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How to Write a Good Academic Biography (Part 1)

When your journal article gets accepted or you are preparing for a public presentation, you will often be asked for a short academic biography. For many people, these academic bios are more difficult to write than a dissertation. How do you sum up yourself and your work in 3-5 sentences? What do you need to include? What should you leave out?

What You Should Do

• Start with your full name followed by your current position, your general interests, and your current project, keeping them all very brief.
• If you are within a year of receiving a prestigious award, mention that as well.
• Finally, finish with a sentence that’s personal: add a hobby, a pet’s name, the city you live in—whatever you are comfortable with that is personal but not too private.

What You Should Avoid

• Avoid speaking in the first person, i.e., don’t use “I.”
• Don’t divulge details beyond your current position.
• In a longer bio of multiple paragraphs, you may add more awards and information about your master’s and bachelor’s degrees, but not in a short bio. Moreover, don’t add anything that happened before grad school—including your place of birth. For example:

Hi! My name is Scott. I was originally born in Vermont and now I’m a professor at North Yankee University in Fargone, New York (in upstate New York). I study antelopes’ migration patterns and their impact of native grain growth. My interest in antelopes began as a teenager when I first saw one in the wild. I did my undergrad degree in biology at SUNY and my masters and UCLA and my PhD in Forestry at Hunter College.

Related: Finished drafting your academic biography and heading for an international conference? Check out this post now!

The above example is far too casual and Scott’s work and current position are overshadowed by all the other random details. This can be written in a much better way:

Scott Sampson is a professor of Wildlife Biology at North Yankee University. His work focuses specifically on the migration patterns of antelope and their impact on the growth of native grain. His favorite place to do research in his backyard, which opens to the Akron National Forest.

This improvised version is concise, relevant, and makes Scott’s bio appear professional while giving a short description of his personal details.

Longer Bios

For longer bios, follow the same basic rules, but go into a bit more depth about your work, your education, and your future projects or interests. You may also consider adding a line about your immediate family. But as always, leave the personal details for a short and friendly mention at the end of the bio.

Mostly, your bio will be used by someone to introduce you at a conference or public event so if you write your bio using these tips, you will help them give a smooth and accurate introduction. Remember that the bio is the first thing that people know about you so pack it full of the most important things about yourself!

If you would like to know more about different formats of academic biography, read the next article in this series!

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How to Write a Good Academic Biography (Part 2)

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How to Write an Academic Biography

Most early-career academicians and PhD students spend a lot of time in research. They are often engaged in submitting papers to journals and conferences and sometimes contributing articles and chapters, and publishing books. These generally require their core credentials to be presented in the form of a short academic biography. Such bios are also needed for posting on departmental or personal websites and social media platforms as well. Academic bios are crucial as they help to establish a researcher’s professional identity, facilitate networking and collaboration, and create opportunities for career advancement.   

However, writing an academic bio is no easy task. In fact, most early career researchers find writing their academic autobiography more challenging than writing a complex research paper. Creating an academic bio requires researchers to introspect on their careers and present their achievements using a delicate balance between humility and self-promotion. Content also needs to be tailored depending on where the bio will be given. Moreover, maintaining the right mix of factual accuracy and engaging storytelling is essential and can be challenging. No wonder, then, that understanding the nuances involved in creating an impactful bio is a crucial skill that early career researchers must develop.    

This article explores the intricacies of crafting an engaging academic autobiography, shares details on how to structure it, and outlines the key elements that it must include. It also offers some great tips that make the writing process easier.    

Table of Contents

Academic biography: structure and essential elements    

While there are different ways in which you can present your academic biography, there are two basic frameworks that are usually used –    

Short academic bio  

Written using 35-50 words, a brief biography is generally used for articles, books, and conferences. It should include the following key elements:   

• Write your full name so that the readers can identify you correctly.    
• Mention your professional position – it gives readers an introduction to what you do.   
• Share details of your academic associations, department, and institution    
• List details of your area of study, accomplishments, and published books.    
• Provide relevant contact information, such as social media handles, website details, or links to blogs, that can help those interested reach out to you when needed.   

Long academic biography  

More detailed than a short bio, this is useful for your department or personal website or for seminars where you are the main speaker. Generally, around 150–400 words, long bios include the following critical elements in addition to the core points provided in the short bio –   

• Recent or ongoing research projects   
• Anecdotes and pivotal developments that marked a turning point in your career   
• Significant publications and conference presentations    
• Research grants, academic awards, and honours received   
• An explanation of how your research is situated within the broader field of study and share your vision for contributing to the academic community or society at large   
• Acknowledgement of mentors who have guided and inspired your academic pursuits.   
• A mention of challenges encountered during your work and lessons learnt from them.   

Basic guidelines

• Purpose: understand the context and purpose for which you are preparing the bio. Is it for a journal, a conference, or a website?    
• Audience: who is going to read your bio? What would be the key aspects that you want people to know about your work? Considering these points will help highlight the relevant aspects of your academic career.   
• Narration: Always write in the third person.   
• Review: Periodical reviews are crucial to keep your academic bio updated.   
• Proofread: Check and edit your bio carefully to avoid errors in grammar and spelling.   

What should you not do?

• Avoid providing too many details or information as in a CV.   
• Refrain from sharing unnecessary personal information    
• Avoid generalizations and instead offer specific examples of work and experiences.   
• Maintain a professional tone and avoid using slang or colloquialisms   
• Avoid using humour in your biography.   

Examples of Academic Biography    

Let us look at some examples of a good and bad academic biography.   

“Hi, my name is Simon. Born in Illinois, I was a University of Chicago alumnus before I moved to New York. There, I joined NYU and pursued research. Though this area of work was far different from what I pursued in my undergrad, which was a degree in life sciences, I am midway through my PhD course right now.”   

This is an example of how an academic biography should not appear. It has a very casual ring to it while providing unnecessary details. On the other hand, this bio can be made more effective and impactful by writing it like this instead –   

“Simon Parks is a professor of social sciences at New York State University. Having spent his early years in a household that had regular theological discussions, Simon developed a keen interest in the field of religion and its intersectionality with capitalist ideologies. His key areas of work and research focus on religion, political ideology, and democratization. He is presently pursuing his PhD degree building on his research work at the University.”   

This version is more professional, to the point, and focuses only on what is required. When done well, an academic autobiography can be a valuable tool, providing valuable insights into the author’s interests and research.    

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How to write a good scientific review article

Affiliation.

• 1 The FEBS Journal Editorial Office, Cambridge, UK.
• PMID: 35792782
• DOI: 10.1111/febs.16565

Literature reviews are valuable resources for the scientific community. With research accelerating at an unprecedented speed in recent years and more and more original papers being published, review articles have become increasingly important as a means to keep up to date with developments in a particular area of research. A good review article provides readers with an in-depth understanding of a field and highlights key gaps and challenges to address with future research. Writing a review article also helps to expand the writer's knowledge of their specialist area and to develop their analytical and communication skills, amongst other benefits. Thus, the importance of building review-writing into a scientific career cannot be overstated. In this instalment of The FEBS Journal's Words of Advice series, I provide detailed guidance on planning and writing an informative and engaging literature review.

© 2022 Federation of European Biochemical Societies.

Publication types

• Review Literature as Topic*