Academic CV: example and template for lecturer, postdoc and PhD applications

Example CV

Example

Eleanor Marsh

Postdoctoral Research Associate in Social Policy

eleanor.marsh@example.com · 07700 900815 · Glasgow

Summary

Social policy researcher specialising in housing and young people, with a PhD from the University of Glasgow and two years as a postdoctoral research associate on a funded three-year project. Three peer-reviewed articles (two as first author) and a policy report cited in a Scottish Parliament committee evidence session. Taught and convened undergraduate courses on social research methods, with 180 students a year. Applying for lectureships in social policy and sociology from September 2027.

Experience

Postdoctoral Research Associate

Sep 2025 - Present

University of Strathclyde, School of Social Work and Social Policy · Glasgow · Fixed term, funded research project

• Lead the qualitative strand of a three-year project on young people leaving care and housing: 45 interviews in four local authorities.
• First author of an article in a peer-reviewed housing journal (2026); second article under review.
• Co-wrote the project's policy report, presented to a parliamentary committee and to two councils.
• Co-supervise two MSc dissertations and organise the department's research seminar series (12 speakers a year).

Graduate Teaching Assistant

Sep 2022 - Jun 2025

University of Glasgow, School of Social and Political Sciences · Glasgow · Part time, alongside PhD

• Taught weekly seminars on research methods to groups of 20 second-year students; marked 300 essays a year.
• Redesigned the course's interview practical; average student feedback rose from 3.9 to 4.5 out of 5.

Education

PhD Social Policy. Thesis: “Home, first: young care leavers and the private rented sector”. Supervisors: two senior academics. ESRC-funded studentship

Oct 2021 - Sep 2025

University of Glasgow · Glasgow

MSc Social Research, Distinction

Sep 2020 - Aug 2021

University of Edinburgh · Edinburgh

MA (Hons) Sociology, First Class

Sep 2016 - Jun 2020

University of Aberdeen · Aberdeen

Skills

• Qualitative interviewing and thematic analysis
• NVivo
• Survey design and R
• Research ethics applications
• Course design and assessment
• Writing for policy audiences

Languages

• English native speaker
• German B2 · fluent

Interests

Board member of a youth housing charity · Hill walking

Eleanor finished her PhD in 2025 and is on her first postdoc. This is the short version of her CV, the one she uploads with an application. Her full academic CV adds the sections below the example: publications, conferences, funding and referees.

What this example does well:

• the thesis title, funding and degree results are in the education section, which comes first;
• research, publications, teaching and service all appear in the first half page, the three areas jobs.ac.uk says panels look for;
• the postdoc is described by her own contribution (the qualitative strand, first authorship), not the project's aims;
• teaching has numbers: group sizes, essays marked, feedback scores.

Applying for a job outside universities with a PhD? Use a standard two-page CV instead: lead with skills and results, and turn the thesis into a project. Our graduate CV examples show the format.

1. Contact details: name, email, phone, university page or ORCID iD, LinkedIn if you keep it up to date.
2. Education: degrees in reverse order, with the PhD thesis title, supervisors, funding and date (or expected date) of the viva.
3. Employment: research and teaching posts, then other jobs if they are relevant.
4. Research: a short paragraph on your research agenda, current projects and where your research is going next.
5. Publications: peer-reviewed articles, books and chapters, reports, then work under review.
6. Teaching: courses, levels, group sizes, supervision, materials you designed, any teaching qualification.
7. Funding and awards: studentships, grants (with the amount and your role), prizes, fellowships.
8. Conferences and invited talks.
9. Service and administration: committees, seminar series, peer review, outreach.
10. Skills: methods, software, languages.
11. Referees: usually three, with titles and contact details.

jobs.ac.uk suggests three referees, including your PhD supervisor and at least one other academic who knows you. An ORCID iD is a unique, persistent identifier, free for researchers, that links your name to your outputs; it helps when several researchers share your name.

• Use the citation style of your discipline, the same one throughout.
• Bold your own name in each reference, so readers spot your position among the authors at a glance.
• Separate the categories: peer-reviewed articles, books, chapters, reports, then work under review or in preparation.
• Be honest about status: “under review” only once submitted, “forthcoming” only once accepted.
• Add impact when it is real: a policy citation, media coverage, a dataset others use.

Lecturer posts usually combine research and teaching, so the teaching section carries real weight. The National Careers Service says that postgraduates can gain experience by taking on teaching duties, that some universities offer graduate teaching assistant posts, and that new lecturers are expected to do a teaching qualification soon after they start, usually offered by their university.

• PhD application: two pages are usually enough. Lead with your degrees and marks, your dissertation and methods, research experience (assistant roles, summer projects), any presentations, and why this project or supervisor.
• Postdoc: match the project. Put the methods and skills the principal investigator needs at the top, and your publications early, even if there are only two.
• Lectureship: balance research, teaching and service as the person specification does. Panels read the publications and teaching sections closely; the NCS job profile notes it is common to have had academic work published.
• Senior posts: add grants won (amount and your role), PhD students supervised to completion, and leadership roles. An addendum can carry the full list of outputs.

Some funding applications replace the traditional CV with a narrative one. UK Research and Innovation's Résumé for Research and Innovation (R4RI) is a flexible narrative template; the funding opportunity says whether to use it, and gives the word count. It has four modules:

1. contributions to the generation of new ideas, tools, methodologies or knowledge;
2. contributions to the development of others and to effective working relationships;
3. contributions to the wider research and innovation community;
4. contributions to broader research or innovation users and audiences, and to wider societal benefit.

An optional section can give context such as career breaks, secondments or voluntary work. UKRI says assessors never score modules individually, and that only one R4RI is submitted for a whole team. Your full CV is still the place to collect the facts you will draw on.

• Length to fit your career: two pages for a PhD application; more for a lectureship. Careers Wales notes an academic CV can be slightly longer than a traditional one.
• Clear headings and reverse chronological order in every section.
• Page numbers and your name in the footer from page two.
• No photo, age, date of birth or marital status, as on any UK CV.
• A PDF, unless the application portal asks for something else.

• A two-page business CV for a lectureship, with no publications or teaching detail.
• Inflated publication status: “forthcoming” for a paper that is only submitted.
• The project's aims instead of your role in a funded project.
• Teaching listed as course titles only, with no level, size or responsibility.
• The same CV for every post, when one panel wants teaching and another wants grants.

Be clear about what Kandiq covers. The Kandiq CV builder handles the parts every version shares: your profile, posts, education with thesis and results, skills, languages and certifications, with serif templates suited to academic applications. It has no dedicated section for publications, conferences or grants yet, so keep that list in your full academic CV. Kandiq is a good fit for the two-page version for a PhD application or a postdoc, and for the CV you'll need if you apply outside universities. Paste the advert and “Improve my bullets” rewrites your lines in its words, without inventing figures.