Learning how to email a professor is extremely important, especially when it comes to a research visit. To find a suitable host professor in another university, you need to approach a professor by sending email. That’s why you need to be very careful and ensure that you identify the right email pattern and style. An email can help a lot and if you approach correctly, it’s definitely going to provide a much better result.
1. Subject line
When you find how to email a professor, an excellent idea is to have a great and catchy subject line. For a research visit, you can choose a subject line like “PhD research visit”. A clear subject line will let the professor know what you want and what your email is about.
2. Greetings
You can follow the subject line with some greetings. The idea is to have things like Dear Prof. __________ or anything similar. The focus is to show your professionalism, while also appreciating the professor and their contribution.
3. Introduction
Next, introduce yourself and mention your educational background and also where you are from. You want to set the background for you so the professor understands who you are, what you want and why you are emailing. Be careful, avoid slang terms or abbreviations. You want to keep things to the point and simple, as that’s what will help make a huge difference.
4. Research relevance
Once you write the introduction, you can start relating to the experience and background that the professor has towards the domain and research area. You want to show that the research visit can be lucrative and it will bring in a lot of help for you. That alone can truly make a difference, and it’s exactly the thing you want to keep in mind. Talking about your previous research and work experience can also be handy, and it will eliminate any misconceptions. Stay straight to the point with this part.
5. Motivation and interests
After that, you can show your motivation and interests in professor’s research area. You can answer the questions (i) why you chose this professor for the PhD research visit? and (ii) why you want to work with his/her team. It will bring in all the relevant information that will help make a difference, and simple stuff like that is always going to stand out. Showing that you are interested in their domain and how this might help you is also a thing to consider. Not every professor will choose any student, so knowing how to email a professor is extremely important, as it can make or break your chances.
6. Add a call to action
Don’t forget to attach your academic CV with the email. You can also show that you had an interest in visiting the professor’s lab for a specific pre-defined period, so the focus is to ask for a formal invitation to do so.
If you follow these instructions, it will become easier to figure out how to email a professor properly. It will take a bit of time, but once you approach this properly and understand the system, it will be well worth it!
7. Sample email
Greetings from [your country or city name]!My name is ______, I am a PhD student at the [your univesity name]. My research focuses on [your PhD thesis topic], which is being conducted under the supervision of Dr. [your supervisor name]. The objective of this study is to fill one of the critical technology gaps present today – to enable efficient wireless connectivity for machine-based applications operating in hard-to-reach areas, where the use of terrestrial networks is impossible (e.g., Arctic).I found that our research group’s current focus on [professor research area] sounds very fascinating. What came to my mind is that, if possible, I can visit your group to carry out the research under your guidance. Our joint efforts will allow us to examine the [which topics will you study during research visit?]More than this, the research visit will help me to gain more insights into [research topic]I have attached my CV which includes the list of my recent publications. If you have some time, we can have a brief call to discuss the possibility of a short research visit and meaningful collaboration.With best regards,Your name
Conclusion
We always recommend following this guideline when you learn how to email a professor for a postdoctoral position. Sure, you can adapt and adjust it, but in the end it will help make the process simple and more cohesive. You always want to avoid any rush, and instead implement a system that truly delivers the right results. It’s totally worth it, and the benefits can be outstanding.
We have published several articles and guidelines which discuss how to write email to professor for master and PhD scholarships, supervision and admissions.
- How to Email a Professor for Ph.D. and MS Scholarships
- How to Email a Professor for Master or PhD Positions: Sample Emails
- The right way to email a professor for PhD scholarship
- Are You Going to Email a Professor for Scholarship? Read These 10 Points
These articles cover each and every single detail when it comes to emailing a professor.
If you have some questions, please feel free to ask in comments below. Thanks for reading this article and share it with your friends so they can prevent these common mistakes.