Directory of research supervisors

On this search engine, the Applyindex platform provides a comprehensive directory of research supervisors in academia around the world. Thus, position-seeking candidates do not need to spend weeks or months on the universities’ and departments’ websites to find potential supervisors to get in touch with. Students can filter the PIs against a wide range of parameters. Such parameters are location, research areas, fields of study, h-index, etc. The number of academic supervisors students can see depends on their membership type. For example, those who use our platform for free (i.e., trial students) can access up to 6 supervisors’ contact info. If the registered PIs advertise any available positions, you will see them in their profiles.

We match you with research supervisors

We are a research supervisor-applicant and applicant-applicant matchmaker! You no longer have to take the traditional ways of finding an academic supervisor. In short, we match you with the most relevant supervisors based on the research interests you specify in your CV. Therefore, please ensure that you fill out the research interest section of your CV. You can easily contact the matched supervisors through our platform if they have any available positions. Otherwise, you can obtain their email address and reach out to them directly.

To our knowledge, we are the first start-up to do such matchmaking in academia. We believe that time is the diamond in academia. In other words, position-seeking applicants and research supervisors deserve a non-time-wasting process to find each other.

The traditional ways of approaching PIs for research opportunities

We have thoroughly answered the question of how to find research supervisors within traditional pathways in the article. Such tiring and inefficient pathways include using the platforms like Web of Science, LinkedIn, Google Scholar, ResearchGate, and the websites of universities.

For example, we will explain how to prepare a potential PhD supervisor list in a country by searching universities’ websites. Usually, this pathway can take up to weeks or months in some cases. Imagine you are a PhD applicant who wishes to contact research supervisors for a PhD in Sydney, Australia. To create a list of potential PhD advisors you need to do the following steps:

(1) Start by visiting your desired university’s official website. There are around 10 universities in Sydney including the University of Sydney, UNSW, Macquarie University, etc. Locate their website easily by searching for the university’s name.

(2) Once on the website, navigate to the department or faculty page that is relevant to your research area, such as the Computer Science department if that is your interest.

(3) Look for the faculty or staff section on the department page. This is where you’ll find information about professors or supervisors.

(4) Explore the faculty or staff page to find lecturers, senior lecturers, assistant or associate professors, and full professors, along with their academic titles and areas of expertise.

(5) Open up all supervisors’ profiles and pay attention to their research interests to identify supervisors who specialize in your research area or have similar interests.

(6) Exclude the profiles of those whose research activities are not aligned with your research interests or background.

(7) Take note of the email addresses of those whose research activities are of your interest, while reviewing their profiles.

(8) Repeat these steps for other departments if you have interdisciplinary research interests or multiple areas of interest.

(9) Compile a shortlist of supervisors and their emails based on their expertise and research areas, aligning with your research goals and interests. Finally, you have a list of PhD supervisors you should get in touch with them.

(10) Email the selected supervisors one by one to see if they (i) have any available PhD positions, (ii) offer you any financial support, or (iii) are willing to support your PhD application.

How to email a research supervisor

We have provided an article as a guideline on how to approach supervisors. When an applicant intends to email academic supervisors they should consider that the structure of an email must be appealing and informative. The email should have a comprehensive and informative subject title. It should be short and formal, and not contain any slang, abbreviations, or emoticons. It may only concentrate on your big academic achievements like a high GPA or a high number of their publications. The email must highlight your research background and interests, and state your interest in that research supervisor’s group. It is also optional to explain how doing research in their group will lead you to your goals.