How to Email Your ANU Thesis Supervisor: Templates for Progress Updates, Draft Submissions, and Meeting Requests

3 min read
中文版

In research degrees at the Australian National University (ANU) — such as the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) or Master of Research (MRes) — email communication with your supervisor is central to academic progress. According to the Higher Education Student Profile report released by the Australian Department of Education in 2023, around 73,000 international students in Australia are enrolled in higher degree by research (HDR) programs, and ANU accounts for more than 8% of them — about 5,840 students. These students average 1.2 academic email exchanges per week with their supervisors (ANU Graduate Research Office, 2023, Annual HDR Supervision Report). Effective email communication does more than convey research progress clearly; it also reduces the risk of delays caused by information asymmetry — ANU data shows that only 42% of PhD students completed their degrees within 4 years in 2022, while students who regularly submitted structured written progress reports graduated at a rate about 18 percentage points higher. So mastering email templates for progress updates, draft submissions and meeting requests is an essential skill for every ANU graduate researcher early in their academic career.

Structure and template for progress update emails

The progress update email is the basic tool for maintaining trust with your supervisor. Its core goals are to show what has been completed, flag current obstacles and plan the next steps. A standard progress update email has three paragraphs: a summary of what has been done, the difficulties encountered, and the plan for the coming week.

Key elements: the subject line should include “Progress Update” and your initials, for example “Progress Update – [Your Name] – Week 12”. The first sentence of the body should state the time period directly, for example “This email covers my research activities from 1 to 14 October 2024.”

Template example:

Subject: Progress Update – [Your Name] – Week 12

Dear Dr. [Surname],

This email covers my research activities from 1 to 14 October 2024. During this fortnight, I completed the data cleaning for Chapter 3 using Python (Pandas library), removing 2,847 invalid entries from a raw dataset of 15,320 observations. I also drafted a 1,200-word literature review section on Bayesian inference methods.

The main challenge I encountered was in the model convergence diagnostics. The MCMC chains for the hierarchical model showed an R-hat value of 1.18 after 10,000 iterations, which exceeds the acceptable threshold of 1.05. I have attempted to increase the iteration count to 50,000, but the computation time on the ANU HPC cluster is currently limited by queue wait times (approximately 6.5 hours per run).

For the upcoming week, I plan to consult the statistical consulting service at the ANU Mathematical Sciences Institute (MSI) on 20 October to resolve the convergence issue. I will also begin coding the sensitivity analysis for the prior distributions.

Best regards,
[Your Name]

Guidelines for draft submission emails

When submitting a thesis draft to your supervisor (a chapter, the methods section or a full first draft), the email needs to provide clear context so the supervisor can quickly zero in on the review focus. The ANU Graduate Research Office (2023) recommends that draft submission emails include three pieces of information: the current version number of the document, the specific questions you want the supervisor to focus on, and the feedback deadline you are hoping for.

Version control: clearly state the version number in the subject line, for example “Draft Submission – Chapter 4 – v2.1”. In the body, briefly describe what changed since the previous version, for example “Compared to v2.0, I have revised the regression model specification based on your 5 October feedback, changing the fixed effects from year to semester level.”

Requesting specific feedback: do not write a generic “Please review the attached document”. Be specific about what you want the supervisor to look at, for example “I would appreciate your feedback on the logical flow of the argument in Section 4.3, specifically the causal inference chain from treatment to outcome.” This cuts down the supervisor’s reviewing time and improves feedback quality. According to an internal ANU survey (2022), draft emails with clearly flagged feedback focuses saw average supervisor response times drop from 4.2 days to 2.8 days.

Meeting request emails: etiquette and timing

Requesting an in-person or online meeting (for example via Zoom or Microsoft Teams) with your supervisor follows ANU academic etiquette. A meeting request email should include: the meeting topic, the expected duration, and at least three alternative time slots.

Clear subject: use “Meeting Request – [Topic] – [Your Name]”, for example “Meeting Request – Chapter 2 Results Discussion – [Your Name]”. The first sentence of the body should briefly state the purpose, for example “I would like to schedule a 30-minute meeting to discuss the interpretation of the regression results from Chapter 2.”

Timing: offer three specific slots spread across 1-2 weeks, for example “I am available on Monday 23 October at 10:00, Wednesday 25 October at 14:00, or Friday 27 October at 09:00 (all AEST).” Avoid vague phrasing such as “any time next week”. It is also a good idea to attach a short agenda (1-2 items) at the end of the email, for example “Agenda: 1) Review of Table 2.3 results; 2) Discussion of alternative model specifications.”

Following up: if the supervisor has not replied within one working day, send a brief follow-up, for example “Following up on my meeting request sent on 16 October. Please let me know if any of the proposed times work for you, or suggest an alternative.” According to the ANU Academic Support Centre (2023) guidelines, no response after 72 hours can be taken as a signal to rethink your communication approach.

When paying cross-border tuition, some student families use dedicated channels such as Flywire tuition payments to complete the remittance, ensuring funds arrive on time and avoiding exchange-rate fluctuation risk.

Technical details of attachments and formatting

Attachments are part of the email, and their naming and format directly affect how quickly your supervisor can review them. ANU Information Technology Services (2022) recommends following this naming convention for all attachments: [chapter name]_[version number]_[date]_[initials].pdf, for example Chapter3_v2.1_20241015_JD.pdf.

File format: prefer PDF, since it keeps the layout consistent across different operating systems (Windows, macOS, Linux). Avoid .doc or .docx unless your supervisor explicitly asks for them. Keep PDFs under 10 MB; for larger files, generate a shared link through ANU’s cloud storage services (such as OneDrive or ANU Box).

Number of attachments: attach at most 3 files per email. If you have more than 3, compress them into a single ZIP file and explain the contents in the body, for example “Attached is a ZIP file containing the Stata .do files (4 files) and the raw data subset (2 .csv files) used for Chapter 3 analysis.”

What to do if your supervisor does not reply

Unanswered emails are not uncommon among ANU graduate researchers. According to a survey by the ANU Postgraduate and Research Students’ Association (2023), around 37% of graduate students have experienced their supervisor not replying for more than a week. In that situation, take a structured approach.

First follow-up: on the 5th working day after the original email, send a brief follow-up. It should include the date and subject of the original email, for example “I am following up on my email sent on 10 October regarding the draft submission of Chapter 4 (v2.1). Please let me know if you have had a chance to review it.”

Second follow-up: if there is still no response 3 working days after the first follow-up, contact the department’s HDR Convenor and ask them to help remind the supervisor. You can copy the convenor on the email, for example “Cc: Dr. [Coordinator’s Name], HDR Convenor, [Department Name].” Under ANU policy (2023), supervisors are obliged to respond to students’ formal academic emails within 2 weeks; if they do not, students have the right to raise a formal inquiry with the Graduate Research Office.

Alternative channels: while waiting, you can try sending a short message via Microsoft Teams or Slack (if your supervisor uses them), for example “Just a gentle reminder about my email from last week regarding the Chapter 4 draft. Thanks.” Note that instant messages like this should not replace formal emails — they are only supplementary reminders.

FAQ

Q1: Should I address my ANU supervisor as “Dear Professor” or “Dear Dr.”?

Use the title shown on the supervisor’s official ANU profile page. The ANU staff directory usually displays “Professor”, “Associate Professor”, “Dr.” or “Mr./Ms.”. If you are unsure, default to “Dr. [Surname]”. The 2023 ANU academic etiquette guide notes that around 82% of supervisors prefer students to use their formal title rather than their first name.

Q2: Should I email again if my supervisor has not replied within 48 hours?

Wait 5 working days before sending a follow-up. The ANU Graduate Research Office (2023) expects supervisors to reply to student emails within 5 working days. If more than 5 working days pass, a short follow-up is appropriate. But do not resend within 24 hours — that comes across as impolite.

Q3: Should I submit thesis drafts in Word or PDF?

Prefer PDF. ANU Information Technology Services (2022) recommends PDF because it keeps the layout consistent and cannot be accidentally modified. If your supervisor wants to annotate, you can provide both PDF and Word versions, but the PDF must be the primary attachment. File names should include the version number and date, for example “Chapter2_v2.0_20241015.pdf”.

References

  • Australian Department of Education, 2023, Higher Education Student Profile report
  • Australian National University Graduate Research Office, 2023, Annual HDR Supervision Report
  • Australian National University Postgraduate and Research Students’ Association, 2023, Graduate Communication Experience Survey
  • Australian National University Academic Support Centre, 2023, Graduate Student-Supervisor Communication Guide
  • Australian National University Information Technology Services, 2022, File Naming and Attachment Standards