Academic CV Template for Research and Faculty Jobs

What is an academic CV?

An academic CV, short for curriculum vitae, is a full record of your scholarly career: education, appointments, publications, grants, teaching, presentations and service. Universities, research institutes and funding bodies use it to judge your research productivity, independence, teaching and contribution to your field. Unlike a job resume, it is not trimmed to one page. It grows with your career and aims to be complete, clear and accurate.

Academic CV vs resume

A resume is a short, selective summary for industry jobs, usually one or two pages, focused on results. An academic CV is longer and comprehensive, focused on research outputs and academic service. If you are leaving academia for industry, turn your CV into a resume: cut the publication list to a few highlights, translate research into skills and outcomes, and use a format such as the North America template.

How long should an academic CV be?

There is no fixed limit. A PhD candidate's CV is often two to three pages, and a senior professor's can run much longer. This template is designed for a clean two-page CV, which suits PhD candidates, postdocs and early-career faculty. If a funder or job posting sets a page limit, such as a short CV for a grant application, follow it exactly and select your most relevant outputs.

Sections in an academic CV

1. Name, current position, contact details and ORCID or profile link.
2. Research interests, in two or three lines.
3. Education, with thesis title and supervisor.
4. Academic appointments.
5. Publications.
6. Grants, fellowships and awards.
7. Teaching and supervision.
8. Presentations and invited talks.
9. Service, skills and referees.

Listing publications

Use one citation style common in your field and apply it consistently. List publications newest first and put your own name in bold so readers can see your position in the author list. Separate peer-reviewed journal articles from conference papers, book chapters, preprints and work under review, and label anything not yet accepted clearly. Never list a paper as accepted before it is. If first or senior authorship matters in your field, make it easy to see.

Grants, fellowships and awards

Funding shows that peers trust your ideas. For each grant or fellowship, give the name, funder, your role such as principal investigator or co-investigator, the amount and the years. Include competitive travel grants and student awards early in your career; drop the smaller ones as your record grows.

Teaching and supervision

List courses with the level, your role, such as lecturer, co-instructor or teaching assistant, the year and the number of students. Add any course you designed, teaching awards and strong evaluation results. Supervision of PhD, master's and undergraduate students counts too, especially if they published or won awards. Teaching-focused institutions read this section closely, so give it real detail when applying to them.

Presentations and invited talks

Separate invited talks from contributed presentations and posters, since invitations signal standing in your field. Give the title, event, location and year. Early-career researchers can list posters; senior researchers usually keep only significant talks.

Service and professional activity

Include peer review for journals, editorial roles, conference organisation, departmental committees, outreach and mentoring. Hiring committees look for good academic citizens, and service shows you will contribute beyond your own research.

Research interests and skills

A short research interests line near the top helps busy committee members place you quickly. A methods and skills section, listing techniques, instruments, software and languages, is useful in lab and computational fields and when applying for positions that need specific expertise.

Referees

Unlike industry resumes, academic CVs often list three referees with their titles, institutions and email addresses, typically your PhD supervisor, postdoctoral mentor and a collaborator. Ask each person before listing them and send them the job description so their letter fits.

Tailoring for different institutions

For research-intensive universities, lead with publications and funding. For teaching-focused colleges, bring teaching and course design higher. For fellowships, put the research plan and outputs that match the funder's goals first. Keep the content accurate in every version and change only the order and emphasis.

Academic CV for PhD students and postdocs

If you are early in your career, include work in progress, conference posters, teaching assistant roles, travel grants and student awards. Name your thesis and expected completion date. Show independence wherever you can, such as a side project you led, a student you mentored or a small grant you won on your own.

Medical and clinical academics

Clinician scientists combine both worlds. Add registration and clinical appointments near the top, then research and teaching. For clinical jobs without a major research component, the Physician template is more focused.

Is this academic CV template ATS-friendly?

Yes. Many universities collect applications through HR systems before committees read them. This template uses one column, real text and standard headings. Check your file with the ATS resume checker before uploading.

Mistakes on academic CVs

• Mixing citation styles or listing papers in random order.
• Listing submitted work as accepted.
• Leaving out grant amounts or your role on them.
• Sending a full CV when the posting asks for a short one.

Formatting an academic CV

Keep the design plain and consistent. Use clear section headings, the same date style throughout and enough white space that a committee member can find your publications or grants in seconds. Put your name and page numbers on every page after the first, in case pages are printed and separated. Avoid colour, photos and graphics; in academia, a clean CV signals care.

Keeping your CV current

Update your CV every time a paper is accepted, a grant is awarded or you give a talk. It takes minutes then and hours later, when you are rushing to meet an application deadline and trying to remember dates and co-authors.

Cover letters for academic jobs

Faculty applications usually include a cover letter, research statement and teaching statement alongside the CV. The letter should name the position, summarise your research and its direction, explain why this department fits and point to the strongest items on your CV. Keep it to about two pages and tailor it to each institution.

Get started

Open the Academic CV template, add your appointments, publications, grants and teaching, or upload your current CV to fill it in. Check your ATS score, download a clean PDF and let your research record make the case.