📧 Resource · ~9 min read · Updated 29 September 2026 · By Dr. Deepak Malik

How to email a professor for a PhD position (with examples)

You find the perfect PhD advert. You write a warm, careful email, end it with "Are you currently recruiting PhD students?", and press send. Two weeks of silence. The problem usually isn't you — it's that the email gave the professor nothing to answer except a yes/no question they'd rather not answer.

In short: there are two different emails. For an advertised position, write the cover letter first, then a 150–250-word email drawn from it, with the letter and CV attached. For a professor with no advert (a cold email), write 300–400 words, say early how you'll be funded, and attach your CV and one PDF of your transcripts. In both: one real moment, what you did and found, their paper and your question. Never ask whether they're recruiting. Follow up twice, 10 days apart, then stop.

Work out which email you're writing

An advertised position already has money and a deadline, so your email is a short cover note for the documents the advert asks for. A cold email goes to a professor with no open advert, so it has to do more work: it makes the case for you and says how the position would be paid for. They have different lengths, different attachments and different subject lines, so decide which one this is before you write a word. If you're not sure there's an advert, check the group's website and our PhD positions board first.

Use a subject line that says exactly what this is

Advertised position: the advert's own subject or reference number, if it gives one. If not: PhD application – Riya Menon
Cold email: Prospective PhD candidate in tumor immunology – Riya Menon
Cold email for a DAAD scholarship: Prospective PhD Applicant – DAAD Fellowship Inquiry – Riya Menon (the word DAAD tells a German professor, before they open it, that you're not asking them for money)
Follow-up: no new subject — reply in the same thread, so it reads Re: …

Avoid "Hello", "Request" or "Need guidance" — they read as mass-sent.

For an advert: write the letter first, then the email from it

The professor opens the email first; the cover letter is the PDF attached to it. So the email is the letter, shortened. The opening and closing lines are fixed. The middle is three moves taken from your own letter: (1) the real moment or question that brought you to this field, (2) what you did and what you found, (3) their paper's finding and the question you'd pursue in their group. Keep it to 150–250 words. Put nothing in the email that isn't already in the letter, and leave out funding and salary — an advertised position already has its own money.

Sample 1 — an advertised PhD position (165 words)

Subject: PhD application – Riya Menon · Attached: Menon_CoverLetter.pdf, Menon_CV.pdf

Dear Prof. Weber,

① My name is Riya Menon. I'm writing to apply for the advertised PhD position in your research group on tumor immunology. I'm a master's graduate from India with 2+ years of research experience in cancer immunology.

② What brought me here was a flow cytometry plot I expected to be empty: it showed T cells sitting inside a tumor sample and doing nothing. ③ During my Master's thesis I followed that question across 30 patient samples with flow cytometry and RT-PCR, and found that PD-L1 levels tracked with myeloid infiltration rather than with tumor stage. ④ Your 2024 paper in Nature Immunology, showing that exhausted T cells can be partly reprogrammed through a single metabolic pathway, made me want to test whether the same pathway keeps T cells silent in solid tumors. My co-culture killing assays would be where I start.

⑤ My cover letter and CV are attached. I would be glad to discuss the project, and that question, with you.

Kind regards,
Riya Menon

① Fixed opening — name, the position as the advert names it, one line of background.
② The real moment — hers, from her letter. If yours has none, leave this out; never invent one.
③ What she did and found — a finding, not a list of techniques.
④ Their finding + her question — ends on the question, which the close points back to.
⑤ Fixed close — no "I hope to hear from you soon", no funding, no request for a reply.

For a cold email: say how you'll be funded, early

A professor with no advert usually has no money set aside for a new PhD student, so the question in their head is "who pays?" Answer it in your first substantive sentence, as a fact: which fellowship you'll apply for and why your record makes you a good candidate. Then the same three moves. Close by asking to discuss your candidature and a possible project — a short call is fine to ask for — and say you're ready to write a funding proposal if the first fellowship doesn't come through. Aim for 300–400 words. Attach your CV and one combined PDF of your transcripts, and no motivation letter.

Sample 2 — a cold email to a professor with no advert

Subject: Prospective PhD candidate in tumor immunology – Riya Menon · Attached: Menon_CV.pdf, Menon_Transcripts.pdf

Dear Prof. Weber,

① My name is Riya Menon, and I recently completed my Master's degree in India with 2+ years of research experience in cancer immunology. I am writing about a PhD in your group on tumor immunology, and I would come with my own funding: with [your record, e.g. a first-class distinction and a publication], I am confident of securing a fellowship, and I am ready to write the proposal for it with your guidance.

② What brought me to your field was a flow cytometry plot I expected to be empty: it showed T cells sitting inside a tumor sample and doing nothing.

③ During my Master's thesis, I used flow cytometry, RT-PCR and co-culture killing assays to follow that question across 30 patient samples. I found that PD-L1 levels tracked with myeloid infiltration rather than with tumor stage. [Publication, if any.] [Your current role, one sentence.]

④ Your 2024 paper in Nature Immunology showed that exhausted T cells can be partly reprogrammed through a single metabolic pathway. It left me with a question I would like to work on: whether the same pathway keeps T cells silent in solid tumors. My experience with co-culture killing assays is where I would start.

⑤ I would like to discuss my potential candidature and a possible PhD project with you, perhaps on a short call. If that fellowship does not come through, I am ready to write a funding proposal for another scheme.

I have attached my CV and one combined PDF of my transcripts. Thank you for reading, and I look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards,
Riya Menon
[Current position / university] · [Email] · [Google Scholar or LinkedIn, optional]

① Funding as a fact — in the first paragraph, not saved for the end. Fill in your real record; the brackets are yours to complete.
②–④ The same three moves as the advertised email, with a little more room.
⑤ The ask — a conversation about candidature and a project, plus a fallback. Not "are you taking students?"
With your own record, role and publication filled in, it lands in the 300–400-word range.

Never ask whether they're recruiting

"Do you have any open positions?" and "Would you be open to supervising me?" are the same sentence: a request for permission to ask. Ask for the thing you want instead — to discuss your candidature and a project. It's a small change in wording and a big change in how the email reads.

Follow up twice, 10 days apart — then stop

Silence after three weeks usually means "not now", not "no" — and very often it's the reminder that gets the first reply. For an advertised position, the clock starts when the deadline passes: first reminder 10 days after the deadline, second 10 days after that. For a cold email, it starts the day you send it. Send the reminder as a reply in the same thread, keep it short, and only add something new if it's true.

Sample 3 — a polite follow-up (117 words)

Dear Prof. Weber,

I'm writing to gently follow up on my application for the PhD position in your research group on tumor immunology, which I sent on 30 September. My name is Riya Menon, a master's graduate with 2+ years of research experience in cancer immunology.

Since I wrote, I have read your group's follow-up preprint on metabolic checkpoints, and it has sharpened the question from my letter: whether the same pathway keeps T cells silent in solid tumors. I would still very much like to work on it in your group.

My cover letter and CV are attached again for convenience. I would be glad to discuss the project whenever suits you.

Kind regards,
Riya Menon

Send it yourself, and keep a record

Send every email from your own account, under your own name, and note the date you sent it — you'll need it for the follow-ups. If you'd like someone to read your letter and email before they go, that's exactly what our mentors do: see how our PhD admission mentorship works, or read our resource on contacting professors before you apply.

⚠️ Common mistakes we see every cycle

Ending with "Are you currently recruiting?" or "Would you be open to supervising me?"
Putting a funding line in an email for an already-funded, advertised position
Leaving the funding question unanswered in a cold email
Writing a new claim in the email that isn't in the attached letter
Sending a third reminder, or reminding before the deadline has even passed
Addressing the wrong professor because of a copy-paste mistake

FAQ

How long should an email to a professor be?▼

For an advertised position, 150–250 words, with the cover letter and CV attached. For a cold email to a professor with no advert, 300–400 words, because it has to make the case for you and say how you'll be funded.

Should I follow up if I don't receive a reply?▼

Yes, twice. Send the first reminder 10 days after the deadline (or 10 days after sending, for a cold email) and the second 10 days after that, both as replies in the same thread. Then stop.

Is it acceptable to email professors before a position is advertised?▼

Yes — that's what a cold email is. Say early how the position would be funded (for example, a fellowship you'll apply for), and ask to discuss your candidature rather than whether they're recruiting.

Want me or one of our mentors in your exact research field to look at this with you, one on one? The first conversation is always free.

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