email; it is very easy to reach out to them. 

In this email, a student tries to convince the professor to be ready to supervise the students so that he or she can complete their doctorate in the relevant area. Thus, this email needs to be written with care. 

How to write an email to the professor for supervision in my Ph.D.?

Start with your introduction:.

As you begin the email, remember to give your introduction. Your introduction should include only those details that are necessary for a professor to have. Some common elements of the introduction section are:

• Student’s name and nationality 
• Name of the university from where the student completed the master’s degree 
• Area of interest 
• Name of the completed program 
• Year of completion of master’s program 

Mention your area of interest:

A person who is being asked for supervision always wants to know the interest of the student. This lets the professor decide whether he can supervise that student or not because if the area of the research of a student is not in line with the research of the professor, it would be very difficult for both of them to work with each other. 

Give details of publications:

A student becomes a very strong candidate to be chosen to work as a student in a doctoral program in an institute when he has published some research papers. This shows that a student has a solid background in the research field.

A professor, after seeing publications, can also feel that the aspiring student has plenty of knowledge about performing research and therefore, he can be very easy to supervise. Make a list of research papers mentioning their titles, year of publication, name of the journal paper, and much more.  

Here, you should also discuss your master’s program in detail and the thesis you wrote to complete your research-based master’s since a Ph.D. becomes the extension of the master’s program. 

Specify your achievements:

Professors want to work with a person who is well-groomed and capable. How capable a person is depends on many factors. A professor usually judges the students from his achievements in academia and also in the field of research. A student should never forget to list down his achievements one by one. 

Mention your skill set:

Every student is required to be equipped with such skills that can help them ace the doctoral program. A supervisor would like to know what skills you have got and how they are going to help you in performing the research. For instance, if you want to do research in the field of machine learning, mentioning that you have learned Python programming language will be very helpful for you. 

Make a request:

Since you are writing this email to convince the professor to choose you to extend a study area and make some contributions to it, you should request at the end and ask the professor to supervise you. Let him know when you will be ready for taking admission to the doctoral program. Also, ask him to let you know about his time of availability so that you both can meet each other in person and discuss several things in detail. 

Show gratitude:

Say thanks to the professor for taking the time to read your email and also let the professor know that you are looking forward to hearing from him. 

Sample Letters

I hope this email finds you in good health. My name is Jane Doe, MSc Biosciences. I am writing to express my interest in pursuing a Ph.D. under your esteemed guidance and supervision.

I have recently completed my master’s degree in Biosciences from ABC University. I wish to further pursue my interests and enroll in a Ph.D. program in the relevant field. Your extensive research experience and expertise in this area have greatly inspired me. I, therefore, seek your guidance in my academic and professional growth.

I would like to further discuss my research interests with you. If it is convenient for you, I would be honored to schedule a meeting with you or call you at your earliest convenience. I am aware that your time is valuable. However, I will be grateful to you if you can spare a few minutes for me.

Thank you for considering my request. I eagerly look forward to your reply.  

I am XYZ, working as the Research Associate at ABC University in the Chemistry department. I wish to enhance my qualifications and enroll in a Ph.D. program under your supervision.

I would like to discuss this further. Kindly let me know when it is convenient for you to arrange a meeting.

I eagerly await your response and look forward to the possibility of working under your guidance.

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How to Write an Email to a Professor (With Examples)

Hannah Yang

Table of Contents

How to email a professor in 7 steps, email to professor examples.

Emailing your professor can be a daunting task.

Writing professional emails is never easy, but composing an email to a professor can feel especially nerve-racking. After all, your professors have a lot of control over your academic success and your future career, so you don't want to make a mistake.

So, how exactly do you write a successful email to a professor?

In this article, we’ll give you a step-by-step guide for how to write an email to your professor, plus a set of email templates you can use.

We’ve broken the process of emailing your professor into seven simple steps.

Step 1: How to Write the Subject Line

Start by writing a clear, concise subject line for your email.

Your subject line should be specific to your situation. Ideally, your professor should understand why you’re emailing them without even having to open the body of your message.

For example, if you’re emailing to request an extension for a research paper, you can use the subject line “Research paper deadline extension.” Or, if you’re emailing to ask for a clarification about the syllabus, you can use the subject line “Question about class syllabus.”

Step 2: How to Address a Professor in an Email

You should start your email with a formal salutation.

You can use formal greetings, such as “Dear” or “Hi,” followed by your teacher’s preferred title, whether that’s “Professor [Last Name],” “Mr. [Last Name],” “Ms. [Last Name],” or simply “[First Name].”

If you’re not sure about your professor’s title, “Dear Professor [Last Name]” is always a safe bet.

Step 3: How to Start an Email to a Teacher

Start your email by introducing yourself and explaining which class you’re in. For example, you might write, “My name is Hannah, and I’m a freshman in your ENGL 453 class.”

It’s common for professors to teach multiple classes, especially at large universities, so they don’t always know all their students by name. If you’re emailing from your academic account, they’ll likely be able to see your full name in the system, but it’s still better to be safe than sorry.  

Of course, if you’ve already established a working relationship with your professor, and they know who you are, you don’t have to introduce yourself. Instead, you can start your email with a friendly greeting, such as “I hope your week is going well” or “Happy Friday!”

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Step 4: How to Explain Your Request

Now that you’ve finished your introduction, it’s time to explain all the essential information about why you’re writing this message.

Professors lead busy lives, so try to keep the body of your email as concise as possible. Don’t use a whole paragraph when a single sentence would do.

Try to keep a professional tone while you explain your request. You don’t need to sound overly stiff, but you should generally avoid using slang or making jokes.

If you’re writing about an issue that includes personal details, such as a health issue or the loss of a loved one, it’s okay to be vague when explaining your reasons. Don’t feel pressure to include details about your personal life that you’re not comfortable sharing.

Finally, be specific about what kind of follow-up action you’re requesting from your professor, if any. For example, you can write, “Please let me know if it would be possible to extend the deadline,” or “Please send me your feedback on this draft at your earliest convenience.”  

Step 5: How to End an Email to a Professor

You can end the body of your email with a simple expression of gratitude. You can write something like, “Thank you for your understanding and support,” or simply “Thanks for your time.”

Step 6: How to Sign Off an Email

Sign off your email with a simple closing salutation, followed by your first name.

Keep it simple and polite. Popular choices include “Best,” “Thanks,” “Sincerely,” and “Regards.”

Step 7: Edit Your Email with ProWritingAid

You don’t want to send your professor an email riddled with grammar mistakes, especially if it’s your English professor! And even if they teach a different subject, like math or biology, you still want to make sure you’re putting your best foot forward.

Editing your email with ProWritingAid can help you avoid mistakes. Our editing tool will correct grammar errors, spelling typos, and weak word choices.

You can even ask the tool to help you ensure you’re using a formal tone so your email doesn’t come across as casual or unprofessional.

Now that we’ve gone over the seven steps for writing an email to a professor, let’s look at some examples.

Here are some email templates you can use, depending on your specific situation.  

Sick Email to Professor Example

Subject line: Missing class today

Dear Professor [Last Name],

My name is [your name], and I’m a student in your class [class name]. I’m writing to let you know that I won’t be able to make it to class today, due to health issues. [Insert details if needed].

Please let me know what material we’ll be covering so I can make it up before the next class.

[Your name]

Sample Email to Professor Asking for Help

Subject line: Help with [class name]

My name is [your name]. I’ve been really struggling with your class [class name] this semester, and I’m having a hard time understanding [details].

Would you have time to sit down with me and help me better understand the material? I would welcome any support you can offer.

Thank you in advance! I look forward to hearing from you.

How to Email a Professor About a Grade

Subject line: My grade for [assignment/exam name]

I hope your week is off to a good start!

I recently received my grade for [assignment/exam name], and it was lower than I expected. Could you please tell me where I lost points?

I know you have a busy schedule, but I would really appreciate more details, since I’m sure that information could also help me improve my grades in the future.

Thank you so much for your time!

Sample Email to Professor for Research

Subject line: Research opportunities in your lab

I hope you’re doing well!

My name is [your name], and I’m a [year, major]. I’m writing to ask about research opportunities in your lab next semester.

I’m really interested in the topic you’re researching because [details], and I have experience conducting research with [previous experience, if any].

Please let me know if you have any openings that might be suitable for me. I look forward to hearing from you!

How to Write an Apology Email for Missing a Class

Subject line: Missing class yesterday

I hope your week is going well.

I’m writing to apologize for missing your class [class name] yesterday. I was unable to attend because [details].

I know it was an important class and that I shouldn’t have missed it. I’ll do my best to ensure this doesn’t happen again. Thank you for your support and understanding.

Extension Email to Professor Example

Subject line: Extension for [Assignment Name]

My name is [your name], and I’m a student in your class [class name]. I’m writing to request an extension for our assignment about [assignment details].

I’ve been struggling to complete the assignment in time because of [reasons]. I would really appreciate it if you could extend the deadline to [new deadline date], due to my situation.

Please let me know if that would be okay. Thank you so much for your flexibility.

Thanks again,

How to Write a Follow-Up Email to a Professor

Subject line: Follow-up re: [subject]

I recently emailed you about [topic].

I’m just writing to follow up on my previous email and make sure you’ve received it. If you have, please let me know when I can expect a reply.

Thank you again for your time!

Warm regards,

How to Email a Professor About Getting Into Their Class

Subject line: Joining your class [class name]

My name is [your name], and I’m a [year, major] at [school name]. I’m interested in joining your class [class name]. I’m really fascinated by [topic] because [reasons], and I’ve heard that your class is a must-take class for students interested in [topic].

I don’t know how much demand there is for the class, but I’m curious if there’s anything I should do in advance to increase my chances of getting into the class.

Thank you for your consideration! I look forward to hearing from you.  

There you have it—our guide for composing a clear and professional email to a professor.

Good luck, and happy writing!

Hannah is a speculative fiction writer who loves all things strange and surreal. She holds a BA from Yale University and lives in Colorado. When she’s not busy writing, you can find her painting watercolors, playing her ukulele, or hiking in the Rockies. Follow her work on hannahyang.com or on Twitter at @hannahxyang.

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Aug 8, 2022

How to email a professor with 22 different examples

Learn how to email your professor (and what to avoid doing) and check out 22 sample emails to help you get started.

Lawrie Jones

Table of contents

Is there anything more nerve-racking than sending an email to a professor?

Every student will need to send an email to a professor at some point, whether you're asking for an extension, explaining an absence, or a little extra help. But how do you write an email to a professor?

In this guide on how to email a professor, we break down the steps to writing better messages. You'll learn the structure of a good email to a professor (and what to avoid).

And if this is not enough to convince you that it's easier than you might think, we finish off by providing 22 sample emails to a professor!

If you want to impress your professor with perfect grammar, make sure to try Flowrite :

How to send an email to a professor

So, how do you write an email to a professor? Professors are professional people who will be used to traditional email etiquette. That's not to say that you can't introduce some individuality into your emails; it's just important to show respect. 

You'll understand your relationship better than we do. You can be a little less formal if you feel it's appropriate.

Following the correct email etiquette is essential – and easy. In this article we break it down into steps to illustrate what we mean. We've also written about proper email etiquette on our blog before:

It's also important to keep emails short and to the point. Professors receive hundreds of messages daily and don't have time to delve too deeply to get the information they need. Say who you are, what you want, and why you're messaging upfront.

Should I send an email to a professor?

Classes can be busy, and a professor's time can be limited, so email is an ideal way to communicate with your Professor. Emails enable you to go into detail, create lists and spend time crafting a complex message.  

If your question or comment is urgent or sensitive, consider whether it's better to book a meeting or pull them aside for a chat. 

Only you can decide whether to email a professor.

How long should I wait for a reply?

Professors are people with busy lives and professional responsibilities, so you may need to wait for a reply. But how long should you wait for a response from your Professor?

There are no hard and fast rules on how long to wait for a reply, but the general rule is to give it two or three days before sending a follow-up. You can learn more in our guide on how to write a follow-up email.

Email format for messaging a professor

The email format for a professor should be familiar to anyone who understands the basics of messaging. Here's how it works:

• Subject line

• Body copy

• Signature

If you're unfamiliar with how to write a formal email, check out Flowrite blogs that delve deeper into what makes a great subject line, how to greet someone, appropriate sign-offs, and striking the right tone of voice. 

Subject line for an email to professor

Your subject line should spell out exactly what your message is about. Why? Because professors get hundreds of emails daily, they'll need a reason to open and respond to yours. 

We've provided some examples below.

How to greet a professor in an email

Professors should always be addressed using their titles. You can open an email in a few ways, such as:

• Dear Professor 

• Hi Professor

Avoid casual openings, such as "hey" or "how are you doing?". Instead, always uses your Professor's title to show respect, even if you start an email with "Hi" or "Hello."

How to address professor in email

We've covered the importance of using a professor's title in an email, but there's more to it. When discussing how to address a professor in an email, we're talking about the tone of voice – and getting that right can be tricky.

You'll want to be personal, but being too familiar can cause problems. We've written before about how to hit the right tone, so start there. Our examples below show how we've put this into practice.

How to start an email to a professor

An excellent way to start your email is by stating who you are and explaining what your message is about. As we've established, professors receive hundreds of messages every day, so they'll skim-read your message. Unless you're clear with what you want, you could find it binned.

You can see 22 examples of how to address your emails and get to the point as soon as possible.

How to sign off an email to professor

There are several ways you can end an email you a professor. Traditionally, you'd use "your sincerely," but today, you can be a little less formal. Some safe email endings to a professor include:

• Kind regards

• Yours sincerely

Email to professor examples

So, we've explained the basics of emailing your Professor; now it's time to put it into practice with samples. Here are 22 email to professor examples that should cover any scenario. So, whether you're asking for advice, access to a class, or a little extra support, we've got a template for you. 

22 sample emails to a professor

Here are 22 examples of how to email your Professor. These should cover a whole range of situations that you could find yourself in. As with all our templates, use them as inspiration, and be sure to adapt them to your specific situation. 

Ready to get writing to your Professor? Then let's begin.

1. How to write an excuse email to professor example

2. how to email professor for extension example, 3. how to email professor asking for extra credit example, 4. how to email a professor about failing a class example, 5. how to send a follow-up email to a professor, 6. how to write a formal email to a professor example, 7. how to email a professor about getting into their class example, 8. how to email a professor about a grade example, 9/ how to introduce yourself in an email to a professor example, 10. how to ask professor to accept late assignment email example, 11. how to email a professor for a letter of recommendation example, 12. how to email professor about missing class example, 13. how to write a polite email to a professor example, 14. how to write a professional email to a professor example, 15. how to write a proper email to a professor example, 16. how to ask a question to a professor email example, 17. how to write a reminder email to professor example, 18. how to reply back to a professor's email example, 19. how to email a professor about research example, 20/ how to schedule an appointment with a professor email example, 21. how to email professor about being sick example, 22. how to write a thank you email to a professor example, closing words.

Writing emails to a professor can cause mild anxiety, but it doesn't need to be so. We hope that breaking down how to email a professor into steps and providing a massive number of samples will help.

It's essential to understand the principles of crafting professional emails, such as an email to a professor – now it's time to put it into practice.

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How to Email Your Professor (With Examples)

Lisa Freedland is a Scholarships360 writer with personal experience in psychological research and content writing. She has written content for an online fact-checking organization and has conducted research at the University of Southern California as well as the University of California, Irvine. Lisa graduated from the University of Southern California in Fall 2021 with a degree in Psychology.

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Every academic year, more and more professors complain that students do not know how to write nor respond to emails. Often, students are simply not taught how to write such emails to begin with. Some students are entirely clueless about what they’re doing wrong. To help make sure you don’t make these same mistakes, we’re going to show you how to email your professor (with examples)!

Keep on reading so that you can be confident in what you’re saying before you even hit “send.”

Emailing professors: A how-to guide

We’re sure that you’ve emailed people before, whether teachers, coworkers, friends, or family, but emailing professors is a little different. Emailing professors requires a level of formality not typically required when emailing people you’re already familiar with (yes, even if you know the professor well!). So, to make sure you don’t leave a bad impression on your professors, we’ve established a few tips that you should go by before sending off that email. Let’s get into them!

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Be professional

Perhaps most importantly, you should be professional when emailing your professors. But, what do we mean by this?

Simply, being professional when emailing your professors means using proper grammar, not using slang or emojis, and using their proper title (we’ll get into what this means next).

Further, if you’re asking for an extension for an assignment, giving a heads-up as to why you’ll be missing class, or anything along these lines, try not to give away too much personal information as to why. For example, rather than saying you have a stomach ache or caught the flu, you can instead say that you came down with an illness. The exact sickness (or reason) is not the most relevant information. Your professor will probably be grateful not to know anyway.

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Include their title + name.

Time for titles! If you’re not familiar with what titles are, titles refer to the words used before or after a person’s name that indicate a person’s position or role. When it comes to professors, students normally use either the title “Doctor” (abbreviated Dr.) or “Professor.”

And, as normally comes after someone’s title, you should be sure to include their last name after. So, let’s say you’re emailing a professor called Susan Robinson. You could start the email off with something like:

“Dear Dr. Robinson,” or “Hello Dr. Robinson,” or “Dear Professor Robinson,” or “Hello Professor Robinson,”

All these are fine choices, and it’s entirely up to you to choose whichever you prefer. And, if you haven’t quite noticed, it’s quite common to use “Dear” or “Hello” when starting off an email to a professor, but these aren’t your only options (just common ones). Whichever you use is, once again, up to your personal preference!

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Say something nice 

Yes, really. It doesn’t hurt to be nice when emailing professors, especially when you’re asking for their advice or help. 

So, how do you start out with something nice? Well, typically, after greeting your professor with their title and name (as we demonstrated above), you’ll add something along the lines of:

• “Hope you had a great weekend.”
• “I hope you’re enjoying the beautiful weather today!”
• “Hope you’re doing well!”

Make sense? Some professors appreciate such niceties. Not only will it indicate that you realize they have a life outside of academia, but it’s also just a polite thing to do. Yes, admittedly, some professors might not care, but others will!

Give context (i.e. who you are)

College professors have tons of students. So, oftentimes (if not always), they may need a little reminder on how they know you. This is especially true if you’re not in touch with them frequently. This is exactly what you should do next – explain who you are!

If you’re a student of theirs, the easiest way to do this is to mention what class of theirs you’re enrolled in, and what time it meets (or, if there are names for each section, you can mention that instead). This will give them some context before you ask a question, so they can understand exactly what assignment, topic, or question it is you’re asking about. This might go something like:

“This is *insert your name* from the Psychology 101 section that meets Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1-2:30 P.M.”

Alternatively, if you’re not a student of theirs, explain your desired relationship to them (e.g., are you interested in enrolling in their class? Do you want to work in their research lab?). If this is the case for you, this might look like:

“This is *insert your name*, a second-year student majoring in Psychology. I am interested in enrolling in Psychology 102 next semester, and… *can ask/introduce your question here*” 

Now, unless you are 100% sure that your professor knows who you are by name, we definitely recommend you don’t skip this step! It may be awkward if your professor has to ask who you are after your initial email, so, better safe than sorry!

Last, but not least, try to use your university email if you have one! This immediately signals to your professor that you’re either a student or faculty member at their college. Your school email may make them more inclined to look at your email.

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Be straightforward

Since they have so many students, professors also receive a lot of emails. So, when emailing them, make sure to get straight to the point (no beating around the bush!). Be specific about your question, and provide context if needed. If you’ve already tried to solve your problem or answer your question in a number of ways, mention these. Doing so will cut down the amount of unnecessary emails sent back and forth. Also, it will also help you understand what tips or advice they shouldn’t give you (as you’ve already tried them).

On a similar note, if you have a question about a test or due date, we highly recommend checking your class syllabus first. These will contain your important test and due dates 99% of the time, if not more.

And, most importantly, remember to make your subject line specific and clear. For example, if you have a question about an assignment’s due date, your subject line could be something along the lines of “Question about Due Date of Assignment Name .” This will make it clear to the professor what the context of the email is, and will help avoid any misunderstandings.

After asking your question (or saying whatever you needed to say), it’s time to sign off! Most commonly, people will do this by using a “Best,”, “Thanks,” “Sincerely,” or something along those lines, followed by their name. If your university email does not include your full name, write both your first and last name in your sign off. This will make it clear to the professor who you are, even if they have another student with the same first name.

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A few examples

Time for a few examples! Here they are:

1.  If you’re asking a professor a question about an upcoming test date:

Hello Dr. Johnson,

Hope your week is off to a great start!

This is John Smith from your Chemistry 404 Monday/Wednesday/Friday 11 am – 12 pm class. Last Monday, you mentioned that our upcoming midterm is scheduled for September 25th. However, on the class syllabus it says that the test is planned for September 21st. I was wondering on which of these dates the midterm will be taking place?

Thank you in advance.

2.  Generalized email to a professor:

Dear Dr. Last Name ,

Hope you’re doing well!

This is Your name from Your class  at time . I had a question about * elaborate on the question.*

We hope that you’re now well-versed on how to write an email to a professor of yours. However, how do you go about cold emailing a professor for a research opportunity? That’s a great question! Let’s see.

How to email a professor for research opportunities

Luckily, the format for emailing a professor for research is not too different from that of emailing any professor. So, if you’ve already read all our tips above, you’re off to a head start. However, there are a few differences. 

Components to include

Before we get into what makes an email to a professor for research different, we should first list the basic components of this type of email (as they largely overlap with a normal email to a professor). Any email to a professor (for research) should:

• Have an informative subject line
• Be professional and straightforward
• Include their title and name
• Include why you want to join their research lab (why you’re interested in their research specifically)
• Mention any previous experience (if applicable)
• Elaborate on why research is important to you/will help you reach your goals
• Ask to schedule a time to meet or discuss possible research opportunities
• Your resume and transcript (attached to the email!)

Since we’ve already covered most of these components above (under Emailing Professors: A How-To Guide), we’ll now be focusing mainly on the unique aspects of writing an email to a professor for research. 

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Do your research!

If you’re interested in doing research, now’s your time to show off your skills! Before you go about emailing any research professor for an opportunity to work in their lab, you must first know what their lab studies. Doing this research will help you elaborate on why you want to join their specific lab, rather than any others, which will help you stand out amongst possible applicants (and will help you know if you’re actually a good fit for the lab or not!).

Why are you interested in their research?

After you’ve done research on the research of the professor you’d like to work with, use this information to detail what exactly about their research interests you. This can normally be done within 1-2 sentences, and should be specific – make sure to relate it to your interests and goals! This may look something like:

I am particularly interested in topic . I recently read your name/year of research paper on topic and developed an interest in your research. Specifically, I was fascinated by mention one of the findings of the research paper . If possible, I would love the opportunity to work in your lab to help contribute to further research on this topic during time frame.

If this seems a little confusing right now, don’t fret! We have some actual examples for later, so you can get an idea of what this section should look like when real topics and findings are included.

Ask to schedule a meeting

Now, it’s time to schedule a meeting (or, at least ask to)! After you go about mentioning what you find interesting about their research and expressing an interest in working in their lab, you should make a request to meet with them. There’s a few different ways you can do this:

• “ If you know of any internship, volunteer, or work positions available in research over the summer, I would love to set up a time to talk about these potential opportunities.”
• “If you have time, I would love to set up a time to talk about potential research opportunities.”
• “Would you be available to meet sometime this week to discuss your research?”
• “Would it be possible to meet with you to further discuss Topic and my possible involvement in research? I am available on Days and Times .”

Simple, right? After you ask to schedule a meeting, we highly recommend mentioning that your transcript and resume are attached to the email (and make sure to actually attach them). If you do not attach them, professors will often ask for them promptly afterwards (but not always).

Last, but not least, finish off the email with a nicety! You can do it more formally, with something like, “I greatly appreciate your time and consideration.” Or, you can do it more casually, with something along the lines of, “I look forward to hearing from you!”

Which way you choose is ultimately up to you – just make sure to be respectful! 

More examples

Time for some more examples! These are real examples of emails written to professors, in which students were asking for research opportunities (although some names and info have been slightly altered). Here we go!

1.  Email from a student without any prior research experience:

“Dear Dr. Lee,

I hope this email finds you well. My name is Abigail Thompson and I am a first-year undergraduate at the University of Minnesota, majoring in Psychology and minoring in Japanese. I am currently looking for opportunities to get involved with research over the summer. 

Psychological research, especially that relating to social psychology, sounds very interesting to me, so I am hoping to get involved early into my undergraduate career. I have reviewed your faculty profile and am interested in name of the research paper , especially how you explored how people who have experienced traumas cope with what they’ve been through. If you know of any internship, volunteer, or work positions available in research over the summer, I would love to set up a time to talk about these potential opportunities. I greatly appreciate your time and consideration, and my resume and transcript are attached to this email.

2.  Email from a student with prior research experience:

“ Dear Dr. Pudi,

I hope this email finds you well. My name is Jacqueline Fisher and I am a sophomore at UCLA, majoring in Psychology. I am currently looking for opportunities to get involved with research for this upcoming semester or over the summer. 

Last summer, I assisted in research at the University of California, Berkeley, where we studied people’s psychological responses to traumatic events. I am also interested in developmental psychology and how your research studies the effects of marital conflict on children.

If you have time, I would love to set up a time to talk about potential research opportunities. I greatly appreciate your time and consideration, and my resume is attached to this email. 

Have a wonderful time frame .

Jacqueline ”

Dear Reader,

You’ve now reached the end of the article!

I hope that this guide (and our example emails) have helped you gain the knowledge and skill of being able to email your professors (for class, research, or otherwise!). It’s sure to come in handy at some point, so, we wish you good luck, and send you off!

All the best,

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Cover Letter for PhD Application: Guide for Writing One & Example From a Real PhD Student

• Klara Cervenanska , 
• Updated March 27, 2023 9 min read

When applying for a PhD research position, you usually need to submit certain documents, including an academic CV and a cover letter for PhD application .

A PhD cover letter, also referred to as an academic cover letter, should be carefully crafted, well-formatted, and contain specific sections.

We'll show you how to do exactly that, along with a sample of an academic cover letter from a real person admitted to a PhD program at Lyon University in France.

And if you're not sure how to go about writing your PhD CV, check out this article: CV for PhD Application: How to Write One Like a True Scholar (+CV Example) .

Table of Contents

Click on a section to skip

What is an academic cover letter?

What to include in a cover letter for phd application, how to write a cover letter for phd application, how to format an academic cover letter, phd cover letter sample.

An academic cover letter is a document that PhD candidates submit alongside their academic CV when applying for a PhD. 

Essentially, it's a cover letter for a PhD application.

It's not exactly the same as your regular business cover letter. Nor is it the same as a personal statement or a motivation letter .

The purpose of a cover letter for PhD application is to explain to the reader, who's likely a researcher or a professor, what you can contribute to their institution and/or field.

Moreover, in a PhD application cover letter, you should explain why you're a good match for the research position on the program.

Differences between academic cover letter and business cover letter

Both these documents serve different purposes and people use them in different settings:

• Academic cover letter is used when applying for positions in academia — most often for a PhD. More emphasis should be on education, research background and scholarly accomplishments. Moreover, it should explain what your contribution to the institution or field could be. It should also point the reader to your academic CV.
• Regular (business) cover letter is normally used when applying for any kind of job . Hence, more emphasis should be on skills and past experience while being tailored to a specific job position. You should also explain why you're a good fit for the position at the given company. It should point the reader to your resume.

There are also other documents people often mistake for an academic cover letter. These include:

• Motivation letter is especially relevant for fresh graduates when applying to a university, a non-profit organization, or voluntary work. A motivation letter focuses more on your interests and motives for applying.
• Personal statement. Also used in an academic setting. It's always written by an applicant, often a prospective student, applying to college, university, or graduate school. You explain why you've chosen a particular course and why you'd be good at it. Other names include a statement of purpose or a letter of intent .

Like every cover letter, an academic one also needs to include specific elements and content sections. These are:

• Header. Here, provide your contact information, such as your name, address, phone number, and email in the header of the document.
• Formal salutation. In an official letter like this one, you should address the reader in a professional and formal way. If you know who'll be reading your cover letter, go with Dear Dr. [Surname] or Dear Professor [Surname] . If you don't, go with Dear Sir/Madam .
• The specific PhD program or position. Clearly state in your letter which research position you're applying for or the name of the PhD program. A cover letter is usually read before a CV, so you need to make sure everything is clear.
• Your motivation. Explain why you're interested in the specific PhD position — it's one of the key elements you should include.
• Your academic background. Now, we don't mean you should list in detail every single university course you ever took. Instead, focus on the most relevant course for the PhD and describe in detail what you learned, any projects you worked on, why it was interesting (and optionally, what knowledge gap you identified). In this way, you also show a certain level of understanding of the field.
• Your ambition. Briefly mention what your ambitions, intentions, and plans are regarding your contribution to the field when securing your PhD position. How is your research going to enrich the field? How will the institution benefit from it?
• Conclusion. Keep the conclusion short. Contrary to a regular cover letter ending , there's no place for reiterating everything here. Simply thank the reader for your consideration and prompt them to read your academic CV.
• Formal sign-off. Just pick from the usual: Sincerely, Respectfully, Regards... Then throw in your full name in the following line.

And that's all you need to include!

Now, let's take a look at how to write your cover letter step-by-step.

Applying for a PhD will be a lot less stressful if you follow these tips on how to write a cover letter for a research position:

Consider researching the background of the organization, department, ongoing research projects, and their past and current projects. All that before you start writing your cover letter. Knowing these things will help you tailor your letter to the specific PhD opening.

Before you actually start writing, try to sit down and take a moment to think first. Assess how your past experiences helped you prepare for the PhD position and scribble down those that are most relevant and significant for the specific program. These include any research experiences, research projects, courses, or internships.

In the first few sentences of your letter, you need to convey some basic information about yourself and what specific position you're applying for. The opening should also state firmly why you're a strong candidate for the position/program, by using a persuasive and convincing wording. Here's an example: "As an MChem Chemistry graduate with a narrow focus on the sustainable synthesis of biologically active molecules from the University of Dundee, I am excited to apply to a "Synthesis Of Small Molecule Inhibitors Using Enzymes" PhD programme at an institution with such a strong foundation and numerous research groups in this field."

This is the place where you may explore more extensively on the educational journey that brought you here. Set the foundation for demonstrating how your Master's degree and research experience seamlessly translate into the next phase — the PhD program. Emphasize how your thesis contributes to the field's body of knowledge. Mention any other publications that support your thesis. And, if you can, identify any knowledge gaps or topics that can be explored further.

This paragraph provides the opportunity to neatly tie in together everything the reader has learned about you so far. You can show how your previous experience, coupled with what you'll learn during the PhD program, will come together to produce something novel to enrich the field. First, identify the courses or topics within the PhD program that interest you the most and how they relate to you developing your research further. Second, introduce your future research aspirations and goals. Third, point out how this future work will enrich the field and what will the intellectual merit be.

When ending your PhD cover letter, briefly refer your reader to your academic CV and encourage them to examine all of the remaining projects, courses, publications, or references . Finally, thank the reader for their time and consideration and let them know you look forward to hearing from them. Sign off.

Put the letter in a drawer and don't think about it for a day or two. Then, when you read it again, you'll have a fresh pair of eyes to see the cover letter in a new light. Maybe you decide some things are redundant, or you think of something that's more relevant. Or you know, find a typo here and there.

Just like an academic cover letter needs to contain certain content components, the formatting should also align with the structural expectations for this type of document.

How long should a cover letter be? How to finish a cover letter? And what about the cover letter font and spacing?

Here's a recommended academic cover letter format:

• Length. While STEM PhD candidates should aim for half a page to one page, humanities candidates can do 1–2 pages.
• Font. Use one of the classics: Times New Roman, Calibri, or Arial. Just no Comic Sans, we beg you. Keep the size between 10–12 points. Also remember to keep the text clean — no underlining, no bolding, and no color. However, you can use italics if appropriate.
• Spacing. Cover letter spacing isn't complicated. Just single-space your text, make sure there's a space between each paragraph, and leave a space between the concluding paragraph and your formal sign-off.
• Margins. The only rule here is that the margins on your cover letter should match those on your CV.
• Consistence with your CV. Your academic cover letter should match your academic CV in all formatting aspects — including the cover letter font and spacing. For example, Kickresume lets you choose a matching template for your CV and your cover letter, so no need to worry about this.

If the institution provided any instructions for formatting your academic cover letter, don’t get creative and follow their guidelines.

Finally, to help you tie everything we talked about together, here's a cover letter sample from a real person admitted to a PhD program at Lyon University in France.

These things ensured Herrera's cover letter was successful:

• She clearly states her motivation in the opening. In the first two paragraphs, Herrera introduces herself and her motivation to apply for the given PhD program.
• She describes educational and research background thoroughly. The main body of the letter is dedicated to describing Herrera's educational background, research projects, internships, and skills acquired throughout the way.
• She presents research aspirations in the letter. Herrera writes: "I have a history of proven results and profound findings. Given opportunity, I’m confident in my abilities to earn similar ground-breaking results while being part of your team."

Even though this example lacks some of the key elements, such as mentioning the specific PhD program or identifying the topics within the PhD program that interest her the most, this PhD cover letter still managed to impress the University of Lyon.

Lyon University PhD Student Cover Letter Sample

Klara graduated from the University of St Andrews in Scotland. After having written resumes for many of her fellow students, she began writing full-time for Kickresume. Klara is our go-to person for all things related to student or 'no experience resumes'. At the same time, she has written some of the most popular resume advice articles on this blog. Her pieces were featured in multiple CNBC articles. When she's not writing, you'll probably find her chasing dogs or people-watching while sipping on a cup of coffee.

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Everything you need to know about letters of recommendation.

• April 5, 2022

Will a professor write you a letter of recommendation? My answer: Writing student recommendations comes with the faculty job, and I usually write if asked. But since this academic territory is often so unfamiliar to grad and undergrad students, let me give some general guidelines and advice.

(For general advice on PhD applications see this post , and for other PhD advice see the right sidebar, including How to Get a PhD and Save the World )

What do letters do?

Let’s start by asking how PhD admissions committees use letters (at least the ones I’ve been on). In short, a PhD is designed to train professional researchers. But grades and test scores and transcripts give a very noisy signal of your talents for research.

Here’s what a PhD program would like to know: Are you creative? Hard working? Do you ask interesting questions? Do you understand how research is done? What are your actual technical skills, and how quickly will you progress to doing original research?

A letter is designed to communicate this information. Without it, narrowing down 1000 applicants to a few dozen admitted students (or fewer) is extraordinarily hard.

Faculty take these letters seriously, since we often write these letters to our colleagues at the same pool of schools and employers. Our reputations are at stake.

All this is why good letters start out saying exactly how well we know the student (for how long, what kinds of interactions) and then discusses their classroom performance, research aptitude, skills, and talents in detail. As much as possible, I try to place the student relative to past students I have recommended to PhD programs, and their success, to give a very precise picture. (I wish more letter writers did this.) Altogether, good letters are often 2–3 pages long, and take a long time to write.

Who should you ask?

For all these reasons, strong letters usually come from long and close relationships with professional researchers, especially university faculty.

Signs a faculty member can write you a long, detailed, strong letter:

• You were a research assistant for them for an extended period of time
• They supervised your undergraduate or master’s thesis
• You took more than one class with them, and developed a good relationship in office hours, discussing research ideas

Signs that a faculty member can write you a short and weak letter:

• Letters from non-researchers (like a senior manager in the private sector)
• Letters from faculty who only know you from one class (and not that well), even if you did get an A
• Letters from the head of your program, whom you did not work with closely

Weak letters will not help your admission much, and may even send a negative signal.

Another common mistake: A lot of students think that it’s better to get someone well-known to write a letter, even if they don’t know the student deeply. In my view, it’s almost always better to have someone non-famous write a detailed letter, as long as they know you well.

Keep a few other trade-offs in mind. Assuming a faculty member knows you well, it is often better if they have a track record of sending students to PhD programs (so they can rank you, or so that you benefit from their reputation). But these same faculty may also be writing multiple letters each year. And they might not know you as well. It’s a tricky balance. Just be aware of the trade-offs, and always ensure the faculty member at least knows you well.

Granted, students don’t always know three professors that well. (I didn’t, the first time I applied.) Therefore, often an applicant’s letter is a bit weak. That’s a familiar sight in applications, and it’s normal. But you definitely want a couple of detailed letters.

Other people have the opposite problem, and know several professors. If your application requires three letters, you might be tempted to send four. This is usually a bad idea: every additional letter after your best one lowers the average quality of your application. This is simple arithmetic. A fourth letter only makes sense if it will be glowing and adds a completely different perspective.

If you want to improve the quality of your letters, taking a Master’s degree before the PhD is an option, but I think it’s far better to work as a research assistant. You will probably learn as much or more, and you get paid rather than fork over cash to a university.

Last: How can you find out if someone will write a strong letter for you? One way is to ask. Personally, I am frank with students, so as not to do them a disservice. Honestly I think most professors will tell you in broad terms what kind of letter they can write.

What to do once a professor has agreed to write a letter

Good letters also take time to write, especially those for graduate school and (most of all) for the academic job market. Approach your professors as early as possible–ideally at least a month in advance. Faculty are extremely busy, and last-minute requests might get last-minute effort.

Once a professor has agreed to recommend you, three or four weeks before the due date you should email the following:

• your latest CV
• your transcripts, GPAs, and (if relevant) GRE scores
• a list of where are the letters will be going, and
• depending on where the letter is going, some supplementary information:

Grad school, scholarship, or academic job market applications: share your statement of purpose, research proposal, or other personal statements. Letter-writers take these seriously, and often discuss the specific strengths and weaknesses of the proposal in their letter. So try to ensure you letter writer sees a fairly polished version before the letter is written. This means you probably want to start discussing the proposal with your advisors at least six to eight weeks before the letters are due.

Job or fellowship applications: include a description of the job or fellowship, and what they are looking for in a letter. Often a job or scholarship application will offer specific guidelines. If they don’t, provide a quick description to your letter writers.

Try to send everything in one package, well organized. We letter writers are absent minded, and will probably lose the multiple pieces if you do not collate them for us.

Most grad school applications are online nowadays. This is less convenient than it sounds, since every school has a different custom form. Please fill out the maximum amount of information about your recommender that you can (including contact info) so that your recommender doesn’t have to complete the same info 13 times. This process takes a faculty member hours and hours.

For grad school applications, you want at least one to two academic letters. Two is probably better, with one from an employer if you have been out of school for long. So maintain contact with your advisors after you leave university.

Comments, criticisms and questions are welcome below.

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How to Email a Professor for the Supervision in MS/PhD

by Scholarships Corner | Jun 9, 2020

Are you planning to study abroad and looking forward to writing an email to the professor but uncertain about the criteria? In this article, you will learn “How to Email a Professor for MS or PhD supervision” and you must know proper email is the basis for research supervision, scholarships/ research scholarships , and fundings. 

Proper email is the key here. You must know that through the proper email you can fully fund scholarships ( Masters Scholarships or PhD Scholarships ) for your studies. Many people ignore all these points that’s why they don’t get any response from the professors. Carefully read the whole article and learn more about how to write an email to a professor, or how to write an email to a professor for a research assistantship, how to write an email to a professor for graduate school admission, how to write an email to a professor for research, how to write an email to professor for masters or how to write an email to professor for PhD. 

Your email should be outstanding, gives a nice impression, and assists you to be a well-qualified applicant. The applicant should be acknowledged regarding email patterns, keywords, and structure.

Your email should be out loud that shows why you are interested in the selected field, how you can be a perfect person for this position. Repetition of the words should be avoided, the matter should be clear, correct, and concise.

Whenever you are approaching a professor, try to give a read to his research material and mention it in your email. Keep a check on the correct use of punctuation and grammar in the email.

How to Email a Professor for the Supervision in MS/PhD?

How to address the professor.

Ignoring an email by a professor is quite normal as they have busy schedules, so be attentive while writing the subject line. In order to make sure that your email will not be ignored, try to include an information-based, strong, and attractive subject line. By the correct use of words in the subject line professor will be able to catch an idea of what your email is about. You can write like that, “Request for MS Supervision Spring 2020 or Spring 2021” or “Request for PhD Supervision” 

Always begin or address the person by using professional greetings for instance with Dear Prof._____, Dear Dr.____, and avoid addressing with Mr.____, Ms.____ or Mrs.____

Introduction:

The 1st paragraph should give a concise summary of your self including your native country and your name. It must tell you about your achievements, experience, and qualifications relevant to the open position. By addressing the professor’s research area, you can also show that you also want to work on one of his research projects in his lab. Moreover, you can give a clue that you are eager to get any possible PhD/MS opportunities or scholarships in his custom research or lab group.

Body Paragraph:

In this paragraph, with the consideration of the professor’s research area, mention your work experience, skills, and previous research work. The applicant can get a brief overview of the professor’s research publications, previous, and current projects by visiting the lab’s official website. In order to be a good competitor, you must list all of your achievements and expertise to provide a clear vision about your passion in the professor’s research area. Avoid any jargon or slang words, and any kind of complexity.

Last Paragraph:

The last paragraph is supposed to be the last one. In this paragraph, you have to show your enthusiasm, passion, and motivation to work in the professor’s research group. Furthermore, you can state what inspires you to be a part of this research group or a specific domain.

Closing Statement:

With a polite, requesting, and respectful manner close this paragraph and write a short statement regarding the CV or any other document attached and ask if any document is required. For example, Kindly find the attached document, and would love to provide you with further documents if needed.  If the process will be manageable, I would look forward to being a part of your research ( project name) in the coming fall.

Proof Reading:

Make sure that you review your email before forwarding it to the professor, it will help you to convey your message in the nicest way.

Sample Email for requesting to the Professor for Supervision in MS/PhD

Subject: Request for MS or PhD Supervision or Request for MS or PhD Research Assistantship 

Dear Professor______,

My name is (write your name) and I have completed (your degree title) from (Full university name) with (your CGPA, don’t mention CGPA if it’s low). Mention I got medals, certificates, and achievements if any.

(Write about Projects, internships, research, or thesis) During my undergraduate or Masters’s studies, I have been engaged in a research project or have written any thesis ( relevant to my expertise), include that. Moreover, I have done internships, research publications, current or previous work experience, or online courses.

I have visited your research articles and found my field of interest in your research area. I am very enthusiastic to conduct and pursue your research along with him. (Do mention the name of the Research Lab Name or website, Also mention the research topic or fields in which you are interested) 

I have attached my CV /other required documents and I would be glad to hearing from you soon.

I am very thankful and looking forward to your positive response.

Best Regards,

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How to Write a PhD Motivation Letter

• Applying to a PhD

A PhD motivation letter is a document that describes your personal motivation and competence for a particular research project. It is usually submitted together with your academic CV to provide admissions staff with more information about you as an individual, to help them decide whether or not you are the ideal candidate for a research project.

A motivation letter has many similarities to a cover letter and a personal statement, and institutions will not ask you to submit all of these. However, it is a unique document and you should treat it as such. In the context of supporting a PhD application, the difference is nuanced; all three documents outline your suitability for PhD study. However, compared to a cover letter and personal statement, a motivation letter places more emphasis on your motivation for wanting to pursue the particular PhD position you are applying for.

Academic cover letters are more common in UK universities, while motivation letters are more common abroad.

A motivation letter can play a key part in the application process . It allows the admission committee to review a group of PhD applicants with similar academic backgrounds and select the ideal candidate based on their motivations for applying.

For admission staff, academic qualifications alone are not enough to indicate whether a student will be successful in their doctorate. In this sense, a motivational letter will allow them to judge your passion for the field of study, commitment to research and suitability for the programme, all of which better enables them to evaluate your potential.

How Should I Structure My Motivation Letter?

A strong motivation letter for PhD applications will include:

• A concise introduction stating which programme you are applying for,
• Your academic background and professional work experience,
• Any key skills you possess and what makes you the ideal candidate,
• Your interest and motivation for applying,
• Concluding remarks and thanks.

This is a simplistic breakdown of what can be a very complicated document.

However, writing to the above structure will ensure you keep your letter of motivation concise and relevant to the position you are applying for. Remember, the aim of your letter is to show your enthusiasm and that you’re committed and well suited for the programme.

To help you write a motivation letter for a PhD application, we have outlined what to include in the start, main body, and closing sections.

How to Start a Motivation Letter

Introduction: Start with a brief introduction in which you clearly state your intention to apply for a particular programme. Think of this as describing what the document is to a stranger.

Education: State what you have studied and where. Your higher education will be your most important educational experience, so focus on this. Highlight any relevant modules you undertook as part of your studies that are relevant to the programme you are applying for. You should also mention how your studies have influenced your decision to pursue a PhD project, especially if it is in the same field you are currently applying to.

Work experience: Next summarise your professional work experience. Remember, you will likely be asked to submit your academic CV along with your motivation letter, so keep this section brief to avoid any unnecessary repetition. Include any other relevant experiences, such as teaching roles, non-academic experience, or charity work which demonstrates skills or shows your suitability for the research project and in becoming a PhD student.

Key skills: Outline your key skills. Remember the admissions committee is considering your suitability for the specific programme you are applying for, so mention skills relevant to the PhD course.

Motivation for applying: Show your enthusiasm and passion for the subject, and describe your long-term aspirations. Start with how you first became interested in the field, and how your interest has grown since. You should also mention anything else you have done which helps demonstrate your interest in your proposed research topic, for example:

• Have you attended any workshops or seminars?
• Do you have any research experience?
• Have you taught yourself any aspects of the subject?
• Have you read any literature within the research area?

Finally, describe what has convinced you to dedicate the next 3-4 years (assuming you are to study full time) of your life to research.

How to End a Motivation Letter

Concluding the motivation letter is where most people struggle. Typically, people can easily describe their academic background and why they want to study, but convincing the reader they are the best candidate for the PhD programme is often more challenging.

The concluding remarks of your motivation letter should highlight the impacts of your proposed research, in particular: the new contributions it will make to your field, the benefits it will have on society and how it fits in with your aspirations.

With this, conclude with your career goals. For example, do you want to pursue an academic career or become a researcher for a private organisation? Doing so will show you have put a lot of thought into your decision.

Remember, admissions into a PhD degree is very competitive, and supervisors invest a lot of time into mentoring their students. Therefore, supervisors naturally favour those who show the most dedication. Your conclusion should remind the reader that you are not only passionate about the research project, but that the university will benefit from having you.

Finally, thank the reader for considering your application.

Finding a PhD has never been this easy – search for a PhD by keyword, location or academic area of interest.

Motivation Letter Format

There are some basic rules to follow when writing a successful motivation letter. These will mimic the standard format for report writing that the supervisor will be familiar with:

• Use a sans serif font (e.g. Arial or Times New Roman),
• Use a standard font size (e.g. 12pt) and black font colour,
• Keep your writing professional throughout and avoid the use of informal language,
• Write in the first person,
• Address your motivation letter to a named person such as the project supervisor, however, this could also be the person in charge of research admissions,
• Structure your letter into paragraphs using the guidance above, such as introduction, academic history, motivation for research, and concluding remarks.

How Long Should a Motivation Letter Be?

A good rule of thumb for PhD motivation letters is to keep it to around one side of A4. A little longer than one page is acceptable, but two pages is generally considered too long. This equates to approximately 400-600 words.

Things to Avoid when Writing Your Motivational Letter

Your motivational letter will only be one of the several documents you’ll be asked to submit as part of your PhD application. You will almost certainly be asked to submit an Academic CV as well. Therefore, be careful not to duplicate any of the information.

It is acceptable to repeat the key points, such as what and where you have studied. However, while your CV should outline your academic background, your motivation letter should bring context to it by explaining why you have studied what you have, and where you hope to go with it. The simplest way to do this is to refer to the information in your CV and explain how it has led you to become interested in research.

Don’t try to include everything. A motivation letter should be short, so focus on the information most relevant to the programme and which best illustrates your passion for it. Remember, the academic committee will need to be critical in order to do their jobs effectively , so they will likely interpret an unnecessarily long letter as in indication that you have poor written skills and cannot communicate effectively.

You must be able to back up all of your statements with evidence, so don’t fabricate experiences or overstate your skills. This isn’t only unethical but is likely to be picked up by your proposed PhD supervisor or the admissions committee.

Whilst it is good to show you have an understanding of the field, don’t try to impress the reader with excessive use of technical terms or abbreviations.

PhD Motivation Letter Samples – A Word of Caution

There are many templates and samples of motivation letters for PhDs available online. A word of caution regarding these – although they can prove to be a great source of inspiration, you should refrain from using them as a template for your own motivation letter.

While there are no rules against them, supervisors will likely have seen a similar letter submitted to them in the past. This will not only prevent your application from standing out, but it will also reflect poorly on you by suggesting that you have put minimal effort into your application.

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Letter Of Recommendation for PhD: Sample, Format & How to Write

Updated on 29 january, 2024.

Anupriya Mukherjee

Sr. content writer.

A letter of recommendation or LOR for a PhD is an important document required for admission into PhD programs at foreign institutions if you are planning to study abroad . While scores, transcripts, and other vital documents are mostly factual, the LOR is an independent objective analysis of applicants. PhD courses usually require two to three recommendations. These provide committees with an overview of the applicant’s core strengths, skills, and accomplishments.

Table of Contents

Lor for phd : guidelines:.

• Academic LOR:
• Professional LOR:

Introduction:

Conclusion:, popular guides to simplify your study abroad journey, sample lor for phd:, important tips to write lor for phd, download country guides (free pdfs).

The vital part of writing a LOR is choosing the right recommender. For a PhD SOP, the recommender should be someone who can endorse your candidature and provide an unbiased application essay. Since all the other documents are self-prepared, they are likely to be biased. LOR provides an external perspective, which entirely depends on your recommender. It is unique because it is your assessment from an external viewpoint. Your recommender for PhD should be someone who can be described as follows:

• One who has a good rapport.
• Who understands your personality, achievements, and capabilities.
• With whom you have shared your academic and professional experiences and journey 
• Who is aware of your current research ideas
• Who supports your research ideas.

Types of LOR for PhD

International universities offering PhD require two to three LORs depending on your academic and professional experience. Two academic LORs are needed, and one professional LOR is required if you have work experience. Basically, the LOR for PhD is classified into two categories:

Academic LOR: 

Academic letter of recommendation is provided by the professor of your educational institution. Most commonly, you are asked to provide two academic LORs for PhD in an international university. In such LORs, professors need to highlight the applicant’s capabilities and achievements. It should reflect the recommender’s perspective about you and your research ideas.

Professional LOR: 

The applicant’s professional letter of recommendation is asked if they have any work experience. Only one professional LOR is needed in that case. It is provided by your immediate supervisor or employer. It should reflect the recommender’s perspective on your professional ability to work within a team.

How to write a LOR for PhD?

When your recommender is willing to write your LOR for PhD, you should share your research ideas, achievements, capabilities, objectives, and relevant information. The format of the LOR should consist of the answers to several questions related to your suitability for a PhD. The LOR, whether academic or professional, written by your recommender should sound realistic and authentic. The standard LOR format for PhD should have the following details:

This part of the LOR should include the details regarding the recommender. It is a brief introduction of the recommender with their current designation and professional experience mentioned in the LOR. They also need to mention their relationship and duration of association with the applicant. The details of the recommender’s association and guidance must be mentioned in the LOR.

It includes the details of the applicant’s technical skills, certification, internship work, research ideas, research outcomes, research goals, capabilities, qualities, work experience, presentations, seminars, extracurricular activities, etc. It is quite crucial to add all the relevant information required to consider the applicant’s candidature and future undertakings. 

This last part of the LOR format summarizes the applicant’s desire for the PhD program. The closing part of the LOR essay application includes the recommender’s signature and contact details.

An excellent sample LOR for PhD highlights at least three attributes of the aspirant – a social attribute and two subject-linked or technical attributes. Here are some notable guidelines:

• The LOR should be 1-2 pages long with 5-6 paragraphs. 
• Recommenders should start the LOR by introducing themselves and the aspirant.
• Recommenders should also discuss how and from when they are professionally related to the applicants in the first paragraph. 
• The following paragraphs should be divided into three segments, each highlighting aspirant’s particular skill or quality.
• Recommenders should emphasize analytical abilities, subject knowledge, time management skills, dedication, responsibility, research abilities, etc. 
• The conclusion will sum up the qualities of the aspirant while ending with a solid recommendation to the university for accepting the application.

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The following sample LOR for PhD is one of many ways of writing it.

I am pleased to get the chance to recommend (name of applicant) for the PhD position in (course/study area name) at your institution. I have taught (name of applicant) for the last (tenure in years) in the areas of (subject areas). I will be delighted to witness him/her excelling in this particular field.

The topic (title) proposed by him/her is vital for the modern-day scenario and needs extensive research. It will be beneficial for all the industry stakeholders in the (sector name) and also academicians who can access real-time insights on the subject.

(Name of applicant) has completed a research project over a period of (duration) on (name of project) under my supervision. I have witnessed his/her work efficiency, critical thinking abilities, and inquisitiveness regarding various findings. He/she also has brilliant communication skills and the ability to mentor and guide peers.

(Name) has a down-to-earth nature and respects others while adhering to rules and regulations. His/her independent or group work on research projects and studies has been immensely satisfying. He/she is an analytical thinker and is stimulated by new academic challenges. This trait makes him/her strive for innovative solutions to real-world problems with a strong desire to improve the world around.

Hectic timelines, various constraints, tough work conditions, multitasking, and dealing with multiple people along the way, are things that he/she can tackle with ease while delivering work seamlessly. With these positive abilities, he/she will be an asset to any institution.

(Name) has improved consistently every year and is a deserving candidate for an opportunity to work in the field of (topic name). I would be delighted if my recommendation helps him/her obtain admission in the (course name). 

If you have any queries regarding research, academics, or other areas pertaining to (applicant name’s) candidature, please feel free to reach me at the following phone or email address. I am usually available on the phone between Monday and Friday from (time to time, i.e. 11 am to 4 pm).

(Name of Referee)

Designation:

Phone Number:

Following important tips should be considered while writing a LOR for PhD:

• The selection of the right recommender is crucial. Choose your recommender carefully who meets the specifications mentioned in your PhD application.
• Choosing your recommenders with finer academic and professional qualifications is of utmost importance.
• Stay in contact with your potential recommenders and maintain good communication with them in advance.
• Share your research proposal, goals, and achievements with your recommenders.
• Your LORs for PhD should differ from each other.
• Your LOR should showcase your qualities, capabilities, and strengths. 
• Online recommendation forms should be submitted much before the deadline.
• The letter should be realistic and unbiased.
• The relationship between the recommender and the applicant should be demonstrated clearly.
• All the information stated in the LOR should be genuine, authentic, and accurate. Ensure that no information is false or exaggerated.

In conclusion, a well-crafted Letter of Recommendation is a crucial component of any PhD application, serving as a testament to the candidate's academic abilities, research potential, and character. It provides the admissions committee with valuable insights from a third-party perspective, often influencing the final decision. For recommenders, it's important to provide a balanced, honest, and detailed account of the candidate’s capabilities, tailoring the letter to highlight qualities that are most relevant to the PhD program. For applicants, choosing the right recommenders and ensuring they understand the importance of the letter in the context of a PhD application is key. A strong Letter of Recommendation, which effectively captures the essence of the candidate's skills and potential, can significantly enhance the application, making it stand out in a competitive academic landscape.

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Anupriya Mukherjee is a passion-driven professional working as a Content Marketer and earlier worked as a Digital Marketeer. With around 6 years of work experience, she has experience creating high-quality, engaging content for websites, blogs, news articles, video scripts, brochures, and ebooks.

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