how to ask for master thesis supervision

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Email contact with your dissertation supervisor

Published on October 13, 2015 by Sarah Vinz . Revised on August 24, 2018.

How to best approach your dissertation supervisor via email can vary by supervisor. For example, some supervisors are fine with being addressed by their first name, while others would prefer that you only use their title and surname.

Table of contents

The style and tone of your message, addressing your supervisor, keep it short and sweet, no response from your supervisor, formal or informal, receive feedback on language, structure, and formatting.

Professional editors proofread and edit your paper by focusing on:

• Academic style
• Vague sentences
• Style consistency

See an example

Checklist: Formal email contact

Use an appropriate salutation. Example:  Dear Dr. X,

Explain the purpose of your email. Example: I am writing in follow-up to our meeting on Monday.

Be brief and clear about exactly what you want to say or ask. Example:  I have made the changes that we agreed on. Could you please check and confirm them?

Express your appreciation in advance. Example:  Thanks in advance for your help.

Use an appropriate closing. Example: Sincerely,

Your email looks appropriately formal.

In your first email contact with your dissertation supervisor, it is wise to address him or her quite formally (such as “Dear Dr. X” or “Dear Prof. Y”). You do not know what your supervisor will be comfortable with, so it is best to play it safe.

If your initial contact is too informal, your supervisor may get the wrong impression and start to question your professionalism and attitude.

If your supervisor’s response to your email closes with only his or her first name (such as “Sincerely, Ken”), you can assume that it is okay to address him or her by first name in your next message. To be extra safe, you can also wait until you have received a few more messages where he or she has closed in this way.

Examples of salutations and closings

Email signature

It is generally not necessary to use an email signature when corresponding with your supervisor. However, if your program requires that you do so or if it is your personal preference, you can use the following model:

• Name (first and surname)
• Educational institution
• Phone number
• Email address

Flawless writing

What is important in all cases is that your message is error-free. Make sure you use proper English (or whichever language is appropriate) and that you do not make any grammatical or spelling errors. Before you send a message to your supervisor, you are strongly advised to re-read the text carefully or even to have someone else read it, too.

A neat and accurate message shows your supervisor that you are both professional and serious about your project.

Dissertation supervisors are often busy people who are involved in many things at the same time. It is therefore important to be as clear and specific as possible in your messages, so they can quickly see what your problem is and then react.

Tips for writing clear and maintaining smooth contact

• Make sure you stick to only things that are relevant to your dissertation. For example, do not share stories from your personal life with your supervisor (unless they are important with regard to your results).
• Formulate your questions as clearly and concisely as possible , so that your supervisor understands what you want and can respond quickly.
• Do not ask long or complicated questions in an email; saving these queries for times when you have more personal contact will make things easier for both of you. You will spare your supervisor the time that he or she would need to reply in writing. On your side, asking such questions face-to-face allows you to get more comprehensive answers and to ask follow-up questions if you do not understand something.
• Give your supervisor enough time to respond. For example, don’t send questions the night before you have to submit something; do it a few days in advance instead.
• Always respond as quickly as possible to messages from your supervisor (when relevant). This includes confirming any appointments your supervisor proposes, answering all of his or her questions, indicating things you don’t understand and providing any information that he or she requests.
• The responsibility for writing the dissertation is yours. Instead of waiting for your supervisor to make contact, take the initiative to make an appointment. This is also better for your supervisor, because it shows him or her that you are serious about your project.

Confirming appointments via email

If you arrange something about an appointment with your supervisor verbally, it is smart to still confirm it via email. You then have something in writing to fall back on if any issues arise.

Similarly, it is also a good idea to summarize what you have agreed on, such as deadlines and matters relating to substantive issues. Ask your supervisor to check and confirm your notes, so that you are both 100% clear on where you stand.

See some sample emails

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Supervisors will generally always respond to your messages, but some are faster than others. If you do not get a reply, first think about whether there could be an obvious reason for the delay, such as that it is already late in the evening, it’s the weekend, or it’s a holiday.

Also note that not all supervisors are available five days a week. You can often find out what days your supervisor is available through your school. Before taking any action, consider how fast you need an answer. You don’t want to appear too impatient to your supervisor.

If you really cannot wait any longer or you haven’t heard anything from your supervisor in several days, send a polite reminder email. You can either briefly restate your question or refer to your previous message.

If you still do not get a response, try contacting your program or university. A department secretary can often connect you with your supervisor.

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Sarah's academic background includes a Master of Arts in English, a Master of International Affairs degree, and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. She loves the challenge of finding the perfect formulation or wording and derives much satisfaction from helping students take their academic writing up a notch.

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Eight tips to effectively supervise students during their Master's thesis

Jul 30, 2021 PhD

I am a fan of knowledge transfer between peers, teaching what I know to others and learning back from them. At University I frequently helped my fellow course mates with the material, so I was very interested in formally mentoring students when I started my PhD. Luckily my supervisor, who is really talented at this, agreed to let me help him with supervising some Master’s theses. In this article, also published as a Nature Career Column , I present eight lessons that I learned by watching him at work and trying on my own.

I supervised three Master’s students in the past year. One of them was quite good and independent, did not need a lot of guidance and could take care of most things on his own, while the other two required a fair amount of help from us, one of them even coming close to not graduating successfully. Dealing with the difficult situations is when I learned the most important lessons, but regardless of the ability of the students a common thread soon appeared.

But first, here’s a brief digression on how that happened. While I was writing a draft for this blog, I noticed an interesting article on Nature’s newsletter. While I was reading it, I felt its style was quite similar to what I usually aim for in this blog: use headlines to highlight the important points, and elaborate on those with a few paragraphs. I then noticed the author of that column was a PhD student, and I thought: “how comes she has an article there? Why can she do that? Can I do that?”. I quickly found how to do it , finished the draft and sent it to them, and, after eight rounds of review in the course of two months, the article was finally up! The editor was very responsive and we could iterate quickly on the manuscript, and the quality of the writing is so much better than what I had originally sent in. On the other hand, I sometimes felt the message was being warped a bit too much. After the editing process was finished I had to agree to an Embargo Period of six months during which Nature had the exclusive right of publishing the final version on their website. As those six months are now over, I am finally allowed to publish the final version here, too. Enjoy!

This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in Nature Career Column . The final authenticated version is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-02028-1 .

The lessons I learnt supervising master’s students for the first time

PhD student Emilio Dorigatti supported three junior colleagues during their degrees.

I started my PhD wanting to improve not only my scientific abilities, but also ‘soft skills’ such as communication, mentoring and project management. To this end, I joined as many social academic activities as I could find, including journal clubs, seminars, teaching assistance, hackathons, presentations and collaborations.

I am a bioinformatics PhD student at the Munich School for Data Science in Germany, jointly supervised by Bernd Bischl at the Ludwig Maximilian University Munich and Benjamin Schubert at the Helmholtz Centre Munich, the German Research Center for Environmental Health. When I went to them asking to gain some experience in communication and mentoring soft skills, they suggested that I co-supervise three of Benjamin’s master’s students.

At first, I felt out of my depth, so I simply sat in on their meetings and listened. After a few months, I began offering technical advice on programming. I then started proposing new analyses and contributions. Eventually I became comfortable enough to propose a new master’s project based on part of my PhD research; Benjamin and I are now interviewing candidates.

I gained a great deal from this experience and I am grateful to both of my supervisors for supporting me, as well as to the students for staying motivated, determined and friendly throughout. Here are some of the things I learnt about how to ensure smooth collaboration and a happy outcome for all of us.

Draft a project plan

With Benjamin and Bernd, I put together a project plan for each of the master’s students. Drafting a two-page plan that ended up resembling an extended abstract for a conference forced us to consider each project in detail and helped to ensure that it was feasible for a student to carry out in their last semester of study.

If you’re a PhD student supervising others, sit down with your own supervisor and agree on your respective responsibilities as part of the project plan. At first, you might want your supervisor to follow you closely to help keep the project on the right path, but as you gain more experience and trust, you might request more autonomy and independence.

Use the project plan to advertise the position and find a suitable student: share it online on the group’s website or on Twitter, as well as on the job board at your department. Advertise it to your students if you are teaching a related topic, and sit back and wait for applicants.

We structured the plans to include a general introduction to the research subject as well as a few key publications. We described the gap in the literature that the project aimed to close, with the proposed methodology and a breakdown of four or five tasks to be achieved during the project. My supervisors and I also agreed on and included specific qualifications that candidates should have, and formalities such as contact information, starting dates and whether a publication was expected at the end.

Benjamin and I decided to propose publishable projects, sometimes as part of a larger paper. We always list the student as one of the authors.

Meet your student regularly

I found that I met with most students for less than an hour per week, but some might require more attention. Most of the time, Benjamin joined the meeting, too. We started with the students summarizing what they had done the previous week and any issues they had encountered. We then had a discussion and brainstorming session, and agreed on possible next steps. I learnt that I do not need to solve all the student’s problems (it is their thesis, after all). Instead, Benjamin and I tried to focus on suggesting a couple of things they could try out. At the end of the meeting, we made sure it was clear what was expected for the next week.

We used the first few weeks to get the students up to speed with the topic, encouraging them to read publications listed in the plan, and a few others, to familiarize themselves with the specific methods that they would be working with. We also addressed administrative matters such as making sure that the students had accounts to access computational resources: networks, e-mail, Wi-Fi, private GitHub repositories and so on.

Encourage regular writing

Good writing takes time, especially for students who are not used to it, or who are writing in a foreign language. It is important to encourage them to write regularly, and to keep detailed notes of what should be included in the manuscript, to avoid missing key details later on. We tried to remind our students frequently how the manuscript should be structured, what chapters should be included, how long each should be, what writing style was expected, what template to use, and other specifics. We used our meetings to provide continuous feedback on the manuscript.

The first two to four weeks of the project are a good time to start writing the first chapters, including an introduction to the topic and the background knowledge. We suggested allocating the last three or four weeks to writing the remaining chapters — results and conclusions — ensuring that the manuscript forms a coherent whole, and preparing and rehearsing the presentation for the oral examination.

Probe for correct understanding

In our weekly meetings, or at other times when I was teaching, I quickly realized that asking ‘did you understand?’ or ‘is that OK?’ every five minutes is not enough. It can even be counterproductive, scaring away less-assertive students.

I learnt to relax a little and take a different approach: when I explained something, I encouraged the students to explain it back in their own words, providing detailed breakdowns of a certain task, anticipating possible problems, and so on.

Ultimately, this came down to probing for understanding of the science, rather than delivering a lecture or grilling an interviewee. Sometimes this approach helps when a student thinks they fully understand something but actually don’t. For example, one of our students was less experienced in programming than others, so for more difficult tasks, we broke the problem down and wrote a sketch of the computer code that they would fill in on their own during the week.

Adapt supervision to the student

Each student requires a different type of supervision, and we tried to adapt our styles to accommodate that. That could mean using Trello project-management boards or a shared Google Doc to record tasks; defining tasks in detail and walking through them carefully; or taking extra time to explain and to fill knowledge gaps. I tried to be supportive by reminding students that they could always send an e-mail if they were stuck on a problem for too long. One of the students found it very helpful to text brief updates outside of scheduled meetings, as a way to hold themselves accountable.

Sometimes, if we felt a student needed to be challenged, we proposed new tasks that were not in the original plan or encouraged them to follow their interest, be it diving into the literature or coming up with further experiments and research questions.

One student conducted a literature review and summarized the pros and cons of the state-of-the-art technology for a follow-up idea we had. That saved some time when we picked up the project after the student left; they learnt lots of interesting things; and the discussion section of the manuscript was much more interesting as a result.

When things go badly, make another plan

Not all projects can be successful, despite your (and your student’s) best efforts. So, as part of each project, my supervisors and I prepared a plan B (and C), working out which tasks were essential and which were just a nice addition. This included a simpler research question that required less work than the original. The initial plan for one of our projects was to compare a newly proposed method with the usual way of doing things, but the new method turned out to be much more difficult than anticipated, so we decided not to do the comparison, and just showed how the new method performed.

Halfway through the project is a good time to evaluate how likely it is that the thesis will be handed in on time and as originally planned. The top priority is to help the student graduate. That might entail either forgoing some of the tasks planned at the beginning, or obtaining an extension of a few months if possible.

Have a final feedback round

After the oral examinations, Benjamin and I met to decide the students’ final grades on the basis of the university’s rubric. We then met the students one last time to tell them our decision, going through each item in the rubric and explaining the motivation for the score we had given. We tried to recall relevant events from the past months to make each student feel the grading was fair.

We also remembered to ask the student for feedback on our supervision and to suggest things they thought we could do better.

Lastly, I encouraged those students to apply for open positions in our lab, and offered to write recommendation letters for them.

The Educationalist

Thesis Supervision 101

The educationalist. by alexandra mihai.

Welcome to a new issue of “The Educationalist”! You probably noticed quite a long gap since the last issue- as some of you may know, in the past two weeks I moved to the US to start my Fulbright Schuman Scholarship at Yale University. I am very excited to be working at the Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning and I’m looking forward to sharing with you what I learn and what inspires me here in the next six months. In the meantime, this week I want to address a topic that I myself had to plunge into this year: thesis supervision . Luckily, I benefitted a lot from the valuable advice of my colleague, Therese Grohnert and that is why I asked her to share her tips and resources here, which she kindly accepted. We hope you find them useful and we look forward to your comments, experiences and ideas. Happy reading and have a nice week!

If you are currently involved in a taught Master’s programme, then you are most likely a Master thesis supervisor, guiding students in completing an extended research project from planning to finished thesis or dissertation. When you think back to how you got started in this role, did you receive formal support for developing your dissertation skills, did you have access to best practices and advice outside of your own network? In fact, many thesis supervisors receive little to no guidance when getting started , having to rely on their own experiences as a student, or their colleagues’ experiences. This can create quite some uncertainty, when thesis supervision is a wonderful opportunity to work closely with students individually or in small groups, to get students excited about research, and to build their research and project management skills.

In my role as a faculty developer, I often get asked for advice on getting started as a beginning supervisor, on maintaining students’ motivation throughout the process, and on using your limited supervision time effectively. So, I went to work and collected best practices and advice for my colleagues. Let’s walk through the supervision process step by step, from preparing your first supervision to assessing a master’s thesis.

Step 0: Preparing

Before you are assigned your first thesis students, you can already take steps to set yourself and your student up for success:

Check the expectations of the programme regarding the timeline, the final thesis, and what you as a supervisor are expected to do, check the code of practice or contact your thesis coordinator for this information;

Set up ground rules : make explicit how you want to work together with your student, think of how and when you want to be contacted, when and how often you will provide the student with feedback, when you expect the student to speak up and ask for help, etc. More experienced colleagues can share what is common in the programme;

If you are new at your current institution, find out what the support network is like for students , including academic advising, workshops, library support etc. so you can direct the student when needed, and can share the load.

Depending on your programme, you may already formulate tentative topics and you might consider whether you will supervise students individually or in small groups; this will depend on the size of the programme and the autonomy given to students when it comes to choosing a topic.

Step 1: The First Meeting

Once you have the first meeting scheduled with your thesis student, use the following agenda points to prepare with motivation, safety, and effectiveness of the process in mind:

Make time to get to know each other , connect over common interests, background, or goals to build trust and a comfortable atmosphere; encourage the student to speak up when needed and to let you know how they are doing;

Ask your student about their learning goals (not their grade goals!): which skill would they like to learn through the thesis, what are their plans after graduation, and how can the thesis trajectory help them prepare?

Ask the student to share why they are interested in their topic , what they hope to find out and who would benefit from the insights of their thesis before helping them formulate two or three concrete steps to get started.

In this first meeting, be sure to discuss your ground rules and to ask the student how they like to collaborate so you can make specific agreements and manage expectations on all sides.

Step 2: Managing the Process

Throughout the supervision process, it is important that the student takes responsibility for their own their process, and that you support the student in managing the thesis process. My colleagues have shared the following tips for fostering student independence and project management skills :

Ask your student to send in a document or questions in time, to prepare an agenda, and to start each meeting with a short recap of their current project status;

Check in to reflect on the student’s skill development towards their learning goals, as well as any struggles that the student cannot overcome by themselves yet;

At the end of each meeting, ask your student to formulate specific next steps for their work an a clear guidance for when to contact you again for the next meeting (forgetful students can also be encouraged to send you an email with these steps in writing).

In case you are supervising many students, you can create a tracker with key milestones and room for notes for a quick overview, and you can pair up students with a similar topic, method or challenge so they can support each other and you can provide support for these students as a group.

Step 3: Providing Feedback

When and how you provide feedback to your student will depend on the programme guidelines as well as on what your fellow supervisors are offering to their students. In some programmes, students will receive feedback at least once on each chapter of their thesis, while in others, supervisors will focus on a complete draft only. In either case, there are some ways in which you can use your time and energy in an efficient and effective way:

Ask students to submit feedback questions along with their work: which sections did students struggle with, where are they unsure of their work, which element are they not yet happy with and why? This will allow you to focus on these issues first, adding 2-3 additional points when needed to challenge but not overwhelm the student and connect to their current level of learning;

Consider the level of feedback needed : when sections are messy and ineffective, avoid editing your student’s work, but offer to create an outline together before the student reorganises their own work; if paragraphs are not well-organised, edit one paragraph together and ask the student to apply your feedback to the remainder of the section;

Don’t forget to let the student know what they are already doing well and where to apply these good points in future sections – make these comments as specific as you can.

Finally, whether we are experienced supervisors or not, every student is different and may benefit from different ways of providing feedback. Ask you student what works for them and plan together how you will give and how they will process feedback . This is an essential learning skill they will benefit from regardless of their plans after graduation.

Step 4: Assessment

Let’s assume everything has gone well and your student is getting ready to submit their thesis. At some universities, students complete a defense (or viva) in which they discuss their thesis with the supervisor and maybe an independent reader. This part can be daunting for a beginning supervisor, but here are some tips to get started:

Check whether there are any rubrics or assessment criteria available for your programme, who is required to assess a thesis, where to send the final grade, and what happens if the student fails;

If possible, ask experienced colleagues to share a good, an average, and an insufficient thesis with you, along with their assessment and feedback for the student; these documents can help you benchmark your own grading;

Think how you will communicate your grade and feedback to the student , in writing or during a defense; keep the student’s learning goals in mind and make explicit how the student can continue their learning journey based on what they have achieved throughout the thesis trajectory.

If you are unsure, ask a colleague to provide a second opinion and their best practices for the defense/viva and/or providing written feedback. As with any skill, becoming a good thesis supervisor takes experience, reflection, and feedback . I am curious to hear your experiences and best practices, and am happy to discuss our faculty development activities on thesis supervision with anyone interested – looking forward to connecting with you!

Further resources

“Understanding the up, back, and forward-component in master's thesis supervision with adaptivity” , by Renske A.M. de Kleijn, Larike H. Bronkhorst, Paulien C. Meijer, Albert Pilot & Mieke Brekelmans- a qualitative study for framing and fostering goals in the supervision process;

The UM Library Thesis Bookshelf - helpful resources for supervisors and students on academic writing and literature reviews;

Tips and resources for supervising remotely - University of Edinburg’s best practices for remote supervision;

Master thesis supervision: resources on preparing, managing and assessing theses - resources from our own SBE Learning Academy, including videos for supervisors and resources that can be shared with students;

The LDO Troubleshooting Guide to Academic Writing - an interactive tool we use in our programme that helps students process feedback on the thesis or to deal with various writing struggles;

A Practical Guide to Projects and Dissertations - an online course developed by the Centre for Distance Education, University of London, that has both resources dedicated to students and an Instructor Tool Kit.

Dr. Therese Grohnert is an educational developer, educator, and assistant professor at Maastricht University’s School of Business and Economics in The Netherlands. She supports staff in effectively supervising master theses, managing group dynamics in a PBL context and designing courses with constructive alignment and student motivation in mind. She is also studying how professionals learn and develop in the workplace for better judgments and decision-making. Find her on Twitter: @grohnerttherese .

Ready for more?

How to Email a Professor for the Supervision in MS/PhD

Are you planning to study abroad and looking forward to writing an email to the professor but uncertain about the criteria? In this article, you will learn “How to Email a Professor for MS or PhD supervision” and you must know proper email is the basis for research supervision, scholarships/ research scholarships , and fundings. 

Your email should be outstanding, gives a nice impression, and assists you to be a well-qualified applicant. The applicant should be acknowledged regarding email patterns, keywords, and structure.

How to Email a Professor for the Supervision in MS/PhD?

How to address the professor.

Ignoring an email by a professor is quite normal as they have busy schedules, so be attentive while writing the subject line. In order to make sure that your email will not be ignored, try to include an information-based, strong, and attractive subject line. By the correct use of words in the subject line professor will be able to catch an idea of what your email is about. You can write like that, “Request for MS Supervision Spring 2020 or Spring 2021” or “Request for PhD Supervision” 

Introduction:

Body paragraph:.

In this paragraph, with the consideration of the professor’s research area, mention your work experience, skills, and previous research work. The applicant can get a brief overview of the professor’s research publications, previous, and current projects by visiting the lab’s official website. In order to be a good competitor, you must list all of your achievements and expertise to provide a clear vision about your passion in the professor’s research area. Avoid any jargon or slang words, and any kind of complexity.

Last Paragraph:

Closing statement:, proof reading:.

Make sure that you review your email before forwarding it to the professor, it will help you to convey your message in the nicest way.

Sample Email for requesting to the Professor for Supervision in MS/PhD

My name is (write your name) and I have completed (your degree title) from (Full university name) with (your CGPA, don’t mention CGPA if it’s low). Mention I got medals, certificates, and achievements if any.

I have attached my CV /other required documents and I would be glad to hearing from you soon.

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How to Write an Email to a Potential Supervisor (With examples)

• December 15, 2021
• GRADUATE ADMISSIONS

Writing to a potential supervisor can exponentially increase your chances of securing a position as a graduate student. However, you will be walking in a thin line between setting up a great first impression or a pretty bad one.

The good news is that leaving a great impression is much simpler than you would think; it simply comes down to how you structure your first email.

When I was applying for my graduate program, I sent 130 emails to different professors in different universities in both USA and Canada. For those 130 emails I sent, I got 53 replies, with nearly 40% conversion rate. From those 53 replies, 22 professors were interested in offering me a position in their lab and encouraged me to apply formally through the university’s graduate office.

In this blog post, you will find some helpful information that I figured out during my application process about writing an email to a potential supervisor. 

How appropriate would it be to write an email to a potential supervisor?

Reach out and write an email to a potential supervisor before applying is definitely one of those topics where you want to find out about the norms in your discipline. 

Reaching out to potential advisors ahead of time is fine, helpful but not necessarily required for most people. 

In some fields, it might be strange or unexpected or something that people don’t usually do, and in some other fields, it might almost feel like a requirement.

This might be different in different fields because, in some disciplines, advisor fit is much more important than others.  

Suppose you are in a discipline like humanities where you’re not working very closely with an advisor. In that case, it might be that students are accepted into the department generally, and that advisor fit doesn’t really matter.

In that case, you should still talk about specific faculty in your statement of purpose because that is a good reason why you’re applying to that program. 

It shows that you’ve done your research.

But you probably don’t need to do fact-finding on the capacity of individual faculty members before you submit your application.

But if you are in one of those disciplines where advisor fit can be essential for admission, writing an email to a potential supervisor is very important.

Overall, reaching out to potential advisors isn’t something you have to do, but it’s really more of a fact-finding mission.

It can be beneficial for you to get some helpful information.

Find out if they have the resources to recruit you.

Sometimes there’s one perfect potential advisor for you in a department, and that person cannot take on new advisees for some reason.

Maybe the funding capacity limit is already reached when you email the professor.

If that’s the case, they often are upfront about that and might even suggest other people that you should consider talking to or writing about in your application materials.

If you get one of these responses from a professor who says,” I’m unlikely to take on new PhD advisees”, that does not mean that you should not apply for that program.

Also, do not forget to follow up because sometimes the funding capacity can change at the last moment.

This is one of the advantages of writing an email to a potential supervisor because they might let you know if something like that happens.

But it’s good for you to know that you should look into other options as well. Even if you are highly interested in that particular program, putting all your eggs in one basket is not a good idea.

The other important thing that you could find out from reaching out to a prospective advisor is their current research direction.

For example, if you look at someone’s recent publications, think about when the professor did that research.

If a paper is published recently, this paper went through peer review. 

Roughly add the revision time and paper writing time.

They might have done that research two years ago.

Are they still doing that kind of research?

You can, of course, find out a fair amount of research work and their timelines by going to a faculty member’s website or by looking at current grant funding.

Especially, grand funding tells you what that person will be doing for the next few years.

People’s trajectories can change a lot. 

Have I ever made a mistake like this? I have. Big time! See the below email I received when I was writing to a professor!

So, you want to make sure you have an idea of what they’re doing now because you could mention them in your statement of purpose letter .

When should you reach out to a potential supervisor?

Typically graduate applications are due late fall / early winter.

You should check and make sure that you have a sense of this timeline.

It wouldn’t necessarily hurt to reach out earlier. 

But, I would recommend reaching out one to two months before the deadline because that’s when supervisors know if they can offer new graduate student positions.

Sometimes funding decisions come in over the summer, so they might undoubtedly know whether they’re taking on new graduate students when the deadlines are closer.

Another reason not to email professors early is, some professors aren’t working as much over the summer.

Also, they might be heads down and writing a book or doing research and not responding to emails quite as readily as they might during the academic year.

A template for writing an email to a potential supervisor

Here’s an example email that I used when applying for graduate programs. This is the email I wrote to the professor I’m currently working with.

Make sure to adjust this email to be compatible with your field of study.

This will give you a sense of the information you might want to mention in your email.

Title: Inquiry from a prospective graduate student Dear Professor [name], I am a (Your major) graduand from the (Your university). I’m interested in a graduate study opportunity under your supervision in your research group. I am considering applying to your department’s graduate program, one reason being that I am very interested in the work you are doing on Hydrophobic surfaces. Given that your research takes both experimental and theoretical approaches for surface analysis and development, it further encourages me to apply since it is a perfect confluence of my research interests. I particularly enjoyed your paper “(Paper that you’re interested in)” and possibly see myself doing that kind of work. My own research interests relate to surface and interface science, computational materials science, thin films and coatings, and electrochemistry. I graduated with a (Your overall GPA) and a (CGPA) in the last two years of undergraduate study and am currently working as a researcher for eight months at [institute], a world-leading manufacturer of weight measurement technologies. At [institute]’s research lab, I am implementing studies on the micro throwing power of watt’s type baths by electrochemical simulations (COMSOL Multiphysics), ideally targeting to enhance Ni20Cr thin films’ surface wettability. I have just submitted an article on my current research findings, which was accepted by Materials Today: Proceedings. I have attached our recent publication and other relevant documents with more details. I am wondering if you will be considering taking on new PhD advisees for September intake or if you have suggestions for other faculty I should reach out to. I would be happy to answer any questions or have an online interview if more information would be helpful. ( Your signature )

You will find more tips of writing the perfect email to a potential supervisor here .

First and foremost, do not forget to do your homework before writing an email to a potential supervisor.

Do not send the same email to every professor that you choose.

Although it seems like a lot of work, do your research first and write a specific email for each supervisor. You can always use similar phrases here and there but never use the same template because a professor who receives many such emails can easily understand what you are doing.

And, that is not a good first impression.

If you want to have a robust application, you need to research what faculty are doing.

Also, note that my email word count is nearly 250. Not including many things in your email is also essential when writing an email to a potential supervisor.

Professors are always busy. They do not have to spend more than 1 or 2 minutes on an email. So you must know to impress the professor within that time frame, or your email will go straight to the junk folder.

Note that I also mentioned a paper that I was interested in. This is optional. But if you decide to mention a paper, make sure that you understand the basic concepts of that paper. Because, if this email leads to a quick interview, they might ask some questions from the paper. If that happens, you don’t want to embarrass yourself.

But just mentioning the general research area is more than enough for the first email because it shows that you’ve done your homework.

Also, it’s very important to mention that your research interests and the supervisor’s current area of research are similar.

It doesn’t have to be exactly the same.

But it should be in the same domain. In this example, my prospective supervisor (When I was writing this email) was working on a combination of physical chemistry and computational modelling. The interests I mentioned align with what he was interested in. But they are not precisely the same.

Maintain an effective email management system

At the time I was writing to potential supervisors, I was working full-time in a research lab. My work schedule was 10 hours a day. So, it took me a while to begin writing to potential supervisors.

In fact, it was too late to start writing, and I was told by friends to wait until next year to apply. They have already contacted supervisors and secured graduate positions at this point.

This is when I snapped out of my procrastination bubble and began thinking about how to secure a graduate position. Moreover, I had very specific research interests, so getting into a graduate program has already been challenging in the first place.

Before contacting professors, I also reviewed their profiles at hundreds of universities to find relevant labs.

Therefore, I needed a robust and efficient system for emailing potential supervisors. After a few tweaks, I created an effective yet simple system for managing graduate applications.

I use the notion app to build my graduate application management system.

It only took me two weeks to find professors whose research interests were similar to mine. And I have secured a graduate position in a lab conducting the exact research I was interested in.

You can grab the template by clicking the link below.

Do not directly ask for a meeting

Something else that you might have noticed that the email was ended with :

” I would be happy to answer any questions or have an online interview if more information would be helpful.”

There are lots of different ways that you could do mention this.

However, you may want to leave the option open without directly demanding a meeting.

Because if that prospective professor is not taking new advisees for the term, it would not be a great use of either of your time to have a meeting.

If the professor wants to talk more to you, they might be the one to suggest a meeting.

Or wait until you get a reply from them to decide to ask for a meeting, depending on their response.

They also might offer in their reply to answer questions, in which case you can ask questions in an email, or you can say,

“I do have some questions. Would you prefer email, or would it be easier for you to talk on the phone or video conference call?”

Why would you not get a reply?

But, sometimes, you might not get a reply at all.

It’s very important not to take it personally if they do not respond to your email.

My email conversion rate was 40%, which means that I haven’t heard anything 60% of the time.

Believe it or not, professors receive more than 100 emails per day when the deadlines are closer. So, there is a bigger chance that the professor hasn’t even seen your email.

Maybe your research background does not properly align with what they are looking for from a graduate student to join their lab. Here’s a reply I received from a professor mentioning this issue.

There are other reasons to why you haven’t heard when you write an email to a potential supervisor.

• The applicant has no clear idea about their research interests.
• There are no vacancies in their labs to accommodate new students.
• Your email is poorly drafted, and you have not specifically addressed that particular professor.
• You copy many professors in a single email.
• There’s no subject on the email.

Types of responses you might get

If you don’t hear back from a professor, do not assume that that means you shouldn’t apply to that program, or you shouldn’t mention them in your statement of purpose.

You can’t assume that a non-response means that they have no interest in your application.

It’s possible that when you reach out to someone, they might be excited to talk to you.

Many of the kinds of conversations you might have in a pre-application discussion with a faculty member might be pretty similar to the type of conversation you would have after you’ve applied.

So, it’s helpful to have a meeting/interview with a professor this way.

Also, if a professor suggested looking for other faculty members, you should email them. 

Because those suggested professors might work in a research area that you might be interested in. It might also be a signal for people who have funding or actively recruiting new students.

So, research them and consider reaching out to them if they mention someone specific.

You might also get a very vague reply such as :

“Thank you for reaching out. I look forward to seeing your application.”

You do not have to take that as a bad sign; it just means that they’re looking forward to seeing your application.

They chose to reply to you even though they have the freedom to ignore your email. That means something. Do not lose hope.

Make sure to mention the faculty members who replied to you so that they will recognize your application in the application evaluation process.

Final words

Writing an email to a potential supervisor is an essential step in your graduate application process.

Having a clear idea about who you are writing to and why you are writing to that person is important to get a reply.

If you have gone through the same process and found some important aspects about writing an email to a potential supervisor, let us know in the comment section.

As always, be proactive, be kind and try to help one another!

Images courtesy : Mail vector created by stories – www.freepik.com , Business photo created by creativeart – www.freepik.com , phdcomics , Image by Freepik

Aruna Kumarasiri

Founder at Proactive Grad, Materials Engineer, Researcher, and turned author. In 2019, he started his professional carrier as a materials engineer with the continuation of his research studies. His exposure to both academic and industrial worlds has provided many opportunities for him to give back to young professionals.

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Very useful article. Thank you so much for sharing your experiences. I want to know about followup emails. How long we have to wait ?

I’m glad this article was helpful to you, Poornima!

Professors sometimes do not respond to emails for the following reasons: (1) They are genuinely busy. (2) They do not have funding to support your education and (3) Their inboxes are flooded with emails every day, and responding to them all can be a challenge.

Although the time to write a follow-up email depends on your own circumstances, give them a reasonable amount of time to respond. It is a good idea to wait at least one week before sending a follow-up email.

You can read our other blog posts to learn more about writing follow-up emails .

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Thesis supervision

Find a thesis supervisor.

Thesis supervisors must be authorized by their Faculty to supervise theses.

Finding a thesis supervisor arrow_drop_down

Before thinking about a supervisor, students should make sure they are committing to the area of study that most interests them. They should ask themselves whether they are enthusiastic enough about a topic area to sustain this enthusiasm over the period of time it will take to prepare the thesis. Speaking to students and professors who do research in the proposed area of study will help clarify the students’ thoughts. The students should make sure they are well-informed before they approach any potential supervisors.

A professor is not obligated to take on a student if he or she feels the match-up would not be a good one, or if the professor lacks lab space, time or funding.

A student may have more than one supervisor. When mention is made of the thesis supervisor, it is implicit that there may be a co-supervisor.

• Information to collect before contacting a potential supervisor
• Questions to ask after the meeting with the potential supervisor
• Professors, by research interest

Appointment of a thesis supervisor arrow_drop_down

From the uoZone Application tab, click Service Requests to create a service request and appoint a thesis supervisor.

Meetings between the supervisor and the student arrow_drop_down

Preliminary meetings.

Before a student begins researching and writing a thesis, the supervisor and the student should have a detailed discussion of expectations and requirements. Below are examples of general and specific issues to be discussed during the preliminary meetings.

As soon as possible, the student should obtain ethics approvals or any other required approvals to conduct research. The student should discuss with the thesis supervisor and visit the  Office of Research Ethics and Integrity  Website.

• General and specific topics to be discussed

Regular meetings

The student and the supervisor should plan to meet regularly whether or not the student has any finished work to show to the supervisor.

If it is a major meeting, the student should draw up and deliver to the supervisor an agenda beforehand. If the meeting is to discuss text that has already been written, the student must send the draft well in advance of the meeting. 

After the meeting, and based on this agenda, the student prepares a brief report on what was discussed and decided, and shares this report with the supervisor.

It is important to be productive at these major meetings, but it is also crucial to just keep in touch.

Components of a typical agenda

• a summary of the purpose of the meeting
• a review of what was discussed at the previous meeting and what has been accomplished to date
• a discussion and clarification of the current topics, ideas and issues
• next steps as a result of this discussion
• agree with a date for the next meeting

Feedback and revision arrow_drop_down

All along during the thesis preparation process, a student will receive feedback and should expect to do revisions. Revising a thesis based on feedback from the thesis supervisor, advisory committee (if applicable) and from the jury is an important part of the thesis preparation process.

Part of the advancement of knowledge that preparing a thesis fosters involves engaging in dialogue and learning from these discussions, learning how to communicate clearly, and responding appropriately to suggestions for improvement

Already a student?

Types of supervision, co-supervision arrow_drop_down.

A joint management with a professor in another discipline may be considered if the research project of a student is favoured.

Cotutelle arrow_drop_down

A doctoral student may prepare a thesis under a cotutelle agreement. You find below additional information to help familiarize yourself with the roles played by each of the stakeholders.  

Learn more about Cotutelle.

Thesis advisory committee arrow_drop_down

In many academic units, a thesis advisory committee, also referred to as thesis committee, is assembled as soon as a student finds a thesis supervisor. Please note that not all academic units have thesis committees, the students must check on the protocol in their own academic unit.

Constitution of the thesis committee

How the thesis committee is formed varies from academic unit to academic unit. The thesis supervisor plays the biggest role by approaching colleagues who have the expertise and inviting them to join the committee.

A thesis committee is made up of:

• the student
• the thesis supervisor, and
• usually at least two other professors.

The thesis supervisor is usually the chair of the thesis committee.

Role of the thesis committee

While the roles and responsibilities of thesis committees may vary from one academic unit to another, members of the committee should provide guidance to the student on thesis planning, research and writing; be available to discuss ideas or for consultation on any other matter related to the thesis; and, if this is the practice within the discipline, evaluate the thesis after submission.

Thesis committees meet according to a schedule set either by the academic unit or by the committee itself. The student is usually responsible for initiating the meetings. When concerns about the progress of the research arise, the supervisor and/or academic unit may require meetings at more frequent intervals.

Useful information

Contracts arrow_drop_down.

Some supervisors and students have contracts or agreements to formalize the expectations and delineate the responsibilities in the preparation of a thesis.

Although these agreements are not considered official documents with force of law, they set out the expectations of the student and supervisor in relation to many of the issues covered in this Website section and help avoid conflict and misunderstandings.

A student should not make assumptions about who will do what in the research and who gets credit for any new discoveries or inventions. A supervisor should not assume the supervised student is aware of any assumptions the supervisor has or any authorship or credit protocols that may exist in the area of research.

Professors who use contracts do so because they have found such agreements are a good tool for helping students achieve their goals and finish their theses. However, while a written agreement can be very useful, one of the keys to a successful supervisor–student relationship is good communication and mutual trust. Both sides need to foster and build on that. 

Absences arrow_drop_down

Sometimes a potential supervisor is approached by a student looking for a thesis supervisor and both the student and professor agree it would be a good match, but the professor is going on an academic leave partway through the period in which the student will be preparing this thesis. In the event of a scheduled absence from the University for more than one month, the thesis supervisor must make the necessary arrangements with his students and the academic unit concerned to ensure that students continue to be accompanied during the supervisor's absence.

A thesis supervisor who is going to be away should let the student know well in advance. The same goes for the student. The student should discuss this with the thesis supervisor well ahead of time. In case of illness, the student should let the supervisor know the expected timeline for recovery.

If the student is planning to suspend work on the thesis for a term or more, for whatever reason, the student needs to apply for and receive approval for a leave of absence. Please note that absence has an impact on eligibility for funding.

Professionalism arrow_drop_down

As a student, the development of professional skills—for example, communicating appropriately in writing and in person, responding promptly to e-mails, coming prepared to meetings, following up after meetings, respecting deadlines, tracking changes to the text so that it is easy for the supervisor to review each draft after revisions—is important in the preparation of the thesis. Some faculties offer courses in professional skills.

If the student feels aspects of the supervisor’s behavior are unprofessional, he or she should consult the graduate program director or the chair of the academic unit.

Changing supervisors arrow_drop_down

As for changing supervisors partway through a thesis, this is not recommended. Keep in mind that as long as the thesis is logical and the conclusions drawn from the data are valid, the student and the supervisor do not need to be in total agreement on methodology, analysis or interpretation.

The thesis committee may be able to fill in whatever gaps the student perceives in the relationship with the supervisor. If the research goes off in an unexpected direction, one that is not very familiar to the thesis supervisor, the student could see what opportunities are available and what guidelines the academic unit has for this situation. The student could consider joint supervision as an alternative to finding a new supervisor.

If the student has explored all other options and still wish to change supervisors, he or she should talk to the graduate program director. If the supervisor happens to be the graduate program director, the student should talk to the director of the academic unit. If the student remains uncertain or dissatisfied, he or she should talk to the vice-dean graduate studies of his/her home faculty. Beyond that, the student can talk to the university ombudsperson. The student can request that the exchanges with any or all of these individuals (directors, vice-dean, ombudsperson) remain confidential.

The student should be sure to explore options carefully before withdrawing from the supervisory arrangement—a student who terminates the relationship with a supervisor before finding another supervisor may have difficulty securing another supervisor and compromise the thesis project.

Getting the most out of thesis supervision meetings

Chances are that postgraduate students meet their thesis supervisor/s only every few weeks, and for a limited amount of time. Therefore, it is extremely important to take full advantage of supervision meetings. The following tips help bachelor’s, master’s and PhD students to make the most of thesis supervision meetings.

What can you expect from a thesis supervisor?

Before diving into what you can do to get the most out of thesis supervision meetings, it is important to be clear on the roles during a thesis process:

A thesis supervisor supports and guides you through writing your thesis. However, ultimately you are responsible for your work.

That said, a supervisor’s role is crucial. He or she will guide you in your writing, point out weaknesses in your argument and approach, and make suggestions for improvement. Furthermore, you can benefit from their experiences and scientific knowledge.

Taking charge of thesis supervision meetings

Pre-meeting updates, a meeting agenda and strategy for note-taking, as well as post-meeting action points, help students to get the most out of thesis supervision meetings.

Each of these points will be explained in more detail below. Combined, they offer concrete and repeatable structure to prepare, take part in, and summarise thesis supervision meetings.

Pre-meeting progress updates before thesis supervision meetings

Sending around progress updates before the meeting also saves a lot of time: during the meeting, you can dive much more quickly into the discussion of your challenges and how to move forward.

Agendas and note-taking strategies during thesis supervision meetings

The agenda should reflect the key points that you would like to discuss during the meeting.

Either take your time to take proper notes by hand or ask all parties present whether it is okay to record the meeting. You will thank yourself later.

Post-meeting action points after thesis supervision meetings

Furthermore, it is always good to have your agreements in writing. It can help, for instance, if you run into trouble because you have to deal with conflicting feedback from different supervisors .

Master Academia

Get new content delivered directly to your inbox, strong academic networks through shared activities, why and how to conduct a systematic literature review, related articles, why you cannot write a phd thesis in 3-6 months, how to write a fantastic thesis introduction (+15 examples), left your dissertation too late ways to take action now, dealing with conflicting feedback from different supervisors.

How to Email a Potential Supervisor

If you’re interested in graduate school, chances are you’re also thinking about contacting professors you’re interested in working with. This type of introductory, “cold” email is an important part of the graduate school application process, but it can be tricky to get right. You want to create a good impression so you stand out as a serious applicant. Here are some things to keep in mind when emailing potential PhD supervisors to increase your odds of getting a response.

Keep it short

Professors are short of time and receive a ton of emails each day. As a result, they often skim emails. A short email is both faster for them to read and reply to. If you write a long email there’s a higher chance a professor will wait to read it “later” (read never.)

Make a Connection

If you have a connection to the professor, make sure to mention it. Were you referred to them by one of their former or current students? Did you hear the professor speak at a conference or invited talk?

Have a Clear CTA

Have you ever reached the end of an email and still had no clue what the sender wanted from you? Don’t send that type of email to a professor. Be very clear about what you want from them. Ask direct questions like, “Will you be taking on new PhD students in the fall?” Questions like this are easier to answer which increases the likelihood that the professor will answer your email. 

Introduce yourself 

Once you’ve asked if you can work with them, briefly introduce yourself in a sentence or two. In addition to where you study, include your research interests, why you’re interested in this professor’s work, and what you can bring to the table. You should also attach your CV to the email.  

Have a Clear Subject Line

The purpose of a subject line is to tell the reader what the email is about. Use a subject line such as “Inquiry from a prospective grad student” or “Potential applicant interested in your lab” to reinforce your CTA. 

Thank them for their time 

Ending your email by thanking the professor for their time is a polite way to show respect. Follow this up with a professional sign off. 

If you don’t receive a reply from the professor within a week, it’s okay to send a gentle follow up email asking for a response. If you still don’t get a response, it might be best to move on. 

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Meet the grads, Spring 2024: Raymond Tolentino

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As part of our Spring Convocation 2024 coverage, we asked graduates to share their experiences of completing a degree at McGill's Department of Family Medicine Here, we meet Class of 2024 member Raymond Tolentino who completed his MSc in Family Medicine and receives his degree at the Spring Convocation Ceremony on May 28. Congratulations Raymond!     

Name : Raymond Tolentino  

Degree : Master of Science in Family Medicine (Medical Education Concentration)  

Hometown: Mississauga, Ontario

What was your thesis topic ?  

My thesis, titled The Development of a Postgraduate Family Medicine Artificial Intelligence Curriculum Framework, focused on curricula development, artificial intelligence and postgraduate training. 

Please share a particularly proud moment from your degree?  

I was especially proud when I finally submitted my thesis for final submission. 

Your fave hangout/study spot?  

 Thomson House 

Any shoutouts?   

I would like to shoutout my supervisor Dr. Samira Abbasgholizadeh Rahimi for her guidance throughout my master’s degree and a shoutout to Dr. Pierre Pluye, my supportive co-supervisor, who passed away in 2023. 

Top tip for incoming students in your program?   

To the incoming students entering my program, I would say to surround yourself with a good team (other students, lab members, advisors, librarians, etc.), who can contribute in unique and helpful ways. Also, I would tell incoming students not to worry, and that everyone’s timeline, topic and experience is unique. Your work is worthy, and your timeline is perfect for you.

Anything you’ll miss?  

I am going to miss the amazing staff, faculty and students that I’ve met at McGill’s Department of Family Medicine. 

What’s next for you?   

I am currently working as a researcher in Montreal and will potentially move onto a PhD after. 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/raymond-tolentino-85549417a/

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Department of family medicine.

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How to email a professor requesting to supervise a PhD thesis?

I am interested in applying to PhD in Mathematics in University of Luxembourg. In the webpage it is written that "We recommend that you contact potential thesis supervisors by email to discuss your areas of general research interest and specific ideas for a thesis topic. You may consider sending a description of the research project and your CV. Once you have identified a supervisor, he/she will initiate the application process and complete the application for admission."

Therefore, I need to contact potential thesis supervisors by emails to discuss areas of general research interest and specific ideas for a thesis topic. That is, first I need to convince a professor to supervise me or I am well prepared to work under the professor.

Therefore, I am thinking that I will send an email to a professor. But I am facing some troubles.

I want to apply to PhD in Mathematics on Algebraic Topology. One thing that I have understood is to be selected I need to show interest on that particular subject. I want to convince the professor that I am well prepared to work under him and eager to join his research group. But, the problem this how to show the interest?

I have planned something and I want to execute my plans. I am sharing with you. One of the ideas is to read some papers of the professor and do comment on that. But I think it's not so the good idea because it may be cause of a bad impression. But I may be wrong. Now I am writing here, what I am thinking.

I am thinking the followings.

• Since, I am particularly interested in Algebraic Topology, I will attach in the email a detailed learning roadmaps (mentioning the references) of Algebraic Topology in which way I learned the subject.
• I am thinking that I will attach (or give a google drive link) solutions of the exercises of some books, the exercises of those books are not easy to solve (even for researchers). I am preparing the hand written solutions on the IPad.
• Also, I will attached a write-up for the ideas for future research on the particular topic, in which I would like to help from some papers of the professor and mention those in my write-up. That's mean I will read some papers of the professor and made a write-up where I will include my ideas as well as some parts (or results or may be some ideas) of the Professor's paper.

Please advise me. Am I thinking in a right way? Please help me. It will also be helpful for me if you add your opinions and advise in details.

Thanking in advanced.

• graduate-admissions
• mathematics
• supervision
• 1 I think that what you propose would be enough. –  user135405 Commented Apr 2, 2021 at 16:27
• 2 I don't think sending an email with books you've read and a few solved exercises would get you any responses. I think Adam at Avidnote's answer is good -- you should try to look for postings about PhD positions and apply to those. One good place to look for algebraic topology PhD openings is on the ALGTOP mailing list archives. –  Stephen McKean Commented Apr 2, 2021 at 17:16

2 Answers 2

It all depends on the university and so I don't thinkt here's one piece of advice that suits all cases. At some universities, PhD positions are advertised on their website and through other channels, and potential applicants will need to submit their proposal through those official means. In other situations, a Professor can manually pick a grad student to supervise as their PhD student if they have the funding to do so.

My advice is to look at the credible websites that advertise PhD positions, and search for a position that relates to your field. From my experience, very few professors would respond positively to receiving a cold email like this from out of the blue. They will usually just be deleted. The best case is to contact someone you've worked with before, or through someone who knows the Professor who can put in a good word for you.

• 3 One place to find European PhD openings in algebraic topology is on the ALGTOP mailing list archives. For example, there were 5 such openings announced between 1 January 2021 and 31 March 2021: lists.lehigh.edu/pipermail/algtop-l/2021q1/thread.html . –  Stephen McKean Commented Apr 2, 2021 at 17:14
• 2 Nice tip! I suppose one could also check twitter/linked and set Google alerts for when a new position is published. –  Adam at Avidnote Commented Apr 2, 2021 at 17:16

I don't think you need to send a "learning roadmap" or solved exercises. A learning roadmap doesn't really convey whether you have learned the subject. The University of Luxembourg requires that you have a masters degree before you start your PhD. If you have a masters in math, then you've probably solved a few exercises in the process.

Having ideas for future research projects is a very good thing, especially if they are ideas relating to the work of a potential advisor. My advice is to keep the initial email short and to the point -- you can add more details once you get a response. Something like:

"Dear Prof. [So and So],

I am interested in applying for a PhD position at the University of Luxembourg. I obtained my Masters from [the Institute of Such and Such]. I would be interested in working on a project relating to your work on [informal group laws]. I have a few ideas for potential projects in this direction. Please let me know if you would be willing to discuss these.

Thank you in advance for your time,

user454229"

Of course, don't just copy this and insert the relevant details. You want to write the email in your own voice. This is just to give you an idea of how to keep it short and to the point. And good luck!

• Thanks for your answer. My university does not offer a course in Algebraic Topology. But I have learned the basics of the subject on my own. Since I have no proof that I have learned the subject, I am thinking that I will send my hand written exercises (on IPad) through a google link. I will send the exercises of the books like, Hatcher; Knots and Links. I think solving those are not easy (even for early researchers) task. I am talking just a way about convincing the professor that I am well prepared to do work in his research group. Am I going in a right direction? –  user138005 Commented Apr 3, 2021 at 5:21
• I am thinking that I will make this material available on a website and let professors know about it. Is that a good idea? –  user138005 Commented Apr 3, 2021 at 7:23
• I still don’t think this is a good idea. I wouldn’t say the exercises in Hatcher are hard for researchers. If you have good ideas for research directions and can discuss them, that’s a much better indication that you have a solid background in the subject –  Stephen McKean Commented Apr 3, 2021 at 12:23

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