How To Cold Email A Professor

Professors receive up to 40 emails a day. If you want to cold email a professor about joining their research project, how do you stand out from the rest?

Cold emails are challenging to send, especially as you don’t have a relationship with the recipient yet. You never know how well your email will be received and if you’ll get a response.

However, with the right strategies, you can ensure your email is opened and that you get a response.

In this article, we’ll share how to cold email professors for research the right way so that your message gets noticed. We’ll also share some top tips for excellent cold email structure and mistakes to avoid.

What Is Cold Emailing?

Cold emailing is typically a sales tactic. Sales teams will send emails to potential customers—known as prospects—selling them a product or service. 

They do this without having built a relationship with the prospect. In this instance, the potential customer may not have heard about the brand before. The purpose of doing this is to generate more interest in a brand and ultimately lead to sales.

However, in a research context, cold emailing has a slightly different purpose. You would be sending emails to professors asking for a research opportunity. Like in sales, cold emailing a professor would mean you don’t have a relationship with them yet and they may not know who you are.

7 Steps Cold Emailing a Professor

Now that you know why you would cold email a professor, let’s look at the steps you’d need to take to get this right:

1. Find a professor

Your first step is to create a list of professors you want to email for a research opportunity. One place to find professors is via LinkedIn. Alternatively, you can visit university websites to find professors whose research is in line with what you’d like to do.

It’s a good idea to collect the email addresses of as many relevant professors as possible and then narrow down your list to the ones who’ll likely provide the best opportunities for you.

2. Study the professor’s research  

When you approach a professor via email, you must demonstrate that you’ve gone the extra mile to immerse yourself in their research. You also need some common ground on which to base your cold email, and their recent work is a good place to start.

Understand their latest publications, ongoing projects, and academic interests.

Cold emails are most effective when you can prove you’ve done your research on the person you’re contacting so that you can include specific details in your message. This helps you tailor your email and express genuine interest in their work.

3. Make a proper introduction

Once you’ve narrowed down your list and done your research on each professor, it’s time to start crafting your cold emails.

The first step to creating a good email is a warm introduction. You want your email to be friendly, but it should also remain formal—which we will discuss later in this article.

So, a good place to start would be “Dear Professor (last name). Avoid terms such as “Sir” or “Hello,” as these aren’t appropriate for the types of emails you’re sending.

Next, you need to introduce yourself. Be sure to do this early in the email so the recipient can understand who you are and what you’re contacting them about. Keep your introduction short and concise while providing enough information to properly introduce yourself.

4. Explain how you can help

The next step is to explain why you’re approaching the professor and how you can help them with their research. As they read your email, recipients should know early on what you’re asking them for.

Clearly state what your research interests are or what research projects you’re interested in. Then, dive into asking them to join their research.

If you’re asking them to join their research group, you need to outline why you’re the best candidate to assist with this.

5. Personalize your email

An excellent way to capture a professor’s attention when they’re already receiving plenty of research requests is to personalize your email.

Of course, you want to keep your email professional. This means that personalization tactics used in marketing—like presenting a personalized offer or discount—won’t be appropriate. However, you can still use personalization elements in your email to make it unique.

Personalizing your email doesn’t have to be complicated. You can use a tool like Hyperise to personalize text, images, GIFs, and other assets in your emails to professors.

6. Include positive feedback

If you’re offering a professor your assistance with their research, you need to prove that you’d be a worthwhile addition to their team. 

You can do this by including any reference letters or positive feedback you’ve received from other academic professionals or professors. 

You may also want to include links to any published research you may have, as this bolsters your credibility.

If you don’t have references yet, now’s the time to reach out and start collecting them.

Lastly, if you have a resume, include it in your cold email. Ensure your resume is well-organized and that it highlights your educational background, skills, and research experience. 

7. Use a proper sign-off

Now that you’re at the end of your cold email, you must sign it off effectively. Thank the professor for their patience and time, and tell them you’re looking forward to their response.

Indicate that you’re willing to provide further information or meet with them for an initial discussion. Then, sign off politely with your name and any credentials you may already have.

Some Cold Emailing Strategies You Need to Follow

You now know what steps to take before sending your cold email. Here are some top strategies to follow when sending cold emails to professors. 

✅ Take a formal approach

Any communication in an academic context needs to be formal. Keep in mind that you’ve never met this professor before, and you don’t know how well they’d receive a less formal email.

Ensure that the tone and language of your email are formal and polite throughout. This makes you look more credible and may make the professor you’re emailing more likely to respond.

✅ Consider your subject line

You’ve probably received emails with catchy subject lines that got your attention quickly. While it’s important to keep in mind that you’re not sending a catchy marketing email, you can still strategically use the subject line of your cold email to a professor.

Some best practices for your subject line in a cold email for research opportunities include:

• Using personalization: You can personalize your subject line to include the professor’s name or a detail pertaining to their recent research. This shows that you’ve taken extra time to learn more about the professor, which may be more eye-catching than the other emails they receive.
• Keeping it short: Your subject line should be clear and concise. Some email clients, like Gmail and Outlook, cut subject lines short when they’re too long. You should keep your subject line between 30 and 50 characters to avoid having it cut off.
• Indicating the purpose of your email: The subject line should make it clear why you’re contacting the professor. They may not open your email if they don’t know what it’s about. If you’re interested in assisting them with their research, clarify this before they open the email using the subject line.

✅ Keep your email concise

Professors are undoubtedly busy people. From teaching, research, publishing, and mentoring, they likely have a lot on their plate. This means they don’t have much time to read through long emails.

For this reason, you need to keep the body of your cold email short and concise. Avoid including information that isn’t relevant to your request, and ensure you communicate your point early on in the message.

✅ Revise your email before you hit send

As we’ll discuss shortly, nothing looks less professional than errors in your email to a professor. It’s essential that you present yourself professionally, and avoiding making mistakes is an important part of this.

To ensure there aren’t any errors in your cold email, read it carefully before sending it. You may also want to ask a fellow student to revise the email for you, as they may spot mistakes that you’ve overlooked.

Cold Emailing Mistakes to Avoid 

Before you send cold emails to professors, ensure you know what you shouldn’t be doing.

❌ Neglecting to do your research

You don’t have to read every word of everything a professor has ever published, but you need an in-depth understanding of their work and interests.

When you’re cold-emailing professors, include one or two points about their work in your message. This is enough to demonstrate that you’ve done your due diligence to get to know them. 

❌ Using a copy-and-paste approach

If you’re sending multiple cold emails, avoid using the same message for each recipient. It’s easy for people to pick up if you’ve used the same general message for multiple professors.

Instead, ensure you personalize each email by including information about their research and how your experience aligns with this. These details will naturally differ from one professor to another, so using a blanket approach for all your cold emails is less effective.

❌ Grammatical errors and spelling mistakes 

If you want your email to be professional enough to capture the recipient’s attention, you must avoid grammar and spelling issues. As we said earlier, errors like this can completely undo all the hard work you’ve put into your cold email by making you look unprofessional.

The Only Tool You Need to Cold Email Professors

Whether you’re looking for undergraduate research opportunities or need to gain some research experience, cold emails are an effective way to reach professors.

However, professors have many commitments and likely already have busy inboxes, so your cold email needs to stand out.

The best way to capture a professor’s attention and get them to open and respond to your email is to use personalization.

The Hyperise toolkit is designed to help you personalize cold emails in a few easy steps so you can make your messages memorable.

Visit our website to try Hyperise out for free to see how personalized cold emails can make all the difference.