How universities can improve academic discoverability and reach more prospective PhD students
Effective doctoral student recruitment involves more than advertising PhD opportunities. Universities also need to ensure prospective students can discover their research expertise and identify academics whose interests align with their own.
Some candidates search for specific PhD projects, while others begin with a subject area or a potential supervisor. Improving supervisor visibility can help universities reach candidates at different stages of their search and introduce them to research opportunities they might otherwise overlook.
Here’s how postgraduate student recruitment and doctoral marketing teams can improve academic discoverability and support their PhD recruitment goals.
Choosing a PhD often involves finding the right research environment and supervisory expertise, as well as choosing an institution.
However, relevant academics and research opportunities aren't always easy to discover. Information may be spread across departmental websites, individual staff profiles and separate PhD listings. Prospective students exploring unfamiliar institutions may struggle to find the expertise they're looking for.
Improving supervisor visibility can help universities:
Ensure supervisor profiles clearly communicate research interests, specialisms and relevant projects. Use terminology prospective students might search for, alongside accurate subject-specific language, and include links to relevant PhD opportunities wherever possible.
PhD adverts explain the opportunity, while supervisor profiles provide context about the academic expertise behind it. Linking the two helps prospective students move between researching a project and learning more about the people who could supervise their work.
Your website is an important recruitment channel, but it isn't the only place students search for doctoral opportunities. Specialist PhD search platforms, like FindAPhD.com, can help you reach candidates actively exploring doctoral study, including those who haven't yet shortlisted your institution.
Use clear project titles, relevant subject descriptions and accurate information about research areas. Consider how someone unfamiliar with your institution might search for a suitable opportunity, rather than relying solely on internal department names or specialist terminology.
Review listing views, supervisor profile engagement, referral clicks and enquiries where these metrics are available. These insights can help you understand which opportunities attract attention and where additional promotion may be worthwhile.
For universities looking to improve their visibility among prospective doctoral students, FindAPhD offers two complementary ways to showcase research opportunities and academic expertise.
PhD advertising helps universities promote available doctoral projects to students searching for opportunities across a wide range of subjects.
Supervisor Search helps prospective students discover academic supervisors and explore their research expertise, providing another route for candidates to find academics whose interests align with their own.
Together, these options can support different discovery journeys. Some students begin with a specific PhD vacancy; others start by exploring a research topic or potential supervisor. Making both opportunities and expertise discoverable can help universities connect with candidates through more than one route.
Improving doctoral student recruitment means considering not just what your institution advertises, but how prospective students discover it.
Keeping profiles current, connecting academics with relevant PhD opportunities and extending visibility beyond your own website can help more candidates find research that interests them.
Looking to reach more prospective PhD students?
Find out how advertising on FindAPhD.com and using Supervisor Search can support your university's doctoral recruitment goals.