I was recently asked my a Masters student about the best way to reach out to potential PIs to ask or inquire about PhD funding. This was my general advice I forwarded on to them. - CP 2024/09/15 --- Overall advice for layout of emailing prospective PIs. Keep the email brief, or at least make sure the PI understands who you are what your emailing about within the first few sentences or so. I would layout the email like this with one or three sentences max for each section. - Who you are and what career stage you are at (most recent qualification and evidence to show that you are a high quality applicant). - What you are looking to attain (PhD funding), do they have any opportunities coming up or would they be interested in generating a proposal with you (if you can find a specific funding body to suggest that's even better) - Then why are you emailing this specific PI, what about there research is of interest to you. This does not have to be a full proposal. Just a general explanation of what you are interested in and why that overlaps with their interests. You can then say you'd love the opportunity to go through some of your research ideas online or in person (if that works). If they are interested, and in a position to work with you that should be enough, no need to be detailed. You might also want to clarify any restriction you have to your funding (as many PhD funding opportunities have limits e.g. on international vs home students - sorry!). You don't need to say this straight away but you will have to outline it relatively quickly. Good luck!