After writing this up, I was in two minds whether to post it. But when I received an application that, quite confusingly, began: “Dear professor, my name is [your name]. I am a third-year undergraduate…”, I decided that time for this post had come. So here goes.

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Dear undergraduates,

Every so often, I receive an email from someone among you who wants to do a research internship with me. They are mostly alike. The ones I do take a risk on, by inviting for an interview and often taking onboard for a piece of work, are different, though. How? Those have a genuineness and care to the writing.

That set me thinking and I listed here, for your benefit, who to do and what not to do (the latter first) when writing a research internship email. This is all based on my experiences with prospective interns like you. Much of this is written in a light vein, in the spirit of laughing over one’s own flaws and picking up from wherever we are. I hope you have fun reading and applying this, because I had fun writing it!

So, here’s what to avoid in your email:

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