Hello to all,

I'm in the situation where I wish to do PhD in computer science. I will be finishing my Master's in Operations Research next year, and I want to start contacting some professors I am interested in. I am wondering what should be mentioned in the email when approaching the professor for the first time?
Obviously I don't want it to be too long, but I don't want it too short either. What are the main points that should be covered in the email, and also how long should it be in general?
If you guys can share experience on how you find a supervisor, that would be great.

Thanks a lot!

p.s. most of the professors that I wish to contact do not have prior experience working with me

Others may have different advice but as far as I know it is acceptable for you to make direct contact with a potential supervisor. If you have identified a possible person I would go onto their department's website and read the individual staff bios of anyone you are interested in. Some professors specificaly mention who and how many students they supervise. This can be a good indication if they are interested in supervising PhD students.

Re: potential profs not having advance knowledge of you - again that's fine but in this case you will need to briefly and succintly summarise your current Master's, briefly and succintly outline your PhD topic idea and ask that person if they would be interested in discussing this with you in more detail. Keep it brief and include your CV as an attachment if you think it might strengthen your case. However I wouldn't make the initial contact email long. If your current Master's supervisor is respected in the field you could 'name drop' their name and mention that that person has indicated that you are suitable for further study at doctoral level.

I would email rather than phone initially. However, if you don't get a reply you could then follow this up with a phone call. Many academics are in and out of their offices during the summer months so it can often take a while to get a reply. Many of them (and I know I'm generalising) are not great at putting 'out of office' messages on their emails - or at least the ones I know!! Therefore, it might take a few efforts to connect with the person you are looking for.

Good luck with it (up)

Hi,

You're right. Write a simple letter and if you are a girl maybe a sexy business proposal..^_*...try this out..Hope it helps...

http://www.toughbiz.com/2011/05/how-to-write-sexy-business-proposals.html

;-)

Orrrrr you could try the approach of Pink_Briefcase ;-);-)