One of the greatest hurdles in securing fully funded scholarships is often associated with securing a professor's acceptance, especially for people in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). The importance of cold emailing cannot be overemphasized. From salutation to highlighting why you intend to work with a particular professor or study in a university, all these points must be well captured in your first email.

Cold email is neither a hot nor cold letter handed over to the postmaster but rather a form of unsolicited email often used to express interest in a group or workplace. See below an example of a cold email format:

Dear Professor Adedara, (Last name),

I write to apply for the position of doctoral/master student in your group at the Institute of Pharmacology, University of Ekiti State, Nigeria. I recently completed my master's/bachelor's degree at the University of Efon Alaaye, Nigeria. I have about 8 years of experience studying microbial pathogenesis and antimicrobial resistance.

My bachelor’s thesis was on antibiotic resistance patterns of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from a tertiary hospital in Ekiti State, Nigeria. The finding of this study shows an increase in antimicrobial resistance of these strains to even drugs of last resort. In order to know more about microbial pathogenesis and their antimicrobial resistance machinery, I started my Master’s program at the University of Katenko, Egypt.

My master’s thesis focused on the mechanism of antimicrobial resistance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Part of the findings of the result which has been published in MBio showed that specific genes including atfa, amt are responsible for antimicrobial resistance and biofilm production in Pseudomonas aeruginosa which can be further explored as antimicrobial targets.

The experience so far has broadened my knowledge and skills in advanced molecular microbiology techniques such as the generation of mutant strains using homologous gene replacement techniques, CRISPR Cas 9 gene editing technology and primer design, nucleic acid isolation and manipulation (DNA and RNA isolation), DNA digestion, ligation and cloning, mRNA expression level assay by qRT-PCR, protein extraction and assay using SDS-PAGE,  osmotic stress and oxidative sensitivity tests and so on. These opportunities have reinforced my resolve to stay associated with academics and increased my interest in the teaching profession which I dream of becoming a Professor of Microbiology in the near future.

To fulfill my aspirations and dreams of becoming a Professor of Microbiology, I deem it necessary to apply as a doctoral student in your group. I read some of your research articles and I find them interesting. Most importantly, your latest publication highlighting the roles of glucose as a carbon source for signal transduction in Aspergillus nidulans is fascinating and it would be a great opportunity for me to explore the impact of other carbon sources. I believe that an opportunity to pass through you, especially with your area of research interest in cell cycle regulation and development of Escherichia coli will provide me the opportunity to learn advanced theories of molecular and cellular biology and sophisticated experimental skills.

I am enclosing my curriculum vitae. Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

Oluwaseun Ademeye (not real name)