Academic CV Examples & Writing Guide

If you’re applying for an academic role, a resume won’t cut it—you’ll need an academic CV. This document tells the full story of your background, from research and teaching experience to publications and presentations. 

While it may look overwhelming at first, writing an academic CV is much easier when you know what hiring committees expect. This article walks you through the process so that you can create a strong, well-organized academic CV with confidence.

Want to save time and have your academic CV ready in a flash? Try our CV builder. It’s fast and easy to use. Just type up the contents. Our builder will make sure your CV looks great.

Create your CV now

Use this CV template

Sample academic CV made with our builder—See more CV examples here.

What Is an Academic CV?

An academic CV is a detailed overview of your academic background and achievements. It outlines your education, professional appointments, research and teaching experience, publications, grants, awards, fellowships, and other key accomplishments. 

Academic CVs are commonly used by researchers and scholars when applying for academic, scientific, or research-based roles.

One important thing to understand: an academic CV is not the same as a standard resume used outside academia. Its purpose is to showcase your scholarly work in depth, which is why it includes more sections and far greater detail than a traditional resume.

How to Write an Academic CV

Before writing your CV, let’s understand what key sections hiring committees expect to see. Here's what you should include:

• Contact information
• Professional summary
• Education
• Teaching experience
• Research experience
• Publications
• Conferences
• Additional sections

Let's review each one. 

Pro tip:  There’s no page-count limit for a CV. Make it as long as it takes to show your entire career path, even if that means reaching 10+ pages.

Contact information

The header of your academic CV should clearly list your full contact information. This will help hiring committees and admissions teams easily reach you. Include the following:

• Full name
• Professional title and current affiliation
• Personal or institutional address
• ZIP code and city
• Email address
• Phone number
• LinkedIn or Bold.pro profile (optional)

Professional summary

A professional summary sits at the top of your academic CV. It gives readers a quick overview of who you are and what you do. 

If you’re applying for a research-focused position, use your summary to highlight your research interests, goals, and areas of expertise. Mention your main research focus and how it aligns with the role or institution. 

For teaching positions or teaching-centered roles, emphasize your teaching experience, instructional strengths, and academic areas you’ve taught. No matter the role, keep your summary brief, targeted, and focused on what makes you a strong candidate.

Here’s an example of a research-focused summary: 

Education

Your educational background is one of the most important sections of an academic CV. Hiring committees and admissions panels rely on it to understand your academic training, research focus, and scholarly development. 

For this reason, it should appear near the top of your CV.

List all postsecondary degrees in reverse-chronological order, starting with your most recent or expected degree. Include the following:

• Year of completion or expected completion (do not list start dates)
• Degree type
• Major field of study
• Minor(s), if applicable
• Department and institution
• Academic honors or distinctions
• Dissertation or thesis title and advisor

Here’s an example: 

Teaching experience

The teaching experience section allows hiring committees to evaluate your classroom experience, teaching strengths, and subject expertise.

List your teaching roles in reverse-chronological order. For each entry, clearly outline your responsibilities and contributions. Be specific about the courses you taught and the level of involvement you had. Include:

• Your role (e.g., Instructor of Record, Teaching Assistant, Guest Lecturer)
• Course title
• Institution and department
• Term(s) taught
• Brief description of teaching responsibilities, methods, or achievements

If you have limited teaching experience, you can still include this section by highlighting guest lectures, teaching workshops, curriculum development, or mentoring experience. Keep descriptions concise and focused on impact, especially for teaching-focused academic roles.

See this example: 

Research experience

For research-focused and tenure-track roles, highlighting your scholarly contributions, methodological expertise, and ability to conduct independent and collaborative research is key. 

As with your education and teaching sections, list your research roles in reverse-chronological order. For each position, describe the scope of your work, research focus, and key outcomes. Emphasize your specific contributions rather than listing general duties.

Add these details:

• Research position title
• Institution, department, or research group
• Dates of involvement
• Research focus or project title
• Methods, techniques, or approaches used
• Key outcomes, such as publications, presentations, or funded projects

When applicable, connect your research experience to your broader academic goals or areas of expertise. Keep descriptions concise, accurate, and tailored to the role you’re applying for.

For example: 

Publications

The publications section highlights your scholarly contributions and demonstrates your impact in your field. Include peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, conference proceedings, and invited talks.

List them in reverse-chronological order, and use a consistent citation style (APA, MLA, Chicago, or a discipline-specific style).

See this example: 

Conferences

Conferences highlight your engagement with the scholarly community and your efforts to stay current in your field. List conferences where you presented research or delivered talks. Include ones you attended if relevant to your professional development. 

Include the conference title, your role (e.g., presenter, panelist, attendee), location, and date. For example: 

Additional sections

Depending on your academic career and the position you’re applying for, you may want to include additional sections to showcase your skills, achievements, and professional activities. These sections can strengthen your CV:

• Grants & awards: Recognitions and funding received for research, scholarships, fellowships, or academic excellence
• Professional affiliations: Memberships in academic, professional, or industry organizations
• Certifications & training: Relevant certifications, workshops, or specialized training
• Technical skills & methodologies: Laboratory techniques, software proficiency, or research methodologies
• Languages: Any foreign languages you speak and your language proficiency level (e.g., native, fluent, intermediate)
• Outreach & service: Volunteer work, community engagement, or academic service (e.g., journal reviewing, committee work)
• Mentoring & supervision: Experience guiding students, interns, or research assistants
• Extracurricular projects: Relevant projects outside formal research or teaching that demonstrate transferable skills

Making a CV with our builder is incredibly simple. Follow our step-by-step guide, use ready-made content tailored to your job, and have a CV ready in minutes.

Create my CV now

When you’re done, Zety’s CV Checker will score your CV and tell you exactly how to make it better.

How to Format an Academic CV

Whether you’re applying for graduate school, a research position, or a faculty role, your CV will face a lot of competition. 

A clear, professional, and easy-to-skim format ensures decision-makers can quickly see your qualifications. Here’s how to create an effective academic CV format:

• Use 1-inch margins on all sides. This ensures your CV looks clean and prints well.
• Choose a consistent font and size. Stick to one professional font, like Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman. Use 11–12 pt for body text and 14–16 pt in bold for section headings. Only italicize journal or book titles.
• Use white space effectively. Leave a blank double-space before each heading and single-space after. This makes your CV easier to read and guides the eye.
• Include clear section headings. Make it easy for readers to locate your contact information, education, research, teaching, publications, and other key sections.
• Make your CV as long as it needs to be. Unlike resumes, academic CVs have no strict page limit. Include all relevant experience and achievements.
• Name your CV file professionally. Use your full name followed by a descriptive label, such as: Jane_Doe_Academic_CV.pdf or John_Smith_PhD_CV.pdf.
• Save your CV as a PDF. PDFs preserve formatting across devices and software versions.
• Keep formatting consistent. Avoid excessive colors, graphics, or elaborate designs. Clarity is more important than flair.
• Include page numbers. This is especially helpful if you’re submitting a multi-page document.

Academic CV template

Use this CV template to effectively organize your document and ensure it gets into the hiring committee’s hands. 

Academic CV Examples

Check out these CV examples to see how other academics showcase their higher education experience and skills. 

Postgraduate researcher

Use this template

Use this template

Assistant professor

Use this template

Use this template

You might find these CV and resume examples useful, too:

• College Application Resume
• CV Template for Students
• Undergraduate Resume
• Recent College Graduate Resume
• Graduate Student CV
• Research Assistant Resume
• Environmental Science Resume
• Scientific Resume
• Professor CV
• CV Examples for All Jobs

Key Takeaways

Before you start creating your CV, remember these key points: 

• An academic CV is more detailed than a resume and highlights your educational background, research, teaching, publications, and other scholarly achievements.
• Always organize sections in reverse-chronological order and use clear, consistent headings so decision-makers can easily skim your CV.
• Include a professional summary tailored to your target role. Focus on research objectives for research positions or teaching experience for academic instruction roles.
• Highlight your research and teaching experience with achievement-focused bullet points, noting responsibilities, methodologies, and outcomes.
• Incorporate optional sections like grants, awards, technical skills, languages, professional affiliations, and mentoring to showcase your full academic profile.
• Use professional formatting, such as a consistent font, readable size, proper margins, and white space, and save it as a PDF with a clear file name.
• Your academic CV has no strict page limit. Include all relevant experience, but ensure it is well-organized, concise where possible, and easy to read.

About Zety’s Editorial Process

This article has been reviewed by our editorial team to make sure it follows Zety's editorial guidelines. We’re committed to sharing our expertise and giving you trustworthy career advice tailored to your needs. High-quality content is what brings over 40 million readers to our site every year. But we don't stop there. Our team conducts original research to understand the job market better, and we pride ourselves on being quoted by top universities and prime media outlets from around the world.