How to Write an Impressive Academic CV — A Comprehensive Guide
Focusing primarily on Ph.D. application
Applying to a graduate program, especially a Ph.D., requires a significant amount of time and effort. One should,
- research different graduate schools, their programs, and potential supervisors
- prepare several materials/documents including curriculum vitae (CV) and statement of purpose
- take the required tests such as TOEFL/IELTS (if one is from a country where English is not the primary language) and GRE
and a lot more. In this article, we will discuss the basics of preparing an impressive academic CV for graduate school application. This article will indeed be helpful in preparing an academic CV for any purpose, not just a graduate school application. However, some of the areas where we put a lot of emphasis on for graduate school application might not be necessary/suitable all the time.
Please keep in mind that there is no one correct way to design an academic CV. This guide is simply a summary of information gathered from several Ph.D. students at top universities (MIT, EPFL, UC Berkeley, SFU, etc.) and a comprehensive survey of instructions/details found on the websites of some of the well-recognized universities around the world.
What to Include in Your CV
The following sections are commonly found in a good CV.
- Personal Information
- Research Interests
- Education
- Experience (Research, Teaching, Industry, and/or Volunteer)
- Publications
- Honors and Awards
- Talks and Presentations
- Extracurricular Activities
The following additional sections (optional) can also be included (if applicable).
- Patents
- Service
- Professional Associations
- Skills (language, programming, etc)
- References
Let us discuss what to include under each section in detail.
1. Personal Information
The important details to be included are your full name, email address, and link to your personal website (if you have one). Having a personal website where you showcase who you are, your research, and your achievements is highly recommended.
I have seen many CVs where address and telephone number have been included. However, for a Ph.D. application, it is very likely that all your communications will be through emails. Hence, in my opinion, the email address is sufficient.
If you have publications, it is a good idea to create a google scholar account and include the link here.
2. Research Interests
Briefly explain what your research interests are. Keep it crisp (2–5 sentences).
3. Education
The figure above is a sample Education section extracted from a CV. It will facilitate the understanding of the rest of this section.
Start with your most recent educational qualification. Follow a chronological order when adding your educational qualifications. This is not the only way to structure this section but is definitely a safe and standard practice.
Each educational qualification should include the institution where you pursued the education, the qualification/degree, the time period, and any important achievements note highlighting (e.g., GPA, class, rank, etc.). If you have a postgraduate degree, include your thesis title (the advisor’s name is optional in my opinion, unless s/he is a renowned figure in your research domain).
If an educational qualification is specific only to your country (e.g. “G.C.E Advanced Level — Physical Science Stream” in Sri Lanka), provide sufficient details in a sentence or two so that anybody can understand. In the example above, I have provided the modules in Physical Science Stream to give a high-level idea of the education. This is applicable to the entire CV. If any detail you add to your CV is not internationally well known, make sure that it is explained clearly to an international audience.
Another aspect that's worth mentioning is the GPA scale. Different countries follow different GPA scales. For example, in Sri Lanka, we follow the 0–4.2 scale. But in the USA, 0–4.0 is the widely used one. Hence, depending on the country to which you are applying, provide the equivalent of your GPA in their scale as well (see the example above).
Highlight the important achievements (e.g. high GPA / rank).
The education section is also a good place to showcase any online courses that you have completed and/or certifications that you have received. For example, if you have followed any popular courses that are relevant to your field on platforms such as Coursera, include them under this section.
Examination scores such as TOEFL / IELTS / GRE scores can also be included under the education section. However, it is only optional.
4. Experience
We can divide the experience into four categories: research, teaching, industry, and volunteer.
4.1 Research Experience
Following is a sample research experience.
For each research, provide the title of the research, where and when you carried out this research, and what are your contributions. You can also include the key technologies/domains related to the research since they will showcase your experiences/skills in a concise manner. Even if someone does not take the time to read your contributions, these keywords will help them understand your areas of expertise.
When it comes to listing your contributions, keep them short, highlighting the most important details. Do not list down every minor detail of your contributions as it will make your CV very long. Keep in mind that the admission committee and professors have to go through thousands of CVs from applicants around the world. It is very unlikely that they will have the time or patience to go through a lengthy CV.
This is where having a website showcasing your research will come in handy. You can simply include a link to your website/blog where you have discussed each research in detail.
Further, you can include the name(s) of the advisor(s) and link to the research group’s website for each research. Having experience working under well-recognized figures and/or working with active research groups is definitely a plus.
4.2 Teaching Experience
Your financial support will generally come from a teaching assistantship or research assistantship. Hence, having prior experience in teaching will definitely help.
You can structure your teaching experience similarly to your research experience, including the main tasks that you carried out (see the example above).
4.3 Industry Experience
Sometimes we might wonder whether industry experience is relevant to include in our CV since it often lacks the research component. However, the technical skills acquired while working in the industry are transferrable to research as well. For example, suppose you have worked as a software engineer in a company that focuses on embedded systems. Such an experience will add a lot of value to your application when you apply to a graduate program in embedded systems.
4.4 Volunteer Experience
Relevant volunteer experience will strengthen your application. However, make sure that the experiences that you include in your CV are relevant to the program that you are applying for. For example, being a volunteer at a center for neuro-developmental disorders adds value to your application if you are applying for a graduate program in the domain of psychology that deals with neuro-developmental disorders such as autism. However, the same experience will not be specifically relevant if you are applying for a graduate program in computer science.
5. Publications
The Publication section is usually divided into three subsections: (1) Journals, (2) Conferences, and (3) Preprints.
Few important points when listing your publications:
- Follow the same format. It is not compulsory to follow international standards such as IEEE, but make sure the format is consistent throughout.
- Highlight your name to increase visibility.
- Since many view documents as digital copies now, linking the publication is a good idea. It will be easy for the admission committee or professors to find the publications with one click (The blue file icons in the sample given above are the links to relevant publications).
6. Honors and Awards
Many of you will have a long list of honors and awards. However, choose the ones that highlight your capabilities, especially your writing, speaking, and domain-related knowledge. Remember, your CV should be short and sweet.
If you are in the domain of Electrical and Computer Engineering, your achievements in the following are worth mentioning in our CV.
- Hackathons and Mathematics/Physics Olympiads
- Oratory and Debate
- Technical Writing
- Research awards
- Scholarships
If you have been following the chronological order in other sections, follow the same here as well. Be consistent.
7. Talks and Presentations
Being invited to talks at different venues showcase the quality of your works and your recognition as a researcher. Hence, include the talks and presentations that you have delivered.
8. Extracurricular Activities
I look at extracurricular activities as an efficient tool to convey that one is a good team player and leader. Further, it shows that one is capable of shouldering responsibilities and completing tasks successfully, which are key characteristics of a good researcher.
Next, if you are a member of language-related societies such as the Literary Association, it is a good indicator that you have a sound knowledge of the language.
I also believe that one’s engagement in extracurricular activities showcases great time management skills.
9. Other Sections
In addition to the sections mentioned earlier, one can also add details about patents, service, professional associations, and skills. Under the service section, activities such as being a reviewer for conferences and journals and an advisor/mentor can be included.
Under the skills sections, language and technical skills are often included.
So far, we have discussed different parts of a CV in detail. Here are some useful tips to create an impressive CV based on my personal experience.
Choosing the Right Typesetting Software
Popular typesetting tools students use are Microsoft Word and LaTeX. I have used both. I, including many of my colleagues and professors, highly recommend using LaTeX over Microsoft Word because of the appearance of the final document. Overleaf is an easy-to-use online LaTeX editor that is widely used. It also has good templates for academic CVs.
This LaTeX template by Trey Hunner is the one I used to design my CV.
Some other Important Details
Proofread
Proofread! Proofread! Proofread! …… Yes, proofread as many times as possible as your CV reflects what type of person you are. If there are spelling/grammatical errors in your CV, it’s very likely that the admission panel might perceive you as someone who is careless.
Seek help
Having a second pair of eyes go through your document will be very useful. Ask your friends (or anyone) with good language skills to proofread your CV. When I was preparing for my Ph.D. application, even though I proofread my CV more than 10 times, my friends still managed to find a few mistakes.
Consistency
Make sure that you are consistent. Follow the same font styles (e.g. same formatting for headings and subheadings throughout). If you are listing elements in chronological order under one section, do the same for other sections as well. If you are including the dates on the right-hand side, keep it consistent everywhere.
Materials with Samples from Top Universities
Note that the following materials/samples are provided by the universities for Ph.D. graduates who are seeking jobs. However, I find most of the sections relevant to Ph.D. applicants as well. These materials contain multiple CV samples and additional information that might help you improve the structure of your CV. I found these samples very useful when I was preparing for my Ph.D. Application.
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign: https://grad.illinois.edu/sites/default/files/pdfs/cvsamples.pdf
Harvard: https://hwpi.harvard.edu/files/ocs/files/gsas-cvs-and-cover-letters.pdf
Here is a document from Yale about applying to graduate school: https://psychology.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/APPLYING%20TO%20GRADUATE%20SCHOOL%20IN%20PSYCHOLOGY.PDF
Sample CVs
- https://gunavaran.github.io/gunavaran/docs/Gunavaran_CV.pdf (Ph.D. student at North Carolina State University)
- https://darukeesan.github.io/index.html (Ph.D. student at University of Southern California)
- https://sachini.github.io/?fbclid=IwAR0pGsEb_O_rsp8Mq2zWq3TtHscF0MchH1SprZqJxSeylKEOtLDW-7cnvbo (Ph.D. student at Simon Fraser University)
- https://vindulamj.github.io/web/docs/cv.pdf (Ph.D. student at MIT)
- http://dilum.bandara.lk/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/CV-Dilum-Bandara.pdf (Research Scientist as Data61, CSIRO)
When I was applying for my Ph.D., it took a lot of time and effort to create my CV. There weren’t many good resources on the internet on how to prepare an academic CV. Hence, I decided to write this article where one can find all the required information in one place. If you have any comments or feel that I have missed any important details, let me know in the comments. I appreciate any valuable feedback.
Acknowledgment
I sincerely thank Darukeesan Pakiyarajah and Sachini Herath for their valuable feedback on this article.
