Writing an academic cover letter 

While applying for higher studies, emailing professors is a crucial part. Even though a cover letter is the tiniest part of the application, a well-crafted letter can outrun the CV. Why is that?

Typically, professors receive hundreds of emails daily, and reading each email in detail would take days. To save time, they skim through the text and sometimes don’t get the time to skim. Here comes the importance of the cover letter! 

While discussing the general format of the letter, I will also highlight some key points in this article. 

General guidelines

A cover letter typically contains two major sections: i) Background information, and ii) your interests and how they align with theirs. Let’s talk about it part by part!

Part 1. Salutation

It may surprise you, but many students fail to mention the professor’s name. It indicates that i) these students are sending duplicate emails to hundreds of others, and ii) they are not enthusiastic about this lab. IF YOU DON’T MENTION THEIR NAME, THEY ARE NOT GOING TO READ YOUR EMAIL.

Example: Dear Dr X, [X = last name]

Part 2. Background information

• Should contain ~3 sentences
• Your current affiliation
• Your research topic
• If you haven’t graduated, how long it might take
• If your current supervisor is well-known globally, please mention their name; otherwise, say your current institution.

Example: I am Shawan Chowdhury, finalising my PhD at the University of Queensland with Dr XY. As a part of my doctoral research, I am working on insect movement and conservation in protected areas. I passed the Oral exam with minor corrections and am now waiting for the formal award.

Part 3. Why interested

It is the most crucial part of the cover letter, where you need to briefly discuss your interests in their lab, how your experiences align with theirs, and what ‘new’ you will bring. A typical cover letter mainly contains our achievements and rarely discusses the person we are emailing; however, it should be the opposite. YOU MUST TALK ABOUT THEIR WORK IN THE FIRST PART OF YOUR EMAIL.

Discussing research ideas is always enjoyable to scientists; therefore, if you could come up with some ideas, you would surely be able to attract their attention. Please don’t forget to i) read 10-20 of their recent papers (within the last 5 years that interest you) and ii) come up with some solid research ideas (be specific). If your ideas are not that strong, you can discuss a topic that interests you the most and mention that you want to strengthen your understanding of that topic. 

If you wish to apply to a world-class lab, please submit a concise one-page proposal. The importance of writing a proposal is threefold: it will prove that you are 100% interested in working with them, it will show that you can come up with some research ideas, and they will get a gist about your writing style. Even if you don’t get a chance to work with them, you will be able to reuse the proposal when emailing another Professor with a similar background.

Example 1: I have read many of your papers on conserving migratory species (e.g., with X) and the impact of different anthropogenic stressors on biodiversity (e.g., with Y). I am primarily interested in assessing anthropogenic impacts on insects. As you have years of experience in this field, wondering if you have any available positions in your lab.

Example 2: Recently, I read about the X ‘postdoctoral fellowship’ opportunity. I am highly interested in assessing how global environmental change impacts insects and their conservation planning. As you have years of experience and interest in conservation in the Anthropocene, I am wondering if you are interested in discussing potential research projects. Please let me know if you are interested.

I have the following projects in my mind:

1. Research idea 1
2. Research idea 2
3. Research idea 3

Part 4. Attachment (s)

You can attach your CV, 1/2 paper, and a one-page research proposal. That’s all! Please don’t attach your certificates, transcripts, or any other documents. If the professor needs anything else, they will request it. 

Example: I have attached two of my recent papers and my CV.

Part 5. Conclusion

Please conclude the letter by thanking them for their time.

Example: Thanks for your time. I look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks/Cheers/Regards,

Shawan.

Timing

Since a professor receives hundreds of emails daily, staying at the top of the list seems like a nightmare. Yet, some strategies must be followed, mainly to avoid unwanted circumstances. For example,

• Do not email during the weekends (Saturday and Sunday)
• Do not email after 4 PM or before 8 AM of their time (research on the time difference)
• Professors with kids usually get up early in the morning (e.g., 4 AM) to do some early work (till 6 AM). However, they try to be productive at this time, so I would recommend not to email at this hour.

I believe the best time to email a professor is between 10:00 AM and 3:00 PM.

What if you don’t receive a reply?

How about if you spend weeks preparing your cover letter and don’t receive a reply? This is a common scenario, so don’t get depressed. 

There can be several reasons behind this: for example, i) your email is in the spam section (if your email address contains numbers, it will most likely be in their SPAM folder), ii) your email got lost with other hundreds of emails (or they accidentally deleted it), iii) your profile is not good enough to be competitive for an international scholarship (these are highly competitive), or iv) their lab is currently full. 

Instead of diving into ‘inferiority complex’, think about what if they missed your email! What to do in this case? Send them two gentle reminders (one week apart) in the same thread.

Example: 

Dear Dr X,

I was wondering if you have received my last email. Please let me know if there are any positions available in your laboratory.

Regards,

Y.

Please remember to…

• include a meaningful subject [e.g., Prospective/Potential graduate student]
• keep the email as brief as you can [preferably a half A4 page]
• not using any informal word/slang [e.g., whatever, anyways,…]
• avoid sending the same email to multiple researchers of the same research centre (or institutions) [they discuss among themselves]
• Before emailing someone, thoroughly check their website, publication profile, and current student information to determine if they are interested in supervising new students, among other factors.

To sum up, a cover letter is the first impression that you will create with your future mentor. If you stay in academia, you will need that person for your entire life. Please remember that some professors may have specific guidelines for emailing them, and it is essential to follow those guidelines. Writing a good cover letter takes substantial time, sometimes a few days, so try not to waste your opportunity to secure a position in a world-class lab. A well-known mentor can change your life.

GOOD LUCK!