I am trying to compose a cover letter and i would like some advice and maybe help with the finished version. I have a supervisor in mind, and have written a research proposal to go with the email, but i want to make sure he reads the proposal. My proposal is on chimpanzee conservation in Africa, I mention my education, experience, and my masters dissertation, as well as a brief summary of the proposal, I am lost on the "why i am applying to do this PhD with him bit". ???
Basically i need help to reach the correct tone, is there someone willing to read it? As I would like comments and corrections, plus has anyone got a cover letter that has been successful so that i can see where i might be going wrong??

Thank you

My advice would be to keep it short. If they have to read your proposal, they don't want to sit down and read loads of info on the front page. Leave them wanting more, that way they will probably pull you in for an interview to learn more about you!

personally I would probably go down the comic route and put a chimanzee joke in, but thats just me ;-)

When I first approached my supervisor it was in the form of a short, informal email with a proposal attached. His research interests had clear cross-overs with mine, which I outlined in the email, so my reasons for choosing him were obvious.

I'm not suggesting this method will work with everyone: some established academics do have a rather inflated sense of their own status, but then I wouldn't have wanted to work with someone like that for 4 years anyway.

Hi Msindai.

I've done this twice, due to swapping supervisors, and my advice would be to just be genuine and give your real reasons - i.e. expertise and knowledge. Having said that, for my second email to my (almost) current sup I just said 'I think you are the best person to supervise this PhD' and didn't give a reason - I presumed this to be obvious from the info I gave him about my research.

Also, I didn't send an outline, just the title and a few sentences: very brief, and the detail came later.

Good luck.

Hi Guys! Thank you so much for the advice, I have now cut 1/4 of the letter down. I think I have most of the points covered now.