Thread by @olumuyiwaayo

Thanks for sharing this @folaeclipse

Looking for a graduate student position? Here's how to avoid frustration...

by Marc A. Dubé
Professor, Chemical Engineering at University of Ottawa

You just read a research article, and it aligns really well with your interests. You decide that you would like to pursue graduate studies with one or more of the authors. You decide to send an email to the Professor conducting that research to inquire about a research position.

What happens next?

1- The Professor receives the email but ignores it.

2- The Professor reads the email and then deletes it without responding.

3- The Professor reads the email and sends a negative response.

4- The Professor reads the email and sends a positive response.

Why did #1 possibly happen?

Most Professors are receiving 10 or more such requests a week (I’ve asked around). For some, it is much, much more.

So, if they aren’t actively looking for new students, the approach may be one of being just too busy to read, let alone responding to yet another email.

Note that these requests are the tip of the email iceberg; don’t forget the requests from conferences and journals (and many of these are irrelevant) and just plain old spam.

Why did #2 or #3 possibly happen?

Did you do your homework? Did you visit the University’s webpage to verify graduate studies' requirements, and do you have the appropriate background?

For example, if you have a degree in earth sciences, are you eligible to apply for an advanced degree program in, say, computer science? Did you visit the Professor’s webpage?

The Professor may have provided some important information about what type of students she is looking for or if she is not looking for new students. Is it possible that you’ve made a few incorrect assumptions about the Professor’s research interests?

For instance, many Professors have engaged in a collaboration where their expertise is required, but for only a small part of the research reported in the journal article you read.

So, the researcher may have contributed to an article on, say, biomedical materials. Still, their role was based on property testing alone, and they may have little expertise in biomedical material design or little interest in biomedical applications at all.

A visit to a Professor’s homepage or a thorough scan of their publications (say, on Research Gate or Google Scholar) may reveal their true research interests. Maybe their interests have changed over the years.

Thus, maybe your background and research interests didn’t really align with that of the research group you are targeting. Yet another possibility is that you’ve made a negative impression. Is the email concise?

Perhaps you have provided too much detail that is already included in your CV. Perhaps the opposite is true: you haven’t given the Professor enough information to make a decision. How well did you write the email?

Because writing is such an important part of graduate research, a poorly written email can negatively affect the reader’s opinion of your writing abilities.

What helps is the following:

1- First of all, personalize your email. A mass emailing addressed as “Dear Sir/Madam” is likely to remain unread. It certainly conveys the idea that you have not verified the alignment of your interests with that of the Professor.

By the way, make sure you spell the Professor’s name correctly (seriously, this happens a lot).

2- If you have met or connected with the Professor in some other capacity (e.g., former student, met at a conference), mention it.

3- Next, state what you are asking for: Master’s, Ph.D., post-doc? Which program? Do you require funding or not? What is your citizenship status? When is your target starting date, and is it flexible?

4- What are your qualifications? Briefly mention your previous degrees, relevant experience and expertise, publications and conferences (refer to your CV without going into too much detail in the email).

5- After having done your homework: mention how your interests align with the research group.

6- Before pressing send: re-check your email for grammar and spelling.

Following the above may get you closer to achieving your goal, #4, getting a positive response and engaging in discussing your opportunities.

Good luck!