Should I attach my CV to the first email?

Yes, as a single PDF with a sensible filename such as surname-cv-2026.pdf. One attachment is expected and helpful. More than one, or a large file, makes the message look like a mass mailing and can push it into a spam filter.

Should I ask about funding in the first email?

Yes, in one short sentence. Asking whether a position is funded or whether you would be applying to a named scheme is a normal, professional question, and the answer determines whether the exchange is worth continuing for either of you. Ask about the mechanism and the deadline rather than about the amount.

Is it acceptable to send the same email to several supervisors?

The structure can be reused; the content cannot. The paragraph referring to a specific paper and comparing it with your own work has to be rewritten for each person, because that paragraph is the entire reason the email works. Never write to two people in the same group at once, and never put multiple recipients on one message.

What if I have no research experience at all?

Use the second variant and be specific about what you do have: a project, a technical skill, an analysis, work at scale, a course with a substantial component. Name the gap in one sentence, say what you are doing to close it, and ask whether that is a credible route. Applicants who name the gap and address it read as more prepared than those who leave the reader to notice it.

Does the supervisor finder write these emails or send them?

No. It suggests researchers whose published work is close to the document you upload, with a short reason for each name. It does not display email addresses, does not draft messages and never contacts anyone. Writing and sending the email is entirely your step, which is why these templates exist.

First Email to a PhD Supervisor

Three complete variants for the three situations applicants are actually in, each annotated with what makes it work, and a list of the lines that get an email deleted.

The first email to a prospective supervisor has one job: make one specific person believe that you read their work and that a twenty minute call is worth their time. It is not an application, it does not need your life story, and it should not contain a full proposal. The three variants below cover the three situations applicants write from. Choose the one that matches, replace everything in brackets, and keep the length. The route each one belongs to is explained in how to find a PhD supervisor, and if you do not yet have names, our supervisor finder reads a proposal and shortlists researchers publishing on the same topic, with the overlap stated for each one.

Variant 1: you have a master's and a clear topic

The standard case: you are finishing or have finished a master's, you have done research of your own, and you want to work on something adjacent to what this group does. The strength of this email is the specific comparison between their result and yours, which no other applicant can copy.

First email, with a master's

Subject: PhD enquiry, [topic] for [year] start

Dear Dr [Surname],

I am completing an MSc in [field] at [university], and I am applying for PhD positions starting in [month, year].

Your [year] paper on [specific finding] is close to what I would like to work on. For my thesis I ran [short description of your own work] and found [specific result], which did not match [the specific expectation from their paper]. Understanding why is the question I would like to build a doctorate around.

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 for [year]? I would also be grateful to know whether this would be a funded position or an application to [named scholarship scheme].

Thank you for your time,
[Full name]
[Institutional email] | [ORCID or personal page]

Put the topic and the start year in the subject line. It is the only part of your email guaranteed to be read, and it lets the recipient triage without opening anything.

Reference one named paper and say something concrete about it. A sentence comparing their result to yours cannot be produced by a keyword search, which is exactly why it works.

Ask the funding question in the first email rather than the fourth. It is a normal question, it saves both sides weeks, and how it is answered tells you a great deal.

Ask for a call, not for a position. A twenty minute request is easy to accept, and a request for a place is a decision most supervisors cannot make in an inbox.

Attach the CV, and nothing else. A full proposal in a first email goes unread, and a large attachment makes the message look like a mass mailing.

Keep it under 200 words in the body. Every additional paragraph lowers the probability that any of it is read.

Variant 2: no master's, or you are changing field

The harder case, and the one most badly written. You are moving from another discipline, coming back after time in industry, or applying from a bachelor's in a system that allows it. Do not hide the gap or apologise for it. Name it, then show what you have done to close it.

First email, changing field

Subject: PhD enquiry from [current field], moving into [target field]

Dear Prof. [Surname],

I trained in [current field] at [university] and have spent [duration] working as [role], where I [one concrete thing you built, ran or analysed]. I am now applying for PhD positions in [target field] for [year], and I am writing because your work is the closest to why I want to move.

Your [year] paper on [specific topic] uses [method or approach]. That is the part I can already contribute to: [one paragraph on the transferable skill, with evidence, for example a system you built, an analysis you ran, or a dataset you handled at scale].

I know I do not have [the standard prerequisite: a master's in the field, a specific course, a publication]. To close that gap I have [concrete steps taken: named courses, a self-directed project, a preprint, a collaboration]. I would welcome your view on whether that is enough to be a credible applicant to [programme or route].

Would you be open to a short call? My CV is attached.

Thank you,
[Full name]
[Institutional or personal email]

Lead with what you have done, not with what you lack. The first line should contain a concrete achievement, not an apology.; Name the gap explicitly in one sentence. Supervisors spot it anyway, and naming it converts a doubt into a question you have already thought about.
Show evidence that the gap is closing: a named course, a public project, a preprint, a technical skill with something to point at. Intentions are not evidence.; Ask a question only they can answer, such as whether your background is a credible route into their programme. It is a genuine question and it is easier to reply to than a request.; Translate your experience into their vocabulary. A pipeline you built in industry is a methods contribution if you describe it as one, and invisible if you describe it as a job title.; Do not overclaim. Anything you cannot demonstrate on a call will unravel there, and the call is where the actual decision happens.

Variant 3: answering an advertised funded position

The easiest of the three and the one people over-complicate. The project, the funding and the timeline already exist, so nobody wants your own proposal. What they want to know is whether you can do this project and whether you understood it.

Reply to an advertised position

Subject: [Advert reference number], PhD position in [project title]

Dear Dr [Surname],

I am writing about the funded PhD position on [project title], advertised on [source, with the reference number if there is one].

Two parts of the project match what I have already done. [Requirement one from the advert]: I [specific experience, one sentence with a result or a scale]. [Requirement two]: I [specific experience]. The part I have not done is [named requirement], and my closest experience is [the adjacent thing you have done].

I have read your [year] paper on [topic], which I take to be the starting point for this project, and I would be interested to know whether the work extends toward [a specific, sensible direction].

Before I submit the full application by [deadline from the advert], could I ask two questions: [question about the project scope, the funding duration, or the team]. My CV is attached.

Thank you,
[Full name]
[Institutional email]

Quote the advert reference in the subject line. Groups often run several vacancies at once and the reference removes any ambiguity.

Answer the advert's requirements one by one in the order it lists them. This is the single highest-value thing you can do, and almost nobody does it.

Say what you cannot do yet, in one line, and name the nearest thing you can. Honesty here is a strength, because the shortlist is drawn up by someone who knows how rare a perfect match is.

Show you understood the science, not just the advert, with one sentence about the paper the project builds on.

Ask a maximum of two questions, and make them ones the advert does not answer. Asking what is already in the text is the fastest way to be dropped.

Reference the formal deadline and confirm you will apply through the official route. The email is a supplement to the application, never a replacement for it.

What never to write

Every item below appears in real applicant emails, repeatedly, and every one of them costs replies. They fail for the same reason: they consume the reader's attention without giving them anything to decide on.

"Dear Sir/Madam" or "Dear Professor" with no name. It reads as a circular before the first sentence.
Anything visibly generic: "your research interests align perfectly with mine" with no named paper. The absence of a specific reference is the tell.; Multiple recipients in the To or Cc field, or two people from the same group written to on the same day. It is discovered immediately.; A full research proposal, a thesis chapter or a dataset attached to a first email. The volume itself is the refusal.; "I am passionate about" as the second sentence, and paragraphs about your childhood interest in the field. Nobody is deciding on enthusiasm.; Asking for a scholarship, a salary figure or a visa opinion in the opening lines, before there is any reason for the recipient to invest in you.; Claiming funding, results or a publication that does not exist yet. A call is a bad place to discover you overstated something in writing.; Flattery about their reputation or the university ranking. It carries no information and it reads as filler.; A follow-up sent after three days. Ten to fourteen days is the convention, and the wording is in the follow-up templates.

Frequently asked questions

Under 200 words in the body, with a CV attached and nothing else. The purpose is to earn a twenty minute call, not to make the case for admission. Anything longer competes for attention with the several hundred other emails in that inbox this week, and the second page is rarely reached.