PhD CV Example & Writing Guide for PhD Application

Whether fuelled by a burning passion for your subject, a quest for answers, or the professional necessity for this specific qualification—it all starts with a well-written PhD CV. 

The competition is high, and places are scarce. Therefore, invest the time and effort to ensure that your PhD application reflects your personal strengths, achievements, and ambitions.

With our PhD CV example and writing tips, you will be one step closer to putting your own brick towards the compendium of human knowledge and understanding. In this guide, you’ll learn everything you need to write a PhD application CV that captures attention.

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PhD application CV example

That’s a solid PhD CV example. Soon, you'll see how to compose your own CV, but first, let me explain what is a PhD CV and how it is different from other CVs.

What is a PhD CV?

A PhD CV is an extensive summary of academic and professional achievements, skills, and qualifications. It can be longer than a traditional resume and is often used by those pursuing academic or research roles, including doctoral program applicants, postdocs, and university faculty candidates.

What sets a PhD CV apart from other CVs?

A PhD CV differs from a traditional CV by highlighting academic achievements, research experience, publications, and area-specific skills relevant to doctoral studies or academic positions. When writing a PhD CV, you must describe your research projects, publications, teaching experience, and academic honours, tailored specifically to academic or research roles. The focus on academic and research accomplishments distinguishes a PhD CV from traditional CVs, which prioritize professional experience and relevant skills.

Now, here’s how to write a PhD CV that the hiring committee will love:

1. Discuss your research interests at the top of your PhD CV

Putting your research interests at the top of your PhD CV will be your way of saying, “Hey, this is what I'm passionate about!”. In the initial section of your PhD application CV, highlight your research interests, showcase your most impactful past research, and describe your current focus.

While outlining your future research direction, demonstrate passion and a comprehensive understanding of your field. Avoid ambiguous, vague, and unnecessary statements. Instead, limit the research interests section to 8 lines maximum.

There's likely a cover letter or a personal statement accompanying your application, so no need to go into too much detail. Spark interest and demonstrate your value without revealing everything upfront. This brief overview should encourage the reader to explore further and appreciate the depth of your contributions.

PhD CV example—research interests / personal statement 

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2. Dedicate space to crucial education

Just like with your research interests, putting your work experience front and center gives others a quick glimpse into what you've been up to and what you bring to the table.

Using reverse chronological order, showcase your academic journey, including degree titles, graduation dates, institution names, and department affiliations. Additionally, provide thesis titles and supervisors' names.

Feel free to include bullet points to emphasize standout accomplishments. Save space by omitting secondary education unless specifically requested, prioritizing highly relevant information.

CV for PhD application—education section

3. List publications on your PhD CV

In the next section of your PhD CV, consider listing the most prominent publications if you have any. You might also want to prioritize sections like Awards or whatever the institution suggests.

Wherever you place your Publications section, ensure you provide full details of your publications in the citation style preferred by the institution. If you have a variety of different types of publications, you could group them into sections such as journal articles, books, edited volumes, conference papers, government publications, etc.

Patents

If you have obtained some patents, group them together under your publications. List the title, patent number, inventors, and the date the patent was awarded.

PhD CV examples—publications

4. List work experience on a PhD CV

Ever considered how your professional journey intertwines with your academic aspirations? The work experience section of your PhD CV is where you reflect on your professional history, melding real-world insights and scholarly endeavours. 

Using the reverse-chronological format as always, you can choose one of the two styles to present your professional experience best:

Whichever way you decide, it will be easier for the reader to digest your PhD CV thematically, so split up your experience between these key PhD CV components:

Research experience

Any research assistant jobs, fellowships, postdoctoral appointments, etc., find their place just here. This is also the best spot to expand on your ‘Research Interests’ section if you feel this will help your application.

Teaching experience

List the subjects, levels, and sizes of all classes, tutorials, seminars, and lectures you have given. If there isn’t a lot, you can include mentoring or non-PhD teaching jobs. 

Admin experience

List any conferences/seminars/lectures/courses you have organised, and the different bodies and organisations you sat on to make yourself stand out as the most complete candidate.

CV for PhD application—work experience

5. Include highly regarded memberships

Whether you're a member of professional organizations, academic societies, or other groups relevant to your field, demonstrating your memberships communicates that you're plugged into a network of like-minded individuals. 

Make a list of all your professional memberships, with dates and roles if they’re significant. If you’re performing an important role within those organisations, drop a few bullet points to explain that.

Example PhD CV—memberships

6. Mention conferences and presentations

Have you organised or chaired any sessions? Describe such an experience. Did you produce any documents for conferences? Cite them in the same way you cite your publications. Don’t list everything you’ve ever been to, only the ones you actively participated in.

PhD CV examples—conferences

7. List key references

References are opinions of those who have seen your potential first-hand and can attest to your skills, character, and accomplishments. When listing references on your CV, check your institution’s info on how many PhD referees to provide and whether they need to fulfil any criteria. List name, position, relation to you, institution address, and contact details.

It helps if they are somewhat known in your field of study, not to mention it would greatly pay off if you had a positive relationship with them.

Sample PhD CV—references

8. Write a captivating PhD cover letter to accompany your PhD CV

Let’s be straight to the point: thoroughly study the supporting documents list. You may encounter specialized essays, which you should handle on your own. PhD cover letters, if required, tend to be much longer than the commercial ones, so check carefully.

Still, you can apply our principles of the ‘How to Start a Cover Letter’ and ‘How to End a Cover Letter’ guides. Hooking them in and then slowly revealing the whole picture that just reassures them their first instinct was right is crucial.

9. Keep this in mind when writing an academic CV for PhD applications

You would be surprised how many PhD CVs reach schools with errors and mistakes. These documents can be long and tedious and, therefore hard to proofread. Follow our CV format guidelines to avoid such inaccuracies:

• Study the list of expected supporting documents and their specifications thoroughly.
• If you’re unsure, find someone who has done the course! Forums such as The Student Room can be helpful.
• For a neat CV layout, make clear headings for each CV section to help the reader navigate and find exactly what they need.
• Choose a legible, conservative CV font, like Calibri or Arial. Don’t go smaller than 10.
• Use a simple CV template without fancy graphics to enhance readability. You might consider LaTeX CV templates if you're familiar with the tool.
• Unless asked otherwise, save your PhD CV as a PDF to protect the formatting.

And if you still have doubts and questions regarding your first PhD CV, read an extensive guide about PhD applications with a helpful checklist at the end. Best of luck!

You don’t have to be a CV writing expert. In the LiveCareer CV builder you’ll find ready-made content for every industry and position, which you can then add with a single click.

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Does that answer all your questions on how to write a PhD CV? Did you find our PhD CV examples helpful? If you’ve got any questions, please use the comments section below. I’m looking forward to hearing from you.

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