Academic CV

A 2-4 page formatted document listing your education, research experience, publications and conference talks, teaching experience, technical skills, awards, professional memberships, and any other academic-relevant roles. Conventions vary by field but the structure is largely standardised.

The academic CV is the first thing most grad-school reviewers scan. It establishes your academic identity at a glance — and signals whether your background matches the program. Faculty reading your file form an impression in 60 seconds.

1. 1

   Start from a clean academic CV template (Overleaf has dozens of LaTeX templates; Google Docs and Canva have non-LaTeX equivalents).

2. 2

   Fill the standard sections in order: Education, Research Experience, Publications, Conference Presentations, Teaching Experience, Honors & Awards, Skills, Professional Memberships, References (or "Available on request").

3. 3

   List in reverse chronological order within each section.

4. 4

   For publications: cite using the convention of your field (APA, MLA, Chicago, IEEE, ACS, etc.).

5. 5

   Have a current grad student or faculty mentor in your target field review it. Conventions vary subtly between disciplines.

6. 6

   Export as a polished PDF; never submit a Word file.