PhD Supervisor Finder
Before you can email a prospective supervisor, you need a list worth emailing. Upload your proposal or a paper close to it and get researchers active on your topic, each with a short reason.
Find researchers active on your PhD topic
Upload your research proposal, or a paper close to what you want to work on. We read what it is about, then shortlist researchers publishing on the same topic, with a short reason for each. PDF or Word.
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Why the supervisor matters more than the ranking
A PhD supervisor finder helps you build the shortlist of researchers you might apply to work with. In most systems the supervisor matters more than the institution: they set the project, they hold the funding, they write the references you will need for years, and they are the person you will speak to every week. The ranking of the university is what everyone asks about first, and it is rarely the thing that decides whether the four years go well.
The hard part is not finding names, it is deciding which ones to write to. Applications come in three shapes, and they change what you do. Some programmes admit you to a cohort and let you pick a supervisor a year later, in which case the department matters most. Some advertise a specific funded project, in which case you apply to the project. And some expect you to arrive with your own idea and a supervisor who has already agreed to take you, which is the case where a cold email is not optional but the whole first step.
What to check before you apply
Publishing now, not historically
A group size that suits you
Money in the project
Students who finish
First-author positions for students
People who will talk to you
How to write the first email to a PI
Keep it under 200 words and make it obviously specific to one person. Say who you are, what you want to work on, why this researcher and not another, and what you are asking for. Reference one of their papers and say something concrete about it. Attach a CV, ask for a short call rather than for a position, and send one polite follow-up after two weeks if nothing comes back.
Subject: PhD enquiry, membrane fouling in crossflow filtration Dear Dr Okonkwo, I am finishing an MSc in Chemical Engineering at the University of Nairobi and I am applying for PhD positions starting in 2027. Your 2025 paper on flux decline in crossflow modules is close to what I want to work on. I ran a smaller version of that experiment for my thesis and got a different decline profile at low crossflow velocity, which I could not explain. Extending that comparison would be the project I would like to propose. My CV is attached. Would you have 20 minutes in the next few weeks for a call, or could you tell me whether your group expects to take a student next year? Thank you for your time, Amina Yusuf
How the shortlist is built
The shortlist is built from your own document rather than from a topic you type, so every name arrives with the overlap that put it there. What it cannot tell you is who has a place, a stipend or the time, which is the part you have to verify yourself.
Upload your proposal or a close paper
A research proposal, a thesis chapter or a paper on the topic you want to pursue. No account and no payment. A free usage limit is tied to your email address.
We extract the topic and methods
The match runs on what the document actually says, not on a subject label you pick from a list.
We match against OpenAlex
Candidates come from OpenAlex, an open catalogue of more than 300 million scholarly works. Only public bibliographic records are used.
You get a shortlist with reasoning
Each name carries its affiliation and a short note on the overlap with your topic. The ranking is relevance to your document, not seniority.
You check the group before you write
Look up the group page, the department's admission route and recent students. We never contact anyone, and the list says nothing about who has a place or funding.
PhD supervisor questions
You mostly cannot know from the outside, so you check three things in order. The group page, which often says explicitly whether positions are open. The department's admissions page, which says whether students apply to a project, to a supervisor or to a programme. And recent papers, because a group that has published with three new first authors in two years is clearly recruiting. If none of that answers it, a short email asking directly is normal and expected.