Almost every application for a doctoral degree requires applicants to answer questions about themself. This information should be included in a short bio that contains concise language, is written in the active voice, and presents positive statements to put all of the necessary information into one understandable paragraph. A bio should have the particular pieces of information that are required on the application, but should be personalized.
An application material bio could read : "John hails from Charlotte, South Carolina, and received his bachelor's degree in communication from USC. He plans to pursue a doctoral degree in philosophy from the University of Texas."
A portfolio bio is used if a student's portfolio is reviewed or read. Teachers will read a portfolio bio to determine who you are, where you came from and what you are working on. Portfolio bios are similar to application bios, but also include information on the portfolio itself.
An example of a portfolio bio is: "Mary graduated from the University of South Dakota in her home town of Vermillion, South Dakota, in 2005. She is pursuing a doctoral degree in physics from the University of Oklahoma. Her current projects include an in-depth look at the physical nature of undisturbed matter, and research on the variations in matter according to temperature."
Bios to accompany work are those that accompany work done during a student's time in a doctoral degree program. Doctoral degree candidates might have papers published, reports analyzed, or examples shown in magazines, papers and other programs around the country. A work bio should accompany any work that is shown to anyone other than a professor and should be different from a portfolio bio.
A work bio might be: "Susan is a third year doctoral candidate in the English program at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, South Dakota. She graduated with honors from USD in 2004, and has used her undergraduate degree in journalism to further her doctoral projects, including this one on the verse structure of Emily Dickinson's poetry."
A doctoral student needs a bio for being a student and another bio for being an instructor if she is teaching undergraduate classes. A student bio is informative but lighter than other bios whereas a teacher bio is professional but also comfortable, based on an institution's beliefs about how graduate students should relate to undergraduate students.
A student bio might read : "Thomas Vincave is a student in the MD program at Tulane University. He was born in West Virginia and has a degree in biology from the University of Maine. When not studying to be a doctor, he enjoys intramural wrestling and lattes from the cafeteria."
A teacher bio for the same student would read : "Mr. Vincave is teaching biology lab while earning his MD degree. He believes in hard work and dedication, and offers extra credit points for going to wrestling matches."
There are two versions of a graduate bio. One should be long enough to discuss a student's undergraduate career, graduate career, doctoral degree work, and career plans, as well provide some personal information about the student's educational career.
A shorter bio as a graduate is used in graduation materials. It also might be used in school recruitment materials containing bios of past doctoral candidates. This bio might read: "Jeffery Davis, Ph.D. candidate in Spring 2009, graduated with honors. He plans to pursue a career as a professor of mathematics, after a tour of Europe."