Academic CV for a PhD application

An academic CV is not a job CV. Supervisors and admissions committees want to see your research potential: what you studied, what you found, what you published and who can vouch for you.

Order of sections

1. Education — with thesis title, supervisor and grade
2. Research interests — a few short phrases
3. Publications and conference talks
4. Research and teaching experience
5. Awards, scholarships and grants
6. Skills — methods, instruments, software, languages
7. References — usually two or three academics

Publications

List them in a consistent citation style, newest first, and include the DOI. In AdmitsFair you can paste a DOI and the details fill in automatically. Mark preprints and papers under review honestly.

English test scores

Put IELTS, TOEFL or PTE scores near the top — many programmes check them before anything else.

Length

Academic CVs can run to two or three pages. That is normal. Our Scholar template is designed to break pages cleanly and numbers your publications.