Thread by @MattHHolden

Below, is a thread for options on how to start an email (1st sentence) to request supervision from an academic faculty member (e.g. to do a PhD) and the most common intro, which I think isn't always the best choice. First the good intros 1/11 @olumuyiwaayo

1: "You might not remember me, but we met at [insert conference/uni/course/workshop/city etc] and talked about [insert topic]. I'm [insert name] and ..." 2/11

2: "Your colleague [insert name] recommended I talk to you about ..."

The name should be someone the person you are contacting knows well, you can even CC them 3/11

3: "Your research inspired my thesis, which just received [grade/honour/award/recognition], I would love to continue this line of work with you..."

This can be a bit of an exaggeration, that's OK, as long as their work really does play a big role in yours 4/11

4: "I want to answer [insert research question], and I think your work on X means you would be a great supervisor for the project. Here's why ... " 5/11

Now your stated research question should not be so specific that it allows the prof to answer it without consulting you. Most profs aren't jerks, so they won't intentionally steal your idea, but some, unfortunately, forget where their ideas came from. 6/11

Sometimes you don't have a well-formulated research question yet. That's OK, here is an alternative intro 7/11

5: "I had a few thoughts (see below) about your paper X, which I really enjoyed, and was wondering if you are interested in supervising a student on a related project. My name is Y and I'm interested in opportunities to join your group... insert thoughts on their paper. " 8/11

Common research interests and good ideas are the keys to getting a response. If you can convey you have both of them, quickly, for most profs, it doesn't matter where you come from. But, see below, because most profs, unfortunately, have unfair biases ... 9/11

Because profs are biased & busy, sometimes, I might not start with the common

"My name is X, a student at/with Y."

because it's potentially a source of bias against you if the prof hasn't heard of Y. This is a good intro if Y is a uni/researcher the prof likely knows of 10/11

I think successful emails start with something that catches the profs attention. The three big examples are 1) a personal connection you have with them [eg. 1:,2:,3:] or 2) an exciting idea/common research interest [eg. 4:,5:] or 3) an impressive thing about you [eg 3:]. 11/11

Maybe these aren't the best intros (discuss below) but the one thing you don't want to do is write a generic email, that doesn't demonstrate you know what the prof works on and that you share research interests. Those emails almost never get responses.

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