Academic CV: a full research record for faculty, postdoc and grant review

Build the CV around sections committees expect: education and dissertations, academic or research appointments, publications, conference presentations, grants and awards, teaching, mentoring, service and, where relevant, patents, datasets, software or public engagement. Put contact details, current appointment and research keywords or a short research statement heading near the top if the field uses them. Dates, institutions and role titles should be consistent throughout.

Length follows the record, not a private-sector one-page habit. Early-career academic CVs may run several pages once publications and talks are listed; senior records are longer. Do not pad with unrelated jobs, every undergraduate activity or unpublished claims. If a search, fellowship or lab asks for a short research resume instead of a full CV, follow that instruction and keep the long academic CV for committees that requested it.

List publications in a consistent citation style used in your field, usually with the most recent first. Separate peer-reviewed articles, books or chapters, conference proceedings, preprints and work in review when that is the local convention, and label status accurately—published, in press, accepted, or under review. Do not list a draft as accepted. Make your name easy to find in long author lists, and include DOIs or links when they help verification.

Describe grants with role (PI, co-PI, senior personnel or fellow), funder, dates, and amount only when disclosure is allowed. Teaching entries should name the course, level, institution and your role (instructor of record, teaching assistant or guest lecturer), plus a concise note on curriculum or supervision when it is distinctive. The fictional examples later on this page illustrate wording only; replace every title, figure and status with items you can document.

You can reorder or slightly expand sections to match the post—research-first for a research-intensive faculty or postdoc role, teaching and mentoring earlier for a teaching-focused appointment—but do not invent a different publication or funding history for each application. A short research statement, teaching statement or cover letter is the place to argue fit; the CV should stay a stable, auditable record.

Industry research or applied-science jobs sometimes want a two-page resume rather than a full academic CV. In that case, lead with methods, outcomes and selected publications, and keep the complete academic CV available if they ask for it. For how this academic document differs from a US resume or an everyday UK-style job CV, see the resume vs CV guide.

Use a simple, readable layout with clear headings, consistent italics or bold for titles, and enough spacing that a long publication list remains scannable. Avoid tables, text boxes or graphics that can break parsing or print poorly for a committee packet. Standard headings help both human readers and any system that extracts text from your upload; the ATS resume guide covers the same clean-file habits.

Build the CV in the free Make.CV maker with live preview, then download a PDF with no watermark. Check that citation italics, author lists, grant numbers and long institution names wrap cleanly and that the exported text remains selectable. Confirm the application’s file-type, page or naming instructions before you submit, including any separate research or teaching statements.