When you
are planning for PhD or Masters by research program, two kinds of funding
opportunities can be availed. The first option is to apply for a scholarship
program which covers everything including your flight ticket, settle-in
allowance, books allowance, tuition fee and monthly stipend which is mostly tax
free. The scholarships like this are very good but limited in number. Another
option is getting funding support from a supervisor/professor, where you need
to work on some specific research problem/project under the supervision of
professor. At PhD level getting support from a supervisor is most common way to
fund studies. Now, the important question is how to find a supervisor and ask
him for supporting your studies. In this article, I will talk about the things
to be considered while searching and contacting supervisor.
In a successful
search for a professor, who is willing to supervise your research, you have to
make strong first impression because you may get only one chance for each
professor. If you fail to impress or convince him about your abilities in first
contact, it’s probable that you can never do that again. Most common and formal
way to contact a supervisor is through email. There are some common mistakes
which if avoided would result in a splendid communication regarding your
motivation.
Finding a Supervisor
To narrow
down search, you have to first know what your interest/ambition is. I know it
is not easy to know exact topic of research at such an early stage but you
should know your area of research. One way is to search some latest survey
papers related to your field, just skim through the content, do not expect from
yourself to understand everything at this point, look at the author profiles at
the end of papers. After doing some literature review, you can see that leading
professors in your area of research would be most cited and by this you can
point to potential supervisors currently involved in your topic of interest.
Another way is to further narrow down your search by universities; where you
wish to pursue your degree then visit university’s website and your program’s
page. Here you will see couple of professors doing similar research, you must
see their latest publications to finalize potential supervisor. Be careful, do
not email to more than one professor at the same department simultaneously,
because if a professor finds you suitable he will arrange an interview with
more than one or two other professors and usually you end up with same
professors you emailed, besides one who is interested in you and this raises a
question about your commitment or seriousness because you cannot be ambitious
about different research interests at the same time.
Once you
have selected a professor who can be potential supervisor for your research, please
follow the general guidelines on how to contact him.
More details on: [Finding a Research Supervisor]
Know him well
Know your
professor’s profile well, try to see his latest publications especially one
which interests you and try to quote them in your email just title of paper.
Write a formal, short but comprehensive email including information about your
research interests, how you found him and your background.
Avoid Casual language
Your email
should be very formal without use of any casual language and check twice for
your abbreviation which you frequently use with your friends etc. For example
writing short for your as ‘ur’, thanks as ‘thnx’, ‘R U fine?’ and others.
Subject of Email
The
subject of email is very important as professors are very busy and would not
spend time reading all emails in their inbox; subject line is to catch their
attention. Write like ‘Interested in Research area _____ with your group’ or
similar.
Make specific Query
The
professors get hundreds of emails from students asking for funding to support their
studies. The most important thing professors want to establish about you is
level of ‘seriousness’ and ‘motivation’. Some students write an email with
generic content and send to many professors and universities and this is worse
way to make contact with a professor. Try to be specific to your own case and
refer to things which motivate you to join that particular group. Generic
emails would never be read and replied.
Do not ask about weather/health
As a
stranger to professor, its better not to ask how is he feeling and how the
weather is. For initial contact this kind of questions/wishes are not
appreciated. To the point message is better as it saves time of recipient.
Know
the Culture
In some
cultures you do not call elders by name or first name. For example in Korean
culture, writing “Dear Professor” is better than “Dear _Name” as the social hierarchy
is vertical. While in west there is no harm in calling Professor’s name as
social hierarchy is horizontal. It looks a minor point but I am telling you it
reflects a lot if you do it rightly. Do not flatter the recipient beg or plea
as it is not considered a good thing.
Be precise
As
mentioned earlier, message should be precise and to the point. If you are
referring to some of professor’s papers, just mention the title of
paper/project. You do not need to go in details of your own work at this stage,
just try to connect that with the research interests of professor.
How you found him
Do tell
him how you found him. Professors are always keen to know this, as it also
indicates how serious were you to join his group and did not try thousand email
addresses in a go to try your luck.
Attachments
Never forget to attach a CV and ideas about your expected area of
research. Do not attach all those award certificates and transcripts at this
point in time.
Review Email
Check all
the grammar, spelling, typos and similar careless mistakes. These would not put
good impression about finishing of your work. Conclude your email well, ask him
to talk more about your ambitions and do let you know if need more information.
I hope
this article will help making a better contact with professors. I tried my
best, your comments/suggestions will be highly appreciated.
