Tips To Ace Your PhD Application While Applying For Different Labs

They received application for PhD position(s) from all over the World. Some were really good but many were sorted out early. Here are some suggestions on how applicants could fix common issues and improve their chances to be invited. 👇

(1/10) Apply only for PhD positions for which you are qualified, otherwise time is wasted on both sides.

(2/10) Read the advertisement of PhD position carefully: submit all required files.

(3/10) If the advertiser mention experience or skills, then elaborate on these points in your letter. Failing to do so conveys the message that you are not a careful reader or lack the required skills.

(4/10) Writing is hugely important in all branches of science. The PI will read the cover letter and email to check how good of a writer you are. While graduate students still grow as writers, spelling, grammar and formatting mistakes are a NO-GO in your email and documents.

(5/10) It’s important to express your motivation but many letters failed to address how our lab would benefit from the applicant (experience, skills, and attitude). 👉Tune down on why the position is important to you and focus more on how the other side would benefit from you.

(6/10) Don’t ask the PI to send you the information you could easily google, like admission criteria or website URL.

(7/10) Do no copy and paste from the lab website, e.g. “I am interested in copy paste 1 form lab website, copy paste 2, …”. That’s so easy to spot 🙄 Describe your interests honestly. If necessary, explain why you are contemplating a switch.

(8/10) Look up what the lab is doing: visit the website, read the papers. Someone reposted our ad as “Position on the development of sustainable aqueous electrolytes for next-generation batteries” and I was surprised how MANY applicants do not even visit the website. We are not going to develop Electrode its Electrolyte Simply.

(9/10) Never ask the PI to recommend you to other PIs. Recommending a stranger is a strange thing to do. You look unprofessional and “needy” when you ask for that.

(10/10) When applying to a lab, avoid anonymous addressing, e.g. “Dear Madam/Sir”; do not address female PIs as “Sir”.