This document shall act as your unofficial guide on how to contact the Professors, be it for funding requests or for working under them for research purposes. Remember that every department has its own set of norms for contacting the Professors and we at IGSA shall try our best to incorporate all the factors and help you with this process.
- Always address Professors with "Dr." (if he/she has a PhD) or "Professor". Avoid using "Mr./Miss" and NEVER use "Mrs."
- Keep your emails brief and to the point, as Professors are very busy with their classes, researches and of course replying to the tons of emails that they get daily.
- Beginning the emails with Good morning/Good evening is one the most common mistakes students make. We suggest you use "Howdy"- the Aggie way of greeting one and all.
- Do not send a follow up email before a week of your first email as Professors need time to reply from their busy schedules.
- If the purpose of the email is to introduce yourself to the Professor as a new student joining for the forthcoming term, do not bring up the question of funding in your very first email. Remember, your motive in the beginning is to find a Professor that you would like to work with, and to see if they would be interested in working with you, on the basis of matching research interests.
- You can find more about the Professor and his researches from the current students before sending emails to the Professor.
- Never CC/BCC multiple number of Professors seeking funding/research opportunities (Pretty obvious. However, important enough to be mentioned.)
- Do your study about the Professor's background and research interests before contacting him/her.
- Do not include extra humble/respect as per Indian norms. Keep it professional enough.
- We, as Indians, tend to use overly fawning and circuitous language. It is advisable to use simpler words and keep the emails professional. For example, it is rare to see the word "kindly" being used in email conversations here; "please" is an easier and a more common alternative to it.
- When you get a reply, appreciate it by replying with at least a thank you note.