PhD and Academic Email Signature Examples
Five PhD and academic email signature examples: PhD student, PhD candidate, postdoc, lecturer, and professor, with what each one should include, from department and ORCID to office hours.
A PhD email signature has one job: tell a stranger who you are, where you work, and how to find your research. The person reading it might be a conference organizer, a journal editor, a lab you want to visit, or a student in your section, and none of them should have to guess your rank or department.
Below are five academic email signature examples built in MySigMail, from a first-year PhD student to a full professor. Each one is a real render of a MySigMail template, not a mockup. After the examples you'll find what to include, what to leave out, and how to make your own.
Examples by Academic Role
1. PhD student: minimal, with research links
For PhD students in their first years who mostly email supervisors, lab mates, and other students.
What it includes: name, program, university, a lab page instead of a phone number, and icons for Google Scholar, GitHub, and LinkedIn. A phone number is optional at this stage. Leaving it out keeps the signature short.
2. PhD candidate: dissertation and advisor line
For candidates who are writing up, applying for jobs, or contacting researchers outside their department.
What it includes: the full department name, an ORCID link as the main website, and a single line with the dissertation topic and advisor. That last line answers the first two questions a stranger has about a PhD candidate: what you work on and with whom.
3. Postdoc: lab affiliation and a preprint link
For postdoctoral researchers, who usually need to point people at a specific lab and their latest work.
What it includes: the "PhD" after your name, the lab next to the title, a contact block, and one button for the paper you most want people to read. Update or remove the button when the paper changes. A stale "latest preprint" link looks worse than none.
4. Lecturer: crest and office hours
For lecturers and teaching faculty whose email is full of student questions.
What it includes: a crest instead of a photo, the department page, and office hours with the building and room. When the times and the room are in every reply, students stop emailing to ask for them. Use the official crest only if your university's brand guidelines allow it.
5. Professor: photo, lab and publications
For professors and principal investigators who run a lab and recruit students and collaborators.
What it includes: the formal title, the lab website, a "Recent publications" button, and a Google Scholar icon. One publications link is enough. Prospective students will find the rest from there.
Want one of these as a starting point? Open MySigMail and pick a template. The free plan includes all templates.
What to Include in a PhD Email Signature
Name and degree
Use the name you publish under, so people can match your email to your papers. Add the highest degree you hold ("Jane Doe, PhD"). If you don't have the doctorate yet, don't add it. Your title already says you're working on it.
Your exact role
"PhD Student", "PhD Candidate", "Postdoctoral Research Fellow", "Assistant Professor". In many US programs, "candidate" is used after you pass qualifying exams. Elsewhere, "PhD student" or "doctoral researcher" is common. Use the term your department uses.
Department and institution
Write the department in full ("Department of Earth Sciences", not "EAS"). People outside your field won't know the abbreviation.
Research profile
Pick one main research link: ORCID, Google Scholar, or a lab page. ORCID is a persistent researcher identifier that stays the same when you change institutions. Add a second link as an icon only if it serves a different purpose, such as GitHub for code.
Office hours and location (teaching staff)
If you teach, add office hours and the room. For PhD students who TA a course, a course page link is often more useful than a phone number.
What to Leave Out
- Every degree you hold. "PhD" is enough. A list of B.A., M.A., M.Phil. reads as padding.
- Quotes and mottos. Your email goes to editors and hiring committees, not only friends.
- Long legal disclaimers, unless your institution requires one. If it does, use the official wording.
- Several "latest paper" links. One current link is better than three old ones.
- Logos you're not allowed to use. Many universities publish brand and email signature guidelines. Check them before adding a crest.
How to Make Your Academic Email Signature
Option 1: MySigMail
- Create a free account.
- Pick a template. The examples above use five different layouts.
- Fill in your name, title, department, and university.
- Add a photo or, if your university allows it, a crest.
- Add your research links: ORCID, Google Scholar, LinkedIn, or GitHub.
- If you have office hours, a dissertation line, or a paper to promote, add them below the contacts.
- Copy the signature into Gmail, Outlook, or Apple Mail and send a test email to yourself.
Running a lab or a department? On the Pro and Unlimited plans, a personalization link lets you set the layout once and have each member fill in their own details, no account needed, so the whole group's signatures match.
Option 2: Your email client's editor
Gmail, Outlook, and Apple Mail all have a built-in signature editor, and for a plain text signature it's enough. It gets harder when you want a photo, icons, or a two-column layout. Send a test email to a colleague on a different email client and check it on a phone before you rely on it.