An academic CV that makes your evidence easy to find

Decide what the reader needs first

An academic CV should help the reader locate the evidence relevant to the opportunity. A scholarship applicant with limited research experience may lead with education and selected projects; an experienced doctoral applicant may give research more prominence. Follow any requested format or page limit before using a general template.

Keep contact details professional and necessary. Use your name consistently with the application. Avoid adding sensitive personal information that is not requested. A clean heading, reliable email and relevant professional profile are usually more useful than decorative graphics that consume space.

Describe your own contribution

For each project or role, write what you did, the methods or responsibilities involved and the result or learning that matters. Separate your individual contribution from the organisation’s achievements. Use precise verbs without exaggerating authority or impact.

For an illustrative example, “assisted with recruitment and maintained the study log” is clearer than “led groundbreaking clinical research” when the former describes the actual role. A modest accurate contribution is stronger than a claim that cannot survive an interview question.

Keep publication status honest

Separate published work, accepted work, preprints, conference contributions and manuscripts in preparation. Give enough information for a reader to identify the output. Do not present a draft as an accepted paper, imply authorship you do not hold or add a citation count you cannot verify.

Where the discipline values other outputs, such as software, datasets, exhibitions or policy work, describe them accurately and explain your role. A link should lead to the relevant public record, not merely to a general homepage. Check that it works before submission.

Show skills through context

A list of software names says little about proficiency. Connect important skills to a project, task or training experience. Distinguish introductory exposure from independent use. For language skills, report the qualification or level honestly and check whether the application needs a current test result rather than a CV statement.

Include awards, teaching, service and leadership where they support the application. Explain unfamiliar acronyms and the basis of an award where space allows. Avoid filling the CV with unrelated certificates simply to make it longer.

Edit for consistency and readability

Use predictable headings, dates and formatting. Keep bullets focused on one contribution each. Check that degree titles, employment dates and publication details match the rest of the application. Export to the required format and inspect the final file for broken links, missing symbols and awkward page breaks.

Ask a reviewer to find your degree, research experience and relevant skills in under a minute. Any difficulty they have is a design problem worth fixing. The CV should make evidence easy to verify, not force the reader to infer your qualifications from dense paragraphs.

Practical editorial guidance, not a guarantee of an outcome. The current programme and provider instructions take precedence.