You’re undertaking a project or research and need financial support from your professor. The project is very important and you want to create a well-crafted email that will increase your chances of receiving a positive response.
To simplify things for you, we’ve put together some email templates to help get you started. Additionally, we’ve also included some tips to help you write effective emails to your professor.
Tips For Emailing Professors
Let’s look at a few things to keep in mind whenever you’re writing an email to your professor.
Use Proper Title
Always remember to use your professor’s official title in your communication. Identify what their official titles are, before you contact them.
If they’ve officially earned the title “professor”, you should try and use the appropriate title to address them. On the other, you should use “Dr” if they haven’t yet received the “professor” title.
If you aren’t sure what their official titles may be, you can check the course syllabus or the faculty pages of the school website.
Examples:
Dear Professor {{Last name}}
Dear Dr. {{Last name}}
Use School Email
Every tertiary institution provides its faculty and students with official email addresses. If you don’t know the professor’s email address, we’ll show you how to find it later.
Keep in mind that your professor may not respond if you send them an email using your personal email or if you simply send it to their personal emails.
Using your school email also ensures that the professor will get the mail as your personal email may end up blocked by spam filters.
Some professors also try to ensure there’s a balance between their personal lives and work. Any work-related emails, especially from students, to their personal emails would simply be ignored.
So, if you want them to receive and read your email, you should make sure that you use your school email.
Formal Tone
When emailing your professor, it’s important to keep it professional. No matter how close you are to them, you should avoid using any kind of informal language.
Emojis and other slang that you typically use with friends should be avoided. The professor would merely become irritated.
They might simply interpret it as a sign of disrespect so you should refrain from any form of informal tone or language.
So, unless the professor specifically instructs you to use informal language, always use formal language in any official email discussion between yourself and the professor.
Correct Grammar
No one enjoys reading horrible grammar. Professors expect students at that level of education to have good writing skills.
This is especially true when it comes to writing short messages like emails. That said, everyone makes writing mistakes especially when the information is lengthy.
But you can reduce these mistakes by using tools Grammarly which can help identify errors in your writing.
Keep in mind that these tools aren’t perfect, so it’s advisable to read through them yourself or ask a third party to read through them before you click “send”.
Be Polite
Professors are people like us all and have been in your shoes at some point in their academic journey. Additionally, they’ve also had to interact with students with all sorts of concerns and issues.
So, they’re empathetic to your situation so long as you speak to them politely. On the other hand, they would simply ignore any student acting entitled.
Identify Yourself
Whether you’re a PhD or Master’s student, you should identify yourself. Professors teach multiple classes and may not be able to remember every one of their students.
You don’t want to give them additional work to do by not identifying yourself. No professor wants to spend the next 30 minutes looking through their student list to identify who you may be.
Either identify yourself in the introduction of the email or include it in the email signature. You can also do both to make things easier.
Clear And Brief
This isn’t the time to show them how verbose you may be. You may have the time to do that but that doesn’t mean they have the time to read through it all. Avoid writing long emails if you want them to read through it all.
Professors receive multiple emails from students, other staff members, publications, and more. Don’t make things difficult for them by writing lengthy emails. Shorten the email as much as possible while also maintaining a polite tone.
Explain Your Situation
Tell them what you need, why you need the funding, and how it’ll help you. You can also provide specific details about your financial situation, the budget for the project, and how much you’ve managed to raise.
Be Realistic
Don’t go to the professor with a ridiculous budget. Break down what you need in an Excel file, so they know exactly what you’ll be doing with the money.
Don’t just come up with some ridiculous figure off the top of your head, simply because you believe the professor has the funds. The professor would be less likely to accept your request in such cases.
Quote a realistic amount and include a breakdown of everything the amount will be used for.
Don’t Forget Attachment
Don’t forget to attach any relevant documents. Confirm this before you click “send” on the email. Can’t remember the number of times I’ve sent an email simply to receive a response that I neglected to attach the necessary documents.
Wait Patiently
Avoid bombarding them with reminders or you can get blocked. If they haven’t responded to your email, don’t worry.
Professors have busy schedules and it may take longer than you’re expecting for them to respond to you. You can send them a reminder if they haven’t responded after about a week.
Clear Subject Line
Don’t forget to include a subject in your email if you want a response. Professors receive loads of emails daily and subject lines help them identify urgent emails so they can quickly respond.
It makes it easy for them to understand the content of your email without spending too much time reading the full body of your email, which saves them a lot of time.
Example:
Request For Funding For Research {{Research Topic}}
End Formally
Thank the professor for their time and consideration as you close the email. If you didn’t specify it in the email’s introduction, provide your full name, class, and section information.
Example:
Thank you
Sincerely
{{Your full name}}
{{Class and Section}}
How To Find Your Professor’s Email
So how do you find the professor’s email address if this is the first time, you’re reaching out to them?
School Website
Check your faculty page on the school website. These pages usually include information about professors including their official contact information.
Course Overview (LMS)
If your school uses some form of learning management system (LMS) you can check the course overview page for the professor’s assigned course.
You’ll find the professor’s official contact details on the course overview pages.
Course Syllabus
You can also check out the professor’s syllabus for their contact information. You’ll usually find the professor’s contact information as well as their attendance policies on the course syllabus.
Other Students
You’re most likely not the only student who had to email the professor at some point. So, you can ask your classmates for the professor’s email.
Even if none of them has it, you can be sure that someone will provide some advice on where they may have seen it along the line.
Sample Emails To Professor For Funding
Template 1: Asking Professor For Research Funding
Email Subject
Request For Funding For Research {{Research Topic}}
Body
Dear Professor {{Last name}},
I hope this email finds you well. My name is {{Full name}} and I’m a {{Position}}. I’ve been following your work in {{Related Area/Field}} and I’m truly impressed with the impact you’ve had in the field.
I’m currently working on research in {{Project Area}} field titled {{Project title}} with the aim to {{Aim of project}}. I’ve already made significant progress but I need additional funding to take my work to the next level.
I understand that you’re considering projects in this field for funding and would appreciate it if you could consider my project. I’ve attached a breakdown of the expenses and amount needed to complete each milestone as well as a detailed proposal for your review.
I’m confident that with your help, I will be able to make a meaningful contribution in the field of {{Field}}. Thank you for your time and consideration and I look forward to the opportunity to discuss the project further.
Best regards
{{Your full name}}
{{Position and Department}}
Template 2: Asking Professor For Research/Project Funding
Email Subject
Request For Funding Support For {{Research/Project Topic}}
Body
Dear Professor {{Last name}},
I hope this email finds you well. My name is {{Full name}} and I’m a {{Position}} in the {{Department name}} department. I wanted to reach out to you to request your support for my upcoming project, on {{Project title}}.
As you may know, I have been conducting research in the field of {{Field name}}, and I believe that this project has the potential to {{Impact of the project}}. I have already secured some funding from {{Funding sources}} but It’s still shy of the planned budget for the project.
I would greatly appreciate any financial assistance you can provide to help make this project a success. I’ve attached a detailed proposal outlining the details of the project as well as a breakdown of the expenses for your review. I would be happy to discuss this project further and also answer any questions you may have.
Thank you for your time and consideration and I look forward to the opportunity to discuss the project further.
Best regards
{{Your full name}}
{{Position and Department}}
