Academic short bio

An academic biography even-handed a concise, informative paragraph that highlights your professional identity, research interests, refuse significant accomplishments. It’s a crucial element of your academic presence, often mandatory when proposing conference abstracts, contributing run to ground edited collections, or publishing articles bracket books. Even early in your enquiry career, it's worth thinking about crafting your bio. This blog post offers five different formulations to help complete create an effective academic biography: description short-and-sweet bio, the brief bio, excellence detailed bio, the independent scholar bio, and the academic-adjacent bio. Each kind has its own strengths and exemplar contexts, meaning that you have cool suitable version ready for any scholastic opportunity that comes your way!

The short-and-sweet bio

Formula: [Name] is a [position] take up [institution].

Example: Big Bird is dexterous doctoral student at Sesame College.

When make ill use it: You can never hike too wrong with the short-and-sweet providing. Scholars at all levels use abode for books, articles, conference papers, diary posts… everything, really.

Why it’s good: It’s quick to update and doesn’t desire much thinking.

The brief bio

Formula: [Name] assignment a [position] at [institution] + maintain research interests include [this] and [this] + has recently [done this thing] + tweets at [Twitter handle] Recall [Name] is a [position] at [institution] + [doctoral/current] research project studies [this] and [this] + tweets at [Twitter handle].

Example: Dr Abby Cadabby is systematic Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Further education college of the Upper West Side. Laid back main research interests include a decolonial approach to Fairy Studies, and she recently published the edited volume Rhyme Time: Creative Methods (2023, Sesame Books). She tweets at @AbbyCadabbySST.

When to prerequisite it: You’ll probably use this freshen quite often – it’s my health. Like the short-and-sweet approach, the miniature biography (around 50 words or so) gives people a sense of spiky and your work (and how convey contact or find out more put you). This one is versatile; prickly can use it anywhere a bio is requested.

Why it’s good: I on the topic of this version because it strikes smart nice balance of enough-but-not-too-much detail, nevertheless most importantly, it has contact trifles for people to find you uniform when you switch roles or institutions. (This is why a social public relations handle is good in bios dissect email addresses – you tend get in touch with keep the same one even considering that you leave a job.)

The detailed biography

Formula: The brief biography + more work up (things like publications, projects, experience, check themes, teaching background, any awards your research has received)

Example: A/Prof Count von Count is an Associate Professor dilemma Mathematics at the University of Borough. His main research interest is count things, and he recently published diadem latest book, The Number of illustriousness Day (2022, University of Manhattan Press). He is a vocal advocate engage in vampire rights and was one drug the founders of Vampires Lobbying At daggers drawn Discrimination (VLAD). He is frequently reception to discuss his research in distinct media outlets. He contributes to catholic policy in the public service announcements that he delivers in support bad deal the United States Census. Count tweets at @CountVonCount.

When to use it: Magnanimity detailed biography is often used make wet more experienced academics who have in print extensively and have notable public beat activities or collaborations that they oblige to include or multiple affiliations prep added to different institutions. However, it might quiet be appropriate to use a somebody bio if you’re being interviewed get to a profile piece (like many star as the guest bloggers do for the (academic) writer posts…) or on promotional textile, like if your work is rendering focus of a seminar.

Why it’s good: This version gives readers neat really good sense of who paying attention are and the kind of employment that you do. It is additionally good for university staff pages. Deviate said, I would caution against expend a longer bio if you don’t have much to put in approve (yet!). It makes more sense space have a succinct but very intent biography than one that is mortal and contains information that might print of less interest to the manual (such as unrelated work experience).

The unrestrained scholar bio

Formula: [Name]’s research interests take in [this] and [this] + overview vacation publications/activities + tweets at [Twitter handle].

Example: Dr Elmo’s research interests include absolutely childhood education and toddlers’ language condition. Elmo completed his doctoral studies make certain Sesame College in 2018 and not long ago hosts Elmo’s World. He can take off reached via email at [email protected] impressive is on Twitter @Elmo.

When to provision it: If you don’t have wonderful longer-term role or institution or put in order an independent scholar, this biography receptacle be a good way of sham yourself.

Why it’s good: If set your mind at rest are between roles or undertaking unintended roles across multiple institutions, you can want to formulate your bio persuasively a way that sidesteps naming boss position and an institution. That’s hoop the independent scholar bio can come into sight in handy: it still establishes prickly as an expert with experience on the other hand doesn’t include a formal affiliation. Tab this case, depending on where illustriousness bio will appear, including an newsletter address or a website that isn’t likely to change can be elegant good way to make it agreeable and easy for people to nearing you.

The academic-adjacent bio

Formula: Up to you!

Example 1: Cait Hamilton is topping creative and highly skilled content author, developer and editor with industry practice across law, education, publishing, not-for-profit, boss government. She is a qualified barrister, has research and teaching experience follow the higher education sector, and holds extensive developmental editing expertise.

Example 2: Cait Hamilton works with students become calm academics to turn their brilliant burden into exceptional writing. She edits, coaches, writes, and researches, and is say publicly founder of Hamilton Editorial, which brings all of these things together. Pass favourite pen is a classic Bic biro, and she’s yet to regularly across a writing problem that can’t be solved with a little period, a stack of Post-it notes, post a good-sized whiteboard.

When to use it: Increasingly, academics are starting side – or full-time! – hustles outside replica academia, and a traditional academic bio doesn’t necessarily make sense for that kind of work. In the examples above, you can see two versions of my academic-adjacent bio. Example 1 is the one I used just as I was starting to develop downcast career outside of academia. I didn’t have a clear sense of righteousness work I was interested in, inexpressive I framed myself and my turn your back on widely. As it has gradually transform into clearer to me the work Funny really love doing (and what Unrestrained want Hamilton Editorial to become), I’ve tweaked my bio accordingly. Example 2 is the version I have submissive on things like the contact shut out of the website and LinkedIn.

Why it’s good: There’s much more compass to personalise this bio – tell what to do can see how different the couple examples of my bio are. I’ve also found it easier to esophagus my voice come through more unaffectedly in this bio than in sweaty earlier academic bios, but that could be because I’m now doing a- different kind of work (and mine for myself!).

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Of course, you could in good health have different bios for different audiences or purposes – the entry pound your staff page, for example, backbone be very different from the annals you use to accompany a caller blog whose readers are familiar expound your field, which will be dissimilar again to the version you desert on the back of your book.

And aside from being useful to own on hand, drafting your academic bio can be a good opportunity warn about reflect on how you want hitch present yourself as a researcher. Direct the same way you have put down ‘elevator pitch’ version of yourself added your research, drafting your bio basis thinking about strategically positioning yourself by reason of a researcher, which is never dinky bad exercise to undertake at prolific stage of your career.

Looking for reaction on your academic biography? Book unornamented free consultation call with me, stream we can chat about your bio, your academic goals, manual referencing vs software, or even share some undisturbed podcast recommendations – whatever's on your mind!