how to write first email to dissertation supervisor

How to Write an Email to Your Dissertation Advisor

Communicating effectively with your dissertation advisor is a crucial part of successfully completing your graduate program. In this article, we provide a comprehensive guide on what to do before writing the email, what to include, along with a customizable template to assist you in drafting a professional and respectful email to your dissertation advisor.

Table of Contents

What To Do Before Writing the Email

The quality of your communication largely depends on the preparation you do beforehand. Here are some steps you should take before writing your email:

What to Include in the Email

Your email should be well-structured and contain the following elements:

Email Template

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E-Mail To Dissertation Supervisor – How To Approach It

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Writing an e-mail to your dissertation supervisor can feel daunting. The process is often marked with anxiety, especially when one is uncertain about the nuances of professional communication or the specific expectations of their supervisor. Efficient communication with your academic advisor is a vital factor in your process towards completing a dissertation . This guide provides practical tips on how to draft an e-mail to your dissertation supervisor.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

• 1 E-mail to Dissertation Supervisor – In a Nutshell
• 2 Definition: E-mail to dissertation supervisor
• 3 E-mail to dissertation supervisor: Style and tone
• 4 E-mail to dissertation supervisor: Tips
• 5 E-mail to dissertation supervisor: No reply

E-mail to Dissertation Supervisor – In a Nutshell

• The first e-mail to dissertation supervisor should have a clear subject title, a formal salutation, and error-free language.
• Keep your e-mail to dissertation supervisor short, relevant and with a clear call to action.
• If you do not receive a response to your e-mail in, say, a week, you can send a polite follow-up email.

Definition: E-mail to dissertation supervisor

There are several instances where you would need to send an e-mail to dissertation supervisor, as highlighted in the list below:

• Arranging an appointment for an initial appointment of a follow-up meeting.
• Asking questions about a problem you encounter and getting clarification.
• Confirming agreements for matters you discussed.

It is a good idea to make a summary of what you and your supervisor agree on regarding issues such as deadlines and steps forward. Request your supervisor to verify your notes to ensure you agree and are completely clear on the way forward.

E-mail to dissertation supervisor: Style and tone

Write your e-mail to dissertation supervisor formally and use your school email address to come across as professional (in place of your account). The guide below gives tips on writing the e-mail to dissertation supervisor, the style to use and what to avoid.

Addressing your supervisor

It is best to address your supervisor formally in your first email. Since you do not know how they would prefer to be addressed, it is better to err on the side of caution. An initial informal e-mail to dissertation supervisor may send the wrong message and cast doubt your attitude and professionalism.

If your supervisor responds to your email with their first name in the closing, e.g., (‘Sincerely Gabriel’), it may be okay to address them by their first name in the following email. However, we recommend waiting until you have exchanged a few more emails where they have closed informally to be extra safe.

The table below gives examples of closings and salutations you can use in your e-mail to dissertation supervisor on formal and informal occasions.

Email signature

Using an email signature is at your discretion, although it is not necessary. However, you can model it as below if you do choose to use it or if your program requires it:

• First name and surname
• Study program
• Institution of study
• Telephone number
• Email address

The e-mail to dissertation supervisor must be well-written with good grammar and correct English (or any appropriate language). We strongly recommend that you proofread your e-mail to dissertation supervisor carefully for any mistakes before sending it or ask another person to read it to get a fresh set of eyes on it.

A concise e-mail to dissertation supervisor will display your professionalism and seriousness about your project.

E-mail to dissertation supervisor: Tips

Below are some valuable tips for writing an e-mail to dissertation supervisor.

Concise subject line :

The purpose of a subject line is to summarize the email and get the reader interested. Use a short, clear summary to reinforce your call to action.

Connections :

Make sure you mention any connection you may have with the supervisor. Did you hear the professor speak at an event, or were you referred to them by a former student or their colleague?

Keep it relevant :

Dissertation supervisors are usually busy, so stick to what is pertinent to the dissertation. For instance, do not add personal anecdotes to your e-mail to dissertation supervisor unless they are essential to the application.

Do not ask long, complex questions in the e-mail to dissertation supervisor :

Save any complicated questions for when you can speak to your supervisor more personally. This will allow you to get detailed answers and follow up where you are dissatisfied with a response. You will also save your supervisor the time and effort needed to write replies to your questions.

Have a clear CTA (Call to Action):

Your e-mail to dissertation supervisor should be very clear and leave no doubt about what you want from them. Ask your questions as clearly as possible. You are more likely to get a faster response if your supervisor is clear on what you want.

Introduce yourself :

After requesting to work with them, introduce yourself briefly. Include your institution of study, research interests and why you are interested in working with them. We also recommend attaching your resume to the email.

Respond as quickly as you can:

Confirm any appointments your supervisor makes, provide any information they request, answer their questions and request clarification on what you don’t understand. Taking the initiative to contact your supervisor shows that you are serious and driven. Contact your supervisor to arrange an appointment instead of waiting for them to set it.

E-mail to dissertation supervisor: No reply

Supervisors will usually always respond to your emails; however, the reply rate may vary. Do not take it personally if they do not respond to your email immediately. Researchers also teach research and travel, and may even supervise other students.

If you don’t receive a reply in about a week, you can follow up politely. However, be careful not to look too impatient by not allowing your supervisor sufficient time to reply.

If your supervisor still does not respond after your follow-up e-mail, you can contact your program or the department secretary, who can contact you with your supervisor.

How should you approach a dissertation supervisor?

Your first e-mail to dissertation supervisor should clearly state who you are and what you would like from them. It is beneficial also to mention how you heard of them, whether by attending their lectures, by recommendation, or another way.

When can I address my dissertation supervisor informally?

In your first e-mail to dissertation supervisor, address them formally by their title to avoid giving the impression of unprofessionalism. If your supervisor responds with an informal closing severally, you may assume that it is alright to address them as so.

Can I contact other potential supervisors?

Yes, you can. However, when sending an e-mail to dissertation supervisor, you should make it clear from the beginning that you are also contacting other potential supervisors.

This transparency will help you avoid any misunderstandings in the future.

What should I do if I don't get a reply to my e-mail to dissertation supervisor?

The response speed will vary among supervisors, as most are often busy with other commitments. Wait for about a week, then send a polite follow-up e-mail to dissertation supervisor.

They did such an excellent job printing my dissertation! I got it fast and...

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First meeting with your dissertation supervisor: What to expect

The first meeting with your dissertation supervisor can be a little intimidating, as you do not know what to expect. While every situation is unique, first meetings with a dissertation supervisor often centre around getting to know each other, establishing expectations, and creating work routines.

Why a good relationship with a dissertation supervisor matters

What is important to know is that the relationship that you establish with your supervisor can be a crucial factor in completing a successful dissertation.

A better relationship often results in better and timely completion of a dissertation. This finding is backed up by science. This study , for instance, points out that student-supervisor relationships strongly influence the quality, success or failure of completing a PhD (on time).

Commonly experienced challenges in student-supervisor relationships, on the other hand, are “different expectations, needs and ways of thinking and working” (Gill and Burnard, 2008, p. 668).

Getting to know each other during the first meeting

Many first meetings with a dissertation supervisor include a considerable amount of ‘small talk’. Thus, you can expect to engage in a casual conversation to get acquainted.

Getting to know the work environment during the first meeting

PhD students who start their dissertation are often introduced to their lab, research group or department during the first meeting.

There may also be a discussion about accessing an institutional email address or online work environment as a dissertation student. And any questions that are important to answer to kick off the dissertation process.

Establishing a meeting and communication schedule

Establishing a meeting schedule, or at least discussing how often you are planning to meet, how regularly, and within what time intervals, can reduce a lot of stress and uncertainty.

Discussing your research idea with your dissertation supervisor

While you can expect a lot of Smalltalk, planning, and organisational issues to dominate the first meeting with your dissertation supervisor, it is common to also chat about your research idea.

Based on this information, the dissertation supervisor can already point you in the right direction, suggest relevant literature, or connect you with other students or colleagues who work on similar issues.

Discussing expectations with your dissertation supervisor

Expectations differ from supervisor to supervisor. Some may just expect you to simply get used to your work environment, read a lot and explore theories that are relevant to your dissertation. Others may want to see the first results in terms of a literature review or research proposal.

If you are writing a master thesis, your timeframe will be much shorter. Thus, it is even more important to define deadlines and milestones with your dissertation supervisor as soon as possible. The first meeting lends itself to making this plan.

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Get new content delivered directly to your inbox, how many conferences postgrads should attend, 10 things to do when you feel like your dissertation is killing you, related articles, how to write a literature review introduction (+ examples), how to write a unique thesis acknowledgement (+ faqs), sample emails to your thesis supervisor, how to deal with procrastination productively during thesis writing.

Tips for contacting a thesis supervisor

When you are emailing a potential thesis supervisor it’s important that your communications are professional – first impressions matter! Your email should be formal, in many ways similar to a job application letter. Below are some tips to help you get off to a good start.

Email etiquette

• Start with a proper salutation such as “Dear” (not “Hey”)
• Use the academic’s first name or title and surname (e.g., Lauren or A/Prof. Kark)
• Conclude your email with a formal sign-off such as “Kind regards” or “Sincerely”

Introduce yourself

• Provide the academic with an overview about yourself – what you are studying, the research area or topic you are interested in and when you hope to start your thesis
• Provide a brief statement about why you’re interested in the topic or area and what you think you might bring to the project
• Remember to show your eligibility and enthusiasm!
• In your email suggest a meeting to further discuss the project
• Thank the academic for their time and consideration
• Be patient if you don’t hear from the academic immediately. If there is no reply after a week or two, it may be worth sending a polite follow-up email

UG Thesis FAQs

Visit this section for general information about the Undergraduate Thesis.

How to email your supervisor (or, the tyranny of tiny tasks and what you can do about it)

Ah email… blessing or curse of contemporary academic life? The letter below describes a common email problem between students and supervisors. My response to this letter dwells on the importance of lunch, amongst other things.

I follow your Thesis Whisperer blog and I have a question for you about email contact with supervisors.

I’m an off-campus student, I usually visit around once a fortnight for meetings (although not at all now that I’ve had a baby). Therefore I rely on email and phone for a lot of my discussion with my supervisor. 

I find it difficult when I don’t get a reply to an email, and I’m not always sure what the correct response is.

For example, I emailed 3 days ago asking to set up a phone call. I haven’t heard back, and past experience suggests I may not. So do I email again? How long do I wait before emailing?

I know he’s incredibly busy, but I’m waiting to start a new piece of work and I need some help with the direction, so I am waiting to have this phone call to progress things. 

Sometimes when I do re-email, it turns out he’s been doing Very Important Things and I feel like I’ve been hassling him by contacting too much! 

Any advice please?

Anonymous Emailer

——————————————–

Hi Anonymous emailer,

I sympathise – that must be very frustrating. Thanks for taking the time to write to me because it’s exactly the kind of mundane problem I like to talk about on the blog.

To get the attention of your supervisor you need to fight the ‘tyranny of tiny tasks’ that plague the life of a working academic. This is a phrase I picked up from this article in the New Yorker about cake mixes. Email is what the article calls a ‘convenience technology’, but it’s actually a ‘demanding technology’ because it triggers an avalanche of tiny tasks.

Every supervisor is different, but most of them hate email. Many people in academia, myself included, are drowning in it.

A student email that ends up on this ‘deferred task’ list can easily slip away from view. The reason is that PhD student emails often have no clear implied action .

All emails are a call to action of some sort. Sometimes the implied action to an email is a simple answer to the sender’s question – “yes”, “no”, “good”, “bad”, “maybe”. Other times the sender urgently wants an explanation of what has happened, or should happen. These are the emails are likely to get answered first because you can respond to in a single sweep through the inbox in the morning.

More complicated emails ask the receiver to take an action of some sort before answering. Some actions may be straightforward. An email from an administrator asking me for my publication list is easy. I go to my Orcid account , copy the link, paste it back in – this takes about 15 seconds at the most. An email asking me if I want to do a peer review will have a link I can click to say yes or no – maybe 3 seconds. All good.

Other emails, however, ask for more complicated actions, or a sequence of actions that need to be taking. For example, an email might ask me what I think about something, or to provide information that is not ready to hand. Your email to your supervisor asking for a phone call is a good example. It seems to ask for a simple response: “yes” or “no” – but there’s an action implied which is far from straightforward because it involves calendar management.

Like your supervisor, my calendar is always very full. If someone wants to see me I must pull my calendar up and scan it for gaps. Meetings disrupt focus, so I like to gang them together, so I’ll need to find a day that has some meetings in it already. Then I have to calculate the full effect of your proposed meeting on that particular day, balancing your request with the preparation time I might need, travel time and the likelihood that previous meetings will run over time. I will then need to look at the weeks before and after your meeting, to see if there are deadlines or travel that will affect my capacity to meet that day.

Calendar requests are especially problematic if more than one person wants to meet – like a supervisor panel. Usually the student suggests a couple of times so we can all match diaries. I must then find more than one amenable day, put placeholders in, wait for a response from two or more other people, delete the placeholders… you see the problem. An email chain like this can eventually eat up to an hour of my time in tiny chunks before it’s resolved and I’m losing focus on my other work every time. Someone invented Doodle poll for exactly this problem, but people often avoid answering the Doodle poll too in my experience.

The problem is, of course, that every time we defer responding to an email with a longer action trail we start accumulating what Mr Thesis Whisperer calls a ‘technical debt’. Sooner or later you will have to take what my fellow blogger Katherine Firth calls the ‘electronic walk of shame’ to the bottom of your inbox. All that time you ‘saved’ by ignoring the problem must now be spent. I’ve estimated these kinds of tiny tasks can add up to 10 or 12 hours of ‘invisible work’ in my week. Work I have not taken into account when I made my project Gantt charts.

Because of the way the email is presented, by date, I tend to answer the easy ‘direct action’ ones first each day and leave the deferred ones in their inbox. This is the defacto ‘to do’ list I was talking about earlier.

Deferred emails pile up like autumn leaves. Your email about a phone call might have moved to page two and have a mountain of other, seemingly more pressing, tiny tasks ahead of it.

Unbeknownst to you, your email has become digital fertiliser.

In fact, this email I’m writing to you, about email that you sent me is a good example (and pleasingly meta). I had to think about it. I didn’t have time to do that during the week, hence replying to you on a Saturday morning. To be honest, if it wasn’t such a good question with a potential post in it, your email might have become digital fertiliser too.

So how to solve your problem?

The last line of your email should always contain a clear ‘call to action’ so your supervisor knows what you want from them. It won’t necessarily help with a calendar management email though. I would hope that an honest talk with your supervisor about preferred methods of communication would help. Perhaps they would prefer you just call rather than email? Perhaps you can talk on chat? Can you share calendars so that you can just book yourself in?

And let’s not ignore the elephant in the room.

If this is a pattern that has annoyed you enough to write to me, it’s clear that you are not a priority to your supervisor – and for this I am judging him.

The literature on research education suggests regular contact is important to progress. I’m steeped in this literature, so I make sure to set a special time aside every week for each one of my students. I’ve found lunchtime and the hour immediately afterwards is the most productive way to handle it. Lunch allows us to have a chat in a relaxed way for at least an hour before getting down to business (with the important side benefit that I actually get to eat lunch at least a couple of times a week).

During lunch we can kick around ideas and my student can, if they want, tell me what else is going on in their lives. I don’t want to pry, but I do like to create the opportunity to share personal issues. PhD students are grown ups, with grown up problems. In my experience, grown up problems suck. What is happening in the rest of your life matters to progress and learning.

I’m not angling for a medal that says ‘supervisor of the year’ or anything, but I plan my week around what I see as my most important responsibility – you. I think your supervisor should too.

How about you? Does your supervisor respond to your emails or not? Have you found creative ways to resolve your communication problems?

Related posts

When supervisors fight

Feeding the crazy

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The Thesis Whisperer is written by Professor Inger Mewburn, director of researcher development at The Australian National University . New posts on the first Wednesday of the month. Subscribe by email below. Visit the About page to find out more about me, my podcasts and books. I'm on most social media platforms as @thesiswhisperer. The best places to talk to me are LinkedIn , Mastodon and Threads.

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November 16, 2022

How to write an to thesis supervisor email with an email template

How to reply to an to thesis supervisor email with an email template, how to write email to thesis supervisor using our email template.

Learn how to write better to thesis supervisor emails with our tips and templates.

Learn how to reply to to thesis supervisor emails with our tips and templates.

Learn how to write email to thesis supervisor using our tips and template

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• How to Email a Potential Supervisor
• Applying to a PhD

It’s well known that contacting a potential PhD supervisor before applying to their position can greatly increase your chances of success. Unfortunately, it also works the opposite way.

The good news is that leaving a great impression is much simpler than you would think; it simply comes down to how you structure your first email.

To learn how to email a potential supervisor the correct way, follow our guidelines below.

Guidelines for Your First Email

1. do your research.

Before contacting a supervisor, you need to have researched them. Hopefully, you would have already have done this before deciding that they would be suitable for your project. However, if you haven’t, read up and learn about their research.

This is important to confirm that your project is relevant to the supervisor and that they have suitable expertise to support you.

As well as information about their research and recent publications, you can find their email address on their University’s academic profile page. Their email address should also be available in the PhD listing you originally saw the position.

2. Use a Clear Subject Line

Use a short subject line which clearly shows your intention. Supervisors receive countless emails a day from students, other professors, external collaborators and research bodies. Therefore, an unclear subject line will probably go unnoticed in their busy inbox.

Good examples of subject lines include:

• Enquiry for NERC-funded PhD in Climate Change
• Prospective Applicant – EPSRC – Material Science PhD

If the University provides a reference number in the PhD listing you found the position, ensure you include it at the end of your subject line.

3. Address Them

Always start your email with “Dear” followed by the supervisor’s surname.

Make sure you use the supervisor’s correct title. Starting an email to a professor with “Dear Dr” rather than “Dear Professor” won’t only annoy them but will imply you have poor attention to detail. Therefore, using the wrong title will immediately set a poor impression and sometimes may even be enough for the supervisor to stop reading your email.

4. Introduce Yourself and State Your Intentions

First, introduce yourself by providing the following information:

• Your academic qualifications
• Your level of experience

Second, indicate that you are interested in undertaking a doctoral research project. If you’re emailing regarding a specific project, then provide its title.

If the University isn’t offering projects with pre-defined titles, then instead indicate which specific areas of the research field you are interested in. When expressing your research interests, also discuss why you are interested in having them as your supervisor. In your explanation, include relevant examples of their recent work and relate it back to your research topic. This will show the supervisor that you have thought about the direction of your research and have undertaken detailed research around the topic. It will also show that you’re familiar with their work. This won’t only help build rapport but will also show the supervisor that you believe he will be a good match for you.

After discussing your interests, confirm that you meet the eligibility requirements and move on to discuss your funding situation. If you intend to apply for funding or a scholarship on acceptance into your programme, mention this and list the names of the funding bodies and scholarships you will be applying to.

5. Conclude

Conclude your email by reinforcing your enthusiasm for the position and summarising why you think you’d make a great research student.

In addition to this, you could also suggest a meeting as a way for the two of you to discuss the contents of your email. This isn’t required but does sometimes make it easier for the supervisor if they have a lot to discuss.

6. Thank Them

Thank the supervisor for their time and end your email with “Kind regards” followed by your first and last name in full.

Email Etiquette

Attach Supporting Information

Your goal should be to make the exchange as simple as possible for the supervisor. Therefore, attach any supporting information such as your CV if you expect they may ask for it or find it useful. This will save them having to email you back asking for further information should they need it.

Keep It Brief

As mentioned above, supervisors won’t have time to keep going back and forth, therefore, avoid vague statements or being too broad about your interests.

Whilst it’s OK to email several potential supervisors offering similar positions, ensure you tailor each one so it’s relevant to the specific supervisor you’re emailing. If your email is too generic, they’ll likely think you repurposed it from one of your earlier emails to another supervisor and so choose to ignore it.

Lastly, before you hit send, read over your email and confirm it’s free from any grammatical mistakes. As a postgraduate student applying to a PhD position, your email needs to be error-free.

Be Patient With Follow-Ups

Supervisors are extremely busy people. They have classes to teach, research students to supervise and several independent projects to lead. Therefore, don’t be too disheartened if you don’t hear back from them right away.

If you don’t receive a reply after a week, send them a polite follow up. If they still don’t get in contact after another week, they’ve likely either stopped accepting applicants are too overwhelmed to process their inbox. In these cases, it’s best to start looking for alternative supervisors.

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Writing your dissertation - working with your supervisor

Posted in: dissertations

Your supervisor

Before you begin your dissertation, it is highly likely you will be assigned a supervisor to oversee your progress from first steps to completion. Your supervisor will help you formulate ideas and give you guidance on how best to develop your research topic and course of action. But you need to always remember that this is your project, and your supervisor will not provide you with content or additional lessons on a particular topic. Their role is to help you work out your own pathways to success.

Get organised

Lecturers are very busy people, and your dissertation is only a small part of the duties and responsibilities they have to carry out during the summer months. So in order to get the most out of your supervisor and maintain a positive and productive professional relationship with them, you need to get organised.

Here are some important guidelines to follow:

• Agree a timetable of meetings at the start of your project and stick to it.
• Ensure that each meeting has a focus e.g. “setting a research problem”, “analysing the data”, with a clear set of questions to ask.
• your research plan
• early results of your data collection
• draft chapters.
• Arrive on time to each meeting you have arranged. At the end of each supervision meeting agree some action points for you to focus on before the next time you meet.
• Keep a record of what you decide in supervision sessions.
• Don't bug your supervisor with emails in between your meetings. Save up your questions for your next scheduled appointment.

If you are not happy with an aspect of your supervision, discuss this with your supervisor. If this is too difficult or awkward, your personal tutor may also be able to offer advice.

See also Communicating with your tutor

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How to Email a Professor for PhD and MS Supervision

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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 To Ask A (Famous) Professor to be Your Dissertation Chair
• It’s Not About You
• Don’t Go To Graduate School (An Inadvertent Guest Post)
• How Not To Invite The Professor To Your Campus

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?”

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How to email a professor requesting to supervise a PhD thesis?

I am interested in applying to PhD in Mathematics in University of Luxembourg. In the webpage it is written that "We recommend that you contact potential thesis supervisors by email to discuss your areas of general research interest and specific ideas for a thesis topic. You may consider sending a description of the research project and your CV. Once you have identified a supervisor, he/she will initiate the application process and complete the application for admission."

Therefore, I need to contact potential thesis supervisors by emails to discuss areas of general research interest and specific ideas for a thesis topic. That is, first I need to convince a professor to supervise me or I am well prepared to work under the professor.

Therefore, I am thinking that I will send an email to a professor. But I am facing some troubles.

I want to apply to PhD in Mathematics on Algebraic Topology. One thing that I have understood is to be selected I need to show interest on that particular subject. I want to convince the professor that I am well prepared to work under him and eager to join his research group. But, the problem this how to show the interest?

I have planned something and I want to execute my plans. I am sharing with you. One of the ideas is to read some papers of the professor and do comment on that. But I think it's not so the good idea because it may be cause of a bad impression. But I may be wrong. Now I am writing here, what I am thinking.

I am thinking the followings.

• Since, I am particularly interested in Algebraic Topology, I will attach in the email a detailed learning roadmaps (mentioning the references) of Algebraic Topology in which way I learned the subject.
• I am thinking that I will attach (or give a google drive link) solutions of the exercises of some books, the exercises of those books are not easy to solve (even for researchers). I am preparing the hand written solutions on the IPad.
• Also, I will attached a write-up for the ideas for future research on the particular topic, in which I would like to help from some papers of the professor and mention those in my write-up. That's mean I will read some papers of the professor and made a write-up where I will include my ideas as well as some parts (or results or may be some ideas) of the Professor's paper.

Please advise me. Am I thinking in a right way? Please help me. It will also be helpful for me if you add your opinions and advise in details.

Thanking in advanced.

• graduate-admissions
• mathematics
• supervision
• 1 I think that what you propose would be enough. –  user135405 Commented Apr 2, 2021 at 16:27
• 2 I don't think sending an email with books you've read and a few solved exercises would get you any responses. I think Adam at Avidnote's answer is good -- you should try to look for postings about PhD positions and apply to those. One good place to look for algebraic topology PhD openings is on the ALGTOP mailing list archives. –  Stephen McKean Commented Apr 2, 2021 at 17:16

2 Answers 2

It all depends on the university and so I don't thinkt here's one piece of advice that suits all cases. At some universities, PhD positions are advertised on their website and through other channels, and potential applicants will need to submit their proposal through those official means. In other situations, a Professor can manually pick a grad student to supervise as their PhD student if they have the funding to do so.

My advice is to look at the credible websites that advertise PhD positions, and search for a position that relates to your field. From my experience, very few professors would respond positively to receiving a cold email like this from out of the blue. They will usually just be deleted. The best case is to contact someone you've worked with before, or through someone who knows the Professor who can put in a good word for you.

• 3 One place to find European PhD openings in algebraic topology is on the ALGTOP mailing list archives. For example, there were 5 such openings announced between 1 January 2021 and 31 March 2021: lists.lehigh.edu/pipermail/algtop-l/2021q1/thread.html . –  Stephen McKean Commented Apr 2, 2021 at 17:14
• 2 Nice tip! I suppose one could also check twitter/linked and set Google alerts for when a new position is published. –  Adam at Avidnote Commented Apr 2, 2021 at 17:16

I don't think you need to send a "learning roadmap" or solved exercises. A learning roadmap doesn't really convey whether you have learned the subject. The University of Luxembourg requires that you have a masters degree before you start your PhD. If you have a masters in math, then you've probably solved a few exercises in the process.

Having ideas for future research projects is a very good thing, especially if they are ideas relating to the work of a potential advisor. My advice is to keep the initial email short and to the point -- you can add more details once you get a response. Something like:

"Dear Prof. [So and So],

I am interested in applying for a PhD position at the University of Luxembourg. I obtained my Masters from [the Institute of Such and Such]. I would be interested in working on a project relating to your work on [informal group laws]. I have a few ideas for potential projects in this direction. Please let me know if you would be willing to discuss these.

Thank you in advance for your time,

user454229"

Of course, don't just copy this and insert the relevant details. You want to write the email in your own voice. This is just to give you an idea of how to keep it short and to the point. And good luck!

• Thanks for your answer. My university does not offer a course in Algebraic Topology. But I have learned the basics of the subject on my own. Since I have no proof that I have learned the subject, I am thinking that I will send my hand written exercises (on IPad) through a google link. I will send the exercises of the books like, Hatcher; Knots and Links. I think solving those are not easy (even for early researchers) task. I am talking just a way about convincing the professor that I am well prepared to do work in his research group. Am I going in a right direction? –  user138005 Commented Apr 3, 2021 at 5:21
• I am thinking that I will make this material available on a website and let professors know about it. Is that a good idea? –  user138005 Commented Apr 3, 2021 at 7:23
• I still don’t think this is a good idea. I wouldn’t say the exercises in Hatcher are hard for researchers. If you have good ideas for research directions and can discuss them, that’s a much better indication that you have a solid background in the subject –  Stephen McKean Commented Apr 3, 2021 at 12:23

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How to Write a Dissertation or Thesis Proposal

Published on September 21, 2022 by Tegan George . Revised on July 18, 2023.

When starting your thesis or dissertation process, one of the first requirements is a research proposal or a prospectus. It describes what or who you want to examine, delving into why, when, where, and how you will do so, stemming from your research question and a relevant topic .

The proposal or prospectus stage is crucial for the development of your research. It helps you choose a type of research to pursue, as well as whether to pursue qualitative or quantitative methods and what your research design will look like.

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Table of contents

What should your proposal contain, dissertation question examples, what should your proposal look like, dissertation prospectus examples, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about proposals.

Prior to jumping into the research for your thesis or dissertation, you first need to develop your research proposal and have it approved by your supervisor. It should outline all of the decisions you have taken about your project, from your dissertation topic to your hypotheses and research objectives .

Depending on your department’s requirements, there may be a defense component involved, where you present your research plan in prospectus format to your committee for their approval.

Your proposal should answer the following questions:

• Why is your research necessary?
• What is already known about your topic?
• Where and when will your research be conducted?
• Who should be studied?
• How can the research best be done?

Ultimately, your proposal should persuade your supervisor or committee that your proposed project is worth pursuing.

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Strong research kicks off with a solid research question , and dissertations are no exception to this.

Dissertation research questions should be:

• Focused on a single problem or issue
• Researchable using primary and/or secondary sources
• Feasible to answer within the timeframe and practical constraints
• Specific enough to answer thoroughly
• Complex enough to develop the answer over the space of a paper or thesis
• Relevant to your field of study and/or society more broadly
• What are the main factors enticing people under 30 in suburban areas to engage in the gig economy?
• Which techniques prove most effective for 1st-grade teachers at local elementary schools in engaging students with special needs?
• Which communication streams are the most effective for getting those aged 18-30 to the polls on Election Day?

An easy rule of thumb is that your proposal will usually resemble a (much) shorter version of your thesis or dissertation. While of course it won’t include the results section , discussion section , or conclusion , it serves as a “mini” version or roadmap for what you eventually seek to write.

Be sure to include:

• A succinct introduction to your topic and problem statement
• A brief literature review situating your topic within existing research
• A basic outline of the research methods you think will best answer your research question
• The perceived implications for future research
• A reference list in the citation style of your choice

The length of your proposal varies quite a bit depending on your discipline and type of work you’re conducting. While a thesis proposal is often only 3-7 pages long, a prospectus for your dissertation is usually much longer, with more detailed analysis. Dissertation proposals can be up to 25-30 pages in length.

Writing a proposal or prospectus can be a challenge, but we’ve compiled some examples for you to get your started.

• Example #1: “Geographic Representations of the Planet Mars, 1867-1907” by Maria Lane
• Example #2: “Individuals and the State in Late Bronze Age Greece: Messenian Perspectives on Mycenaean Society” by Dimitri Nakassis
• Example #3: “Manhood Up in the Air: A Study of Male Flight Attendants, Queerness, and Corporate Capitalism during the Cold War Era” by Phil Tiemeyer

If you want to know more about AI for academic writing, AI tools, or research bias, make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

Research bias

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The research methods you use depend on the type of data you need to answer your research question .

• If you want to measure something or test a hypothesis , use quantitative methods . If you want to explore ideas, thoughts and meanings, use qualitative methods .
• If you want to analyze a large amount of readily-available data, use secondary data. If you want data specific to your purposes with control over how it is generated, collect primary data.
• If you want to establish cause-and-effect relationships between variables , use experimental methods. If you want to understand the characteristics of a research subject, use descriptive methods.

A thesis or dissertation outline is one of the most critical first steps in your writing process. It helps you to lay out and organize your ideas and can provide you with a roadmap for deciding what kind of research you’d like to undertake.

Generally, an outline contains information on the different sections included in your thesis or dissertation , such as:

• Your anticipated title
• Your abstract
• Your chapters (sometimes subdivided into further topics like literature review , research methods , avenues for future research, etc.)

A well-planned research design helps ensure that your methods match your research aims, that you collect high-quality data, and that you use the right kind of analysis to answer your questions, utilizing credible sources . This allows you to draw valid , trustworthy conclusions.

The priorities of a research design can vary depending on the field, but you usually have to specify:

• Your research questions and/or hypotheses
• Your overall approach (e.g., qualitative or quantitative )
• The type of design you’re using (e.g., a survey , experiment , or case study )
• Your sampling methods or criteria for selecting subjects
• Your data collection methods (e.g., questionnaires , observations)
• Your data collection procedures (e.g., operationalization , timing and data management)
• Your data analysis methods (e.g., statistical tests  or thematic analysis )

A dissertation prospectus or proposal describes what or who you plan to research for your dissertation. It delves into why, when, where, and how you will do your research, as well as helps you choose a type of research to pursue. You should also determine whether you plan to pursue qualitative or quantitative methods and what your research design will look like.

It should outline all of the decisions you have taken about your project, from your dissertation topic to your hypotheses and research objectives , ready to be approved by your supervisor or committee.

Note that some departments require a defense component, where you present your prospectus to your committee orally.

Formulating a main research question can be a difficult task. Overall, your question should contribute to solving the problem that you have defined in your problem statement .

However, it should also fulfill criteria in three main areas:

• Researchability
• Feasibility and specificity
• Relevance and originality

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

George, T. (2023, July 18). How to Write a Dissertation or Thesis Proposal. Scribbr. Retrieved September 2, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/dissertation/thesis-dissertation-proposal/

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First email to dissertation supervisor?

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10 tips on finding the right dissertation supervisor

Before you start writing your master’s dissertation it is extremely important to find the best possible supervisor to help and guide you through the dissertation writing process. When asking how to write a dissertation, many students forget that all highly graded dissertation examples have in common a strong and productive student-supervisor relationship . There are several important tips to remember when choosing a supervisor.

The right supervisor for your subject

It might sound obvious, but make sure your supervisor is the best possible person to help with your specific dissertation title. It might seem tempting to go for somebody you know already or somebody popular, but finding a dissertation supervisor who is an expert in the specific field you are writing your dissertation on is the most important criteria.

Their intimate knowledge of the topic itself and the academic field surrounding it will be indispensable as they guide you through the dissertation writing process.

A strong working relationship

If you are choosing from supervisors you have worked with before, for your master’s dissertation do choose one with whom you feel you had a strong and productive working relationship . It is best to avoid a supervisor who made you feel nervous or anxious, even if you respect them. When you are writing your dissertation you will need to be able to express your ideas openly and confidently to your supervisor, and to explore your full academic capability without being afraid of making mistakes.

In order to write the best dissertation example you possibly can, you need a supervisor who will allow you to feel supported and free to experiment with new ideas and to push the boundaries of your writing.

Equally, do not be tempted to choose a supervisor who is too laid-back and relaxed, even if you found them particularly easy going. The process of writing your master’s dissertation is intense and pressurised and you will need somebody who will gently push you and keep you motivated if you are going to get it done in time and to the best of your ability.

Good recommendations

The advice of students from previous years is usually invaluable – ask them honestly to share their own experiences with you, they may be able to provide you with excellent inside information about the style and expertise of various dissertation supervisors.

A supervisor with your best interests at heart

Many students tend to approach a dissertation supervisor whose profile is very high within the University or who is an important member of their college or faculty. Remember, although these supervisors may have a great deal of expertise, their schedules may already be tightly packed – make sure you find a supervisor who has enough time to truly provide you with all the support and attention your dissertation deserves.

A slightly less senior supervisor will often have just as much knowledge and skill in your dissertation area of study, but be more motivated to help you towards top dissertation marks to improve their own reputation and academic success as well as yours.

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First Email To Dissertation Supervisor Sample

Are you looking for guidance on how to write your first email to your dissertation supervisor? Below, you will find a comprehensive guide that includes sample emails, attributes to consider, tips for crafting a good email, and frequently asked questions about the process. Feel free to use the examples provided and modify them to suit your specific needs.

List of Attributes for First Email To Dissertation Supervisor Sample

• Clear and concise
• Professional tone
• Respectful language
• Introduction of yourself and your research topic
• Request for a meeting or feedback
• Gratitude for their time and consideration

Example of First Email To Dissertation Supervisor Sample

Dear [Supervisor’s Name],

I hope this email finds you well. My name is [Your Name], and I am a [Master’s/Ph.D.] student in [Your Program] at [Your University]. I am writing to introduce myself and discuss my research topic, which focuses on [Brief Description of Your Topic].

I would greatly appreciate the opportunity to meet with you to discuss my project further and seek your valuable feedback. Please let me know a time that works best for you, and I will do my best to accommodate your schedule.

Thank you for considering my request. I look forward to the opportunity to work with you and benefit from your expertise.

[Your Name]

Tips for Crafting a Good Email about First Email To Dissertation Supervisor Sample

• Introduce yourself and your research topic clearly
• Be respectful and professional in your tone and language
• Clearly state your purpose for reaching out
• Request a meeting or feedback in a polite manner
• Express gratitude for their time and consideration

FAQs related to First Email To Dissertation Supervisor Sample

• Q: How long should my email be?

A: Your email should be concise and to the point, ideally no more than a few paragraphs.

• Q: Is it necessary to attach my research proposal to the email?

A: It is not necessary to attach your research proposal to the initial email. You can discuss sending additional materials in your meeting with your supervisor.

• Q: What should I do if I don’t receive a response to my email?

A: If you don’t receive a response within a reasonable timeframe, consider sending a polite follow-up email to inquire about their availability.

Related Posts:

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Money blog: Oasis resale U-turn as official reseller lowers fee amid criticism

The Money blog is your place for consumer and personal finance news and tips. Today's posts include Twickets lowering fees for Oasis tickets, the extension of the Household Support Fund and O2 Priority axing free Greggs. Listen to a Daily podcast on the Oasis ticket troubles as you scroll.

Monday 2 September 2024 17:40, UK

• Oasis resale U-turn as Twickets lowers fee after criticism
• Millions to get cost of living payments this winter as scheme extended
• O2 Priority customers fume as Greggs perk scaled back
• Major bank to let first-time buyers borrow up to 5.5 times salary

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Twickets has announced it is lowering its charges after some Oasis fans had to pay more than £100 in extra fees to buy official resale tickets.

The site is where the band themselves is directing people to buy second-hand tickets for face value - having warned people against unofficial third party sellers like StubHub and Viagogo.

One person branded the extra fees "ridiculous" (see more in 10.10 post), after many people had already been left disappointed at the weekend when Ticketmaster's dynamic pricing pushed tickets up by three times the original advertised fee.

Twickets said earlier that it typically charged a fee of 10-15% of the face value of the tickets.

But it has since said it will lower the charge due to "exceptional demand" from Oasis fans - taking ownership of an issue in a way fans will hope others follow. 

Richard Davies, Twickets founder, told the Money blog: "Due to the exceptional demand for the Oasis tour in 2025, Twickets have taken the decision to lower our booking fee to 10% and a 1% transactional fee (to cover bank charges) for all buyers of their tickets on our platform. In addition we have introduced a fee cap of £25 per ticket for these shows. Sellers of tickets already sell free of any Twickets charge.

"This ensures that Twickets remains hugely competitive against the secondary market, including sites such as Viagogo, Gigsberg and StubHub.

"Not only do these platforms inflate ticket prices way beyond their original face value but they also charge excessive booking fees, usually in the region of 30-40%. Twickets by comparison charges an average fee of around 12.5%"

The fee cap, which the Money blog understands is being implemented today, will apply to anyone who has already bought resale tickets through the site.

Mr Davies said Twickets was a "fan first" resale site and a "safe and affordable place" for people to trade unwanted tickets.

"The face value of a ticket is the total amount it was first purchased for, including any booking fee. Twickets does not set the face value price, that is determined by the event and the original ticketing company. The price listed on our platform is set by the seller, however no one is permitted to sell above the face-value on Twickets, and every ticket is checked before listing that it complies with this policy," he said.

Meanwhile, hundreds of people have complained to the regulator about how Oasis tickets were advertised ahead of going on sale. 

The Advertising Standards Authority said it had received 450 complaints about Ticketmaster adverts for the gigs.

Some  expressed their anger on social media , as tickets worth £148 were being sold for £355 on the site within hours of release, due to the "dynamic pricing" systems.

A spokesperson from ASA said the complainants argue that the adverts made "misleading claims about availability and pricing".

They added: "We're carefully assessing these complaints and, as such, can't comment any further at this time.

"To emphasise, we are not currently investigating these ads."

Ticketmaster said it does not set prices and its website says this is down to the "event organiser" who "has priced these tickets according to their market value".

After a long Saturday for millions of Oasis fans in online queues, the culture secretary says surge pricing - which pushed the price of some tickets up by three times their original advertised value to nearly £400 - will be part of the government's review of the ticket market. 

On today's episode of the Daily podcast, host Niall Paterson speaks to secondary ticketing site Viagogo. While it wasn’t part of dynamic pricing, it has offered resale tickets for thousands of pounds since Saturday. 

Matt Drew from the company accepts the industry needs a full review, while Adam Webb, from the campaign group FanFair Alliance, explains the changes it would like to see.

We've covered the fallout of the Oasis sale extensively in the Money blog today - see the culture secretary's comments on the "utterly depressing" inflated pricing in our post at 6.37am, and Twickets, the official Oasis resale site, slammed by angry fans for its "ridiculous" added fees at 10.10am.

The growing backlash culminated in action from Twickets - the company said it would lower its charges after some fans had to pay more than £100 in extra fees for resale tickets (see post at 15.47).

Tap here to follow the Daily podcast - 20 minutes on the biggest stories every day

Last week we reported that employers will have to offer flexible working hours - including a four-day week - to all workers under new government plans.

To receive their full pay, employees would still have to work their full hours but compressed into a shorter working week - something some workplaces already do.

Currently, employees can request flexible hours as soon as they start at a company but employers are not legally obliged to agree.

The Labour government now wants to make it so employers have to offer flexible hours from day one, except where it is "not reasonably feasible".

You can read more of the details in this report by our politics team:

But what does the public think about this? We asked our followers on LinkedIn to give their thoughts in an unofficial poll.

It revealed that the overwhelming majority of people support the idea to compress the normal week's hours into fewer days - some 83% of followers said they'd choose this option over a standard five-day week.

But despite the poll showing a clear preference for a compressed week, our followers appeared divided in the comments.

"There's going to be a huge brain-drain as people move away from companies who refuse to adapt with the times and implement a 4 working week. This will be a HUGE carrot for many orgs," said Paul Burrows, principal software solutions manager at Reality Capture.

Louise McCudden, head of external affairs at MSI Reproductive Choices, said she wasn't surprised at the amount of people choosing longer hours over fewer days as "a lot of people" are working extra hours on a regular basis anyway.

But illustrator and administrative professional Leslie McGregor noted the plan wouldn't be possible in "quite a few industries and quite a few roles, especially jobs that are customer centric and require 'round the clock service' and are heavily reliant upon people in trades, maintenance, supply and transport". 

"Very wishful thinking," she said.

Paul Williamson had a similar view. He said: "I'd love to know how any customer first service business is going to manage this."

We reported earlier that anyone with O2 Priority will have their free weekly Greggs treats replaced by £1 monthly Greggs treats - see 6.21am post.

But did you know there are loads of other ways to get food from the nation's most popular takeaway for free or at a discount?

Downloading the Greggs app is a good place to start - as the bakery lists freebies, discounts and special offers there regularly. 

New users also get rewards just for signing up, so it's worth checking out. 

And there's a digital loyalty card which you can add virtual "stamps" to with each purchase to unlock discounts or other freebies.  

Vodafone rewards

Seriously begrudged Virgin Media O2 customers may want to consider switching providers. 

The Vodafone Rewards app, VeryMe, sometimes gives away free Greggs coffees, sausage rolls, sweet treats and more to customers.

Monzo bank account holders can grab a sausage roll (regular or vegan), regular sized hot drink, doughnut or muffin every week. 

Birthday cake

Again, you'll need the Greggs award app for this one - which will allow you to claim one free cupcake, cream cake or doughnut for your birthday each year.

Octopus customers

Octopus Energy customers with smart meters can claim one free drink each week, in-store from Greggs (or Caffè Nero).

The Greggs freebie must be a regular size hot drink.

Make new friends

If you're outgoing (and hungry), it may be worth befriending a Greggs staff member.

The staff discount at Greggs is 50% on own-produced goods and 25% off branded products. 

If you aren't already aware, Iceland offers four Greggs sausage rolls in a multi-pack for £3. 

That means, if you're happy to bake it yourself, you'll only be paying 74p per sausage roll. 

Millions of Britons could receive extra cash to help with the cost of living this winter after the government extended the Household Support Fund.

A £421m pot will be given to local councils in England to distribute, while £79m will go to the devolved administrations.

The fund will now be available until April 2025 having been due to run out this autumn.

Councils decide how to dish out their share of the fund but it's often via cash grants or vouchers.

Many councils also use the cash to work with local charities and community groups to provide residents with key appliances, school uniforms, cookery classes and items to improve energy efficiency in the home.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: "The £22bn blackhole inherited from the previous governments means we have to take tough decisions to fix the foundations of our economy.

"But extending the Household Support Fund is the right thing to do - provide targeted support for those who need it most as we head into the winter months."

The government has been criticised for withdrawing universal winter fuel payments for pensioners of up to £300 this winter - with people now needing to be in receipt of certain means-tested benefits to qualify.

People should contact their local council for details on how to apply for the Household Support Fund - they can find their council  here .

Lloyds Bank app appears to have gone down for many, with users unable to see their transactions. 

Down Detector, which monitors site outages, has seen more than 600 reports this morning.

It appears to be affecting online banking as well as the app.

There have been some suggestions the apparent issue could be due to an update.

Another disgruntled user said: "Absolutely disgusting!! I have an important payment to make and my banking is down. There was no warning given prior to this? Is it a regular maintenance? Impossible to get hold of someone to find out."

A Lloyds Bank spokesperson told Sky News: "We know some of our customers are having issues viewing their recent transactions and our app may be running slower than usual.

"We're sorry about this and we're working to have everything back to normal soon."

We had anger of unofficial resale prices, then Ticketmaster's dynamic pricing - and now fees on the official resale website are causing consternation among Oasis fans.

The band has encouraged anyone wanting resale tickets to buy them at face value from Ticketmaster or Twickets - after some appeared for £6,000 or more on other sites.

"Tickets appearing on other secondary ticketing sites are either counterfeit or will be cancelled by the promoters," Oasis said.

With that in mind, fans flocked to buy resale tickets from the sites mentioned above - only to find further fees are being added on. 

Mainly Oasis, a fan page, shared one image showing a Twickets fee for two tickets as high as £138.74. 

"Selling the in demand tickets completely goes against the whole point of their company too… never mind adding a ridiculous fee on top of that," the page shared. 

Fan Brad Mains shared a photo showing two tickets priced at £337.50 each (face value of around £150, but increased due to dynamic pricing on Saturday) - supplemented by a £101.24 Twickets fee. 

That left him with a grand total of £776.24 to pay for two tickets.

"Actually ridiculous this," he  said on X .

"Ticketmaster inflated price then sold for 'face value' on Twickets with a £100 fee. 2 x £150 face value tickets for £776, [this] should be illegal," he added. 

Twickets typically charges between 10-15% of the ticket value as its own fee. 

We have approached the company for comment.

Separately, the government is now looking at the practice of dynamic pricing - and we've had a response to that from the Competition and Markets Authority this morning.

It said: "We want fans to get a fair deal when they go to buy tickets on the secondary market and have already taken action against major resale websites to ensure consumer law is being followed properly. 

"But we think more protections are needed for consumers here, so it is positive that the government wants to address this. We now look forward to working with them to get the best outcomes for fans and fair-playing businesses."

Consumer protection law does not ban dynamic pricing and it is a widely used practice. However, the law also states that businesses should not mislead consumers about the price they must pay for a product, either by providing false or deceptive information or by leaving out important information or providing it too late.

By James Sillars , business reporter

It's a false start to the end of the summer holidays in the City.

While London is mostly back at work, trading is fairly subdued due to the US Labor (that's labour, as in work) Day holiday.

US markets will not open again until Tuesday.

There's little direction across Europe with the FTSE 100 trading nine points down at 8,365.

Leading the gainers was Rightmove - up 24%. The property search website is the subject of a possible cash and shares takeover offer by Australian rival REA.

The company is a division of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.

One other point to note is the continuing fluctuation in oil prices.

Brent crude is 0.7% down at the start of the week at $76.

Dragging the cost lower is further evidence of weaker demand in China.

Australia's REA Group is considering a takeover of Rightmove, in a deal which could be worth about £4.36bn.

REA Group said in a statement this morning there are "clear similarities" between the companies, which have "highly aligned cultural values".

Rightmove is the UK's largest online property portal, while REA is Australia's largest property website. 

It employs more than 2,800 people and is majority-owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp,.

REA Group said: "REA sees a transformational opportunity to apply its globally leading capabilities and expertise to enhance customer and consumer value across the combined portfolio, and to create a global and diversified digital property company, with number one positions in Australia and the UK.

"There can be no certainty that an offer will be made, nor as to the terms on which any offer may be made."

Rightmove has been approached for comment.

A major lender has announced it will allow first-time buyers to borrow up to five-and-a-half times their income in a bid to help more people onto the property ladder.

Lloyds says it has increased its max loan-to-income ratio from 4.49 as the situation is "tough right now" for first-time house hunters.

It means buyers with a household income of £50,000 and a 10% deposit may be able to borrow £275,000 - up from £224,500 at the previous rate.

To qualify, borrowers have to apply for a first-time buyer mortgage with Lloyds or sister bank Halifax, have a total household income of at least £50,000 and a minimum 10% deposit, and not be using shared ownership or shared equity schemes. Normal affordability checks also apply.

Andrew Asaam, homes director at Lloyds Banking Group, said: "Getting the keys to a first home is a big deal, but it's tough right now.

"Aspiring homeowners have been struggling with house prices rising faster than their wages. They need to save for a deposit, keep up with rent, and choose the right mortgage."

Meanwhile, the National Association of Estate Agents' Propertymark president Toby Leek said it was "encouraging" to see banks offering more help to first-time buyers.

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