Cold emailing in academia
How to connect and create opportunities
Oh, I didn’t realise I could just reach out! How should I go about it?
Some version of this is probably one of the most common reactions I get when suggesting cold emailing (or LinkedIn messaging) to mentees who are applying for postgraduate degrees or research assistant jobs.
Side note: If you are applying to graduate or medical school or if you are interested in becoming a mentor yourself, please consider Project SHORT, an amazing organisation committed to shrinking the socioeconomic gap in graduate and medical school.
Back to cold emailing.
Unfortunately, many opportunities in academia aren’t openly advertised — and some of the ones which are, may not turn out to be just as glamorous as you hoped or were promised they’d be.
And so, reaching out to someone who can tell you a little more about the experience you are looking for can be a really valuable step towards developing, evaluating and achieving your aims.
Sometimes that someone will be a person you don’t yet know, in which case your first introduction to them might be a ‘cold email’.
Through cold emailing professors and LinkedIn messaging current postgraduate students and PhD researchers, I gained crucial insights into MSc and PhD programmes, received important advice, built meaningful connections — and ultimately received a PhD offer.
… and that’s not to say cold emailing hasn’t also been some of the most nerve-wrecking and awkward networking I’ve ever done.
To make the process a bit more transparent and easier, I’ll be sharing a few tips and thoughts on
- figuring out whether and whom to contact
- reaching out and introducing yourself and your goal or inquiry
- following up where appropriate
— as relevant to
- master’s degrees
- PhD positions
- research assistant jobs
We’ll start with master’s degrees.
Cold emailing and master’s degrees
A master’s degree can be a great way to develop skills and an advanced knowledge in your discipline. But it’s typically also a huge investment in terms of time, money, and other resources — so you want to be as sure as possible that your expectations will be met.
For some general tips on applying for master’s degrees, particularly as relevant to Psychology and similar disciplines, have a read here.
When I was applying for master’s in Neuropsychology and (Behavioural) Neuroscience, I considered programmes across several European countries. I was prepared to move and wanted to make sure that I was making the right decision. I ended up relocating to Ireland and haven’t looked back since.
To learn more about the universities and programmes I applied to, I reached out to current students and alumni on LinkedIn. I was also looking to find out more about the quality of life and various social aspects of studying and living in the cities I was considering for my master’s.
In my experience, people were very happy to share their experience honestly, which allowed me to learn things I wouldn’t have found out about just from studying the syllabus online. I have since been contacted by undergraduate students thinking about applying to my master’s, and I’ve loved being able to share my perspective and do my part in supporting people in their informed decision-making and application process.
When reaching out to people on LinkedIn, you have the option to send a 300-character-long note alongside with your invitation to connect. I would recommend making use of that opportunity so that the other person knows why you’d like to connect with them. This is important, especially if you don’t already know them.
Something along the lines of “Hi XXX, I hope you are well and don’t mind me reaching out! I would love to connect with you and other XXX students and graduates to find out a little more about the programme and student experience before applying myself. Best wishes, XXX” might work well — but of course you might choose to adapt this as relevant to your context.
In addition to reaching out to current and past students, some master’s with a heavy research component may suggest on their website to contact potential thesis supervisors prior to submitting your application. Others will advise against this. I would recommend following the guidelines made available through the respective course organisers and websites.
Best of luck with your master’s applications!
Moving on to cold emailing in the context of PhD positions.
Cold emailing and PhD positions
A PhD is an even bigger commitment than a master’s degree. Investing 3–6 years of your life in the pursuit of new knowledge is a huge and resource-intensive undertaking. Thus, I was very keen to make as informed a decision as possible.
My PhD position is funded by the Irish Research Council. I applied for this scholarship with the support and endorsement of my master’s thesis supervisors. As such, no cold emailing was needed for this process. However, applying for Irish Research Council funding is very competitive, and so I didn’t want to assume that I would be successful. I decided to explore alternatives and applied to another PhD position in Canada.
This PhD programme required me to list two potential prospective supervisors as part of my application, who would need to agree to take me on as a student for my application to be successful. As such, it was highly advisable to connect with two potential supervisors as part of the application process.
I sent a cold email with the subject line “Inquiry regarding supervision for doctoral research”.
My email followed the following format:
Dear Dr/Prof (ensure you are using the correct title) XXX,
Paragraph 1: I provided a brief background and introduction including my name, completed degrees, research interests and past supervisors
- I also mentioned that I attached an academic CV for further information — this is important as you want to keep your email as relevant and succinct as possible — for advice on academic CVs, please have a read here
Paragraph 2: I stated my interest in the specific PhD programme, research focus, and the possibility of working under their supervision
- in the context of my application, I emailed professors who had indicated their availability to supervise further PhD students — if no such list is available, it may be more appropriate to provide this information in the first paragraph to further contextualise the email
Paragraph 3: I provided more detail about the development of my research interests, and how I came across their work — I cited some of their relevant papers to show that I had critically engaged with their work and considered my potential contribution
I would value the opportunity to set up a meeting with you to discuss potential research projects. I’d also be interested in any other information or advice you can offer.
Sincerely,
XXX
It is important to keep in mind that professors tend to have busy schedules and lots of unread or unanswered emails, with lots of new emails coming in each week. When reaching out to potential prospective supervisors, I would consider it appropriate to follow up after around two weeks, if you haven’t heard back. I would also recommend cold emailing sooner rather than later so you have the time to follow up and schedule a call prior to submitting your application.
The extent to which you need to have developed a research plan or proposal with a potential prospective supervisor prior to submitting your application will really depend on the programme. It goes without saying, but the programme’s website will be your best friend in the application process.
In addition to contacting potential supervisors, I also reached out to their current PhD students. There’s lots of aspects to consider when making decisions around applying for and accepting a PhD position. I was keen to learn about the supervisory style of my potential supervisor, the work-life balance in the lab, the nature of collaboration amongst lab members, the quality of life and accommodation options for PhD researchers, funding opportunities and many other aspects — and I wanted to know about these from the perspective of current PhD researchers.
I thought it was a green flag that my potential prospective supervisor suggested that they could get me in touch with current students to learn more. But even if you aren’t offered that option, you typically can find contact information of current lab members on the lab website, or you could get in touch via LinkedIn or Twitter.
I had a great experience discussing research, PhD life, and future aspirations with potential prospective supervisors and their current PhD students. Connecting with these people made me really excited about the possibility of moving to Canada to pursue a fascinating PhD.
Before getting to the stage of applying for PhD positions, many of us are looking for additional research experience — either to find out if research is the right choice, or to boost the CV with additional skills.
Unfortunately, research assistant jobs, and in particular remote positions, can be hard to come by (although you should definitely keep an eye out on the usual job advertisement platforms), and so many turn to cold emailing to create and discover opportunities.
Cold emailing and research assistant jobs
When it comes to cold emailing in the context of research assistant jobs, I typically recommend starting by compiling a list of labs you’d ideally like to be a part of.
In the best case scenario, the lab of interest may be advertising an open research assistant position on their website, in which case the application process should be relatively straightforward.
Sometimes labs don’t have any open positions advertised on their website, but they clearly outline a process to get in touch and inquire about opportunities to join the lab. If so, please follow the procedure as outlined — this might involve filling out a contact form or getting in touch with the dedicated lab member.
If neither an open position nor a “Get in touch here to join the lab” procedure is advertised, you might consider emailing the lab manager or Principal Investigator (PI), depending on the information available on the lab website.
Your cold email could follow a similar format as the one described above.
When drafting your email
- demonstrate your interest in and knowledge of the lab’s research
- highlight why you’d like to join the lab — what are your aspirations and expectations?
- outline the skills you are bringing to the lab — what is your contribution and how will the lab benefit by hiring you as a research assistant?
- be transparent about whether you are looking for a voluntary or paid position — unfortunately, there is a lot of unpaid labour in academia and to avoid disappointment and confusion, it may help to be clear about your expectations around compensation and pay
Again, I would consider it appropriate to follow up after around two weeks if you haven’t heard back. Cold emailing for the purpose of finding paid research assistant jobs can be a long (and sometimes draining) process — I wish you the best of luck!
What have I missed?
There’s probably many, many other contexts in which you might consider cold emailing in academia. For example, you could be looking for a new collaborator whose work you have admired from a distance so far.
I’ve focussed here on cold emailing as relevant to early career researchers. But — as always — please feel free to comment and share your own experience and tips.
Summary
Cold emailing has been an overwhelmingly positive experience for me. I’ve built some meaningful connections and received really insightful advice through reaching out to strangers.
Being clear about your intentions, and effective in your communication will be important in making positive first impressions. Let the other person know why you are reaching out, what you are hoping to learn, and a bit about who you are.
