How to find a supervisor

Choosing the right supervisors is the most important step in your higher degree research journey.

As an HDR candidate, you will be guided by a supervisory team of world-class researchers who are leaders in their field. Your supervisors will challenge you to extend your knowledge and skills, while mentoring you through the research process. This relationship can last for up to four years, depending on your program, so you want to make sure you are both a good fit.

How to choose a supervisor

This is a general guide to finding a supervisor. Please consider how this advice might apply to you as an individual and to your area of research.

If you have completed an Honours degree or a Master degree with a significant research component, consider asking your current supervisor(s) to guide you in the right direction. They are a gold mine of advice and information because:

They know you very well and understand your strengths and areas for growth.
They understand how you like to work and receive feedback.
They will have a great knowledge of their discipline and who might be a good fit for you.
They are likely to have an extensive professional/academic network to tap into.
While there are many differences in programs and supervisors, successful candidates often share the same fundamental traits, including the ability to:

Have a curious, flexible and resilient attitude.
Bring fresh ideas and perspectives.
Throw themselves headfirst into a challenge they don't understand.
Accept feedback with understanding and enthusiasm.
Work with a level of independence.

When you think about how you might fit in a program and who to approach, please consider the following:

What subject matter expertise, methodologies, or specialised equipment do you need?
What are your abilities and skill gaps?
What kind of person do you think you will work well with?
How do you want to be supervised? Do you work well independently, or do you prefer someone who will provide a greater level of guidance?

It’s not just what you know, but how you work. Supervisors don’t expect you to know everything; in fact, most will want you to be open-minded and keen to challenge your assumptions. It’s okay not to have all of the answers, so long as you’re curious and driven.
You can learn a lot about potential supervisors from their digital presence. Consider this your first research project at UNSW.

Search for people who are a good fit for you and your research topic by learning about their work, networks and professional interests:

Search our supervisors and projects pages
What is their subject matter expertise, methodology, and research infrastructure?
Read some of their journal articles, books, grants, etc.
Read their website (even if they obviously haven't updated their photo for 10 years).
Do they talk about their current candidates?
Look for videos of them at events and speaking engagements.
Do they have industry connections? Is that important to you?

Keep in mind:

Research thrives when different backgrounds and perspectives are represented, so it is a good idea to keep your search broad.
Higher degree research not only involves working closely with a supervisory team but also joining a research community. Every faculty, school, and research team has its own research culture. Learn about it.
Your supervisors must have expertise in your research area, and your primary supervisor must work within the school and faculty where you would like to be enrolled.

One way to approach this is to start your search within your broad research area or field and then focus down from there.

Once you have found a primary supervisor who agrees to supervise your project, they will help you find other supervisors to join the supervisory team. If your research is interdisciplinary, you can approach potential supervisors from other schools and/or faculties to bring their expertise to the team.

Consider your proposed supervisor's career stage

Expertise is not determined by career stage. For most PhD students, finding a supervisor whose research closely matches their interests and whose supervision style suits them is more important than seniority alone.

However, it's worth considering the general trade-offs as they relate to supervisors at different career stages, if only to broaden your search.

	Mid-career and senior academics	Early career academics
Availability to candidates	Higher demand on their time due to leadership, committee, grant and external commitments.	Often have a greater capacity for regular interaction.
Academic networks	Larger, established national and international research networks and collaborations.	Growing research networks that may provide emerging collaboration opportunities.
Reputation	Extensive track record of grants, publications and leadership.	Strong, often rapidly developing research profiles, frequently at the forefront of new methods and ideas.
Postgraduate research supervision experience	More experience supervising PhD candidates and navigating research careers.	Often have fewer years of supervision experience but are actively building their supervision portfolios.
Number of supervision enquiries	High volumes of requests.	Start with a lower level of requests that increases as their profile grows.

Search supervisors & projects

Explore our database of supervisors and projects

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How to create a high-quality approach

Three key points to know

You are applying to a rigorous, exclusive academic program. Make yourself stand out by using a targeted, high-quality, human approach. Your potential supervisor will recognise bulk, impersonal, or AI-written emails, and they're likely to know if the same email has been sent to a colleague.
Be concise - Include only the most important, relevant information. If the supervisor is interested, they will ask for more.
Make it personal - Demonstrate that you understand the supervisor's work and how they are a good fit for your topic. The more personal and specific your enquiry, the more likely you are to get a reply.

Once you’ve chosen some potential supervisors, you will need to contact them to find out if they are available to supervise you.

Email is usually the best way to contact a potential supervisor. You will find contact details on their UNSW Researcher Profile page.

Your first email should include:

Brief introduction about you and your proposed research
Why you would like to be supervised by this person. This is about demonstrating your knowledge of their expertise.
Your scholarship or funding intentions, including whether you intend to apply for a UNSW scholarship.
Attach: Research proposal
Attach: Curriculum Vitae (CV)
Attach: Official academic transcripts in original language and English

Your email should demonstrate that you:

Have done your research about the proposed supervisor, and that your proposal matches their expertise (see How to choose a supervisor)
Can pose interesting questions and bring a unique perspective and/or skillset to a topic.
Have appropriate experience and qualifications for the program and for the proposed research topic.
An example email

Dear Professor Cornelius Xiang,

I read your article in Nature on [interesting research topic]. It made me think about [idea] & [idea]. I’m interested in a project on [idea]. I am currently completing my Honours research in [interesting topic] under Professor Amelia Power at Harvard University, USA.

(If applicable) I’ve also reached out to [Professor at UNSW] and [Associate Professor at the London School of Economics].

I’d be interested in speaking to you about supervision, whether there is any funding available for my research and how we could develop the attached proposal further. I have also attached my CV and academic transcripts for reference.

Thank you,
Promising Applicant
When you write to potential supervisors, you should include a summary of your proposed research topic. Your research proposal may be a work-in-progress, but it should demonstrate that you have thought seriously about your proposed topic.

Your research proposal should include:

Background
Research question
How others have answered it?
Why is it significant?
How do you want to approach it?

Once a supervisor agrees to supervise your project, they will provide you with feedback on your original proposal. After an editing and review process, you will provide an updated version in your application for admission to UNSW.
CV should demonstrate that you're a competitive candidate and include:

Your academic background with university name(s), country(ies), and year of completion
Overall GPA/score
Academic awards, prizes and other achievements (if applicable)
Publications (if applicable) with year of publication and link to the publication
Other research/professional experience

Transcripts must be in English and the original language (where applicable). Should include:

Cumulative GPA with an explanation of the official grading system and scores
Courses completed, grades and units of credit for each course
Current courses (if applicable)

Preparing for your pre-admission interview

When a supervisor is interested in taking you on as a candidate, they will invite you to a pre-admission interview. This is an opportunity for both of you to get to know each other. Like a job interview, it’s a chance to learn how the other person thinks and works. Your potential supervisor is most interested in your attitude and aptitude at this stage.

Everyone's different, so finding the right match for both of you is critical - and that will be highly individual.

Why did you choose them as a supervisor?
What do you know about their research/expertise/methods?
How do you think about and communicate ideas?
What kind of experience do you have?
How will you respond to feedback?
Are you willing to challenge your assumptions?
What kind of supervision do you need?
How can you work on an existing research project (where applicable)?
Why study at UNSW? Why Australia?
Why do you want to do a higher degree research degree? What's your motivation?
Where do you want to take your career when you finish your studies?
What do they think about your proposal?
What is their communication style and frequency?
How do they like to work? What is a day in their life like?
What kinds of projects are they currently supervising?
What funding pathways/sources are available?
What kind of research culture do they promote?
Can you speak to their current candidates?
Is there anything you should know about the program?
Do they speak in a way that connects with you?

Frequently asked questions

Finding the right supervisor for your project can take anything from a few weeks to months. Academics are busy people with many responsibilities, and they may already have several candidates. It may also take you some time to find the right supervisor for you and your proposed research.

You can improve the likelihood of a positive response by creating a high-quality proposal and enquiry.
Yes. So long as it is a high-quality approach, supervisors will understand that you will be contacting a range of people. Don’t just copy and paste the same enquiry.

If you are contacting multiple people in a related field, be transparent about it. Chances are they know each other. This gives the proposed supervisor more information about how you plan to approach your topic.

Academics are busy people with many responsibilities, so it may take some time for them to respond. If you haven’t heard back after a few weeks, you can follow up once by email.

If you still haven't heard back from them, you may need to reconsider whether you have met the entry requirements and have a high-quality approach before contacting a new academic.
Finding the right supervisor can take time. If you haven’t found a suitable supervisor, try broadening your search to researchers working in related areas and explore available research projects. You may also wish to review your desired faculty or school’s guidance, as the process for identifying a supervisor can vary.

Remember that a supervisor needs to have the appropriate expertise and capacity to support your proposed research, so finding the right match is important.