What should a scientific CV look like?

To get started, just after your contact information, you should include a profile summary or objective, which is a short introduction of who you are as a scientist and what you bring to the table. In about five to seven sentences, summarize your expertise in your disciplines, years of expertise in these areas, noteworthy research findings, key achievements, and publications.

Next, provide information on your educational credentials. Be sure to include information such as Year of completion or expected completion (no starting dates), degree type, major and minors (if applicable), department and institution, honors and awards, dissertation/thesis title, and advisor.

After that, you'll want to include a section for publications. Divide your peer-reviewed publications into further subcategories in the following order: Books, Peer-reviewed journal articles, contributions to edited volumes equivalent to peer-reviewed journals. If you don't have any publications, you can skip this section.

Next, you should showcase your research. Specifically, detailing your research experiences, findings, the methods you use, and your general research interests are critical to present in the first part of your CV. Highlight key research findings and accomplishments.

The next sections to follow should include - Awards and Honors, Grants and Fellowships, and Conferences. In these sections, start by listing your latest award or honor, and continue in reverse chronological order, listing the name of the achievement, the year you received it, and the institution that granted it.

In the conference section, include a separate listing for any talks or panels you may have served on and another for any posters that you presented.

Include a section on administrative experience on a faculty or at a research institute if applicable.

This might include facilitating a newsletter, organizing events, or other noteworthy activities at your institution or beyond. The same goes for professional experience - include any employment in an industry that is recent (within the last five to ten years) and relevant to your academic work.

Professional experience can explain any gaps in your academic work and demonstrate the diversity in your capabilities.