Rules/Guidelines

1. In order to convey your point in the most efficient way possible, you need to be sure to be clear and concise. Please note that some of these rules don’t apply to Principal Investigator (PI), especially when he writes to students. He’s busy with tens of grant applications and several other students. When PI writes an email to the Department Chair, he also makes sure that his emails follow these guidelines.

2. The subject line for an email pertaining to a project should begin with a keyword (to be decided on when the project begins).

3. Always fill in the subject line with a topic that means something to your PI. Not “Decals” or “Important!” but “Deadline for New Parking Decals.”

4. Put your main point in the opening sentence. Most PIs (especially professors!) won’t stick around for a surprise ending.

5. Your email shouldn’t exceed 4-5 lines unless absolutely necessary. Be brief and polite. If your message runs longer than two or three short paragraphs, consider (a) reducing the message, (b) providing an attachment, or (c) requesting a meeting. In any case, consider and respect the time of the person reading your emails.

6. Never begin a message with a vague “This”–as in “This needs to be done by 5:00.” Always specify what you’re writing about.

7. Please bold or underline deadlines/due dates and any action items (things that need to be completed).

8. Whenever possible, use a bulleted or numbered list or headings to outline multiple topics in a single email.

9. Don’t use ALL CAPITALS (no shouting!), or all lower-case letters either (unless you’re the poet e. e. cummings).

10.  As a general rule, PLZ avoid textspeak (abbreviations and acronyms): you may be ROFLOL (rolling on the floor laughing out loud), but your reader may be left wondering WUWT (what’s up with that).

11. Edit and proofread before hitting “send.” You may think you’re too busy to sweat the small stuff, but unfortunately your PI may think you’re a careless student.

12. Reply promptly to serious messages. If you need more time to collect information or make a decision, send a brief response explaining the delay. As a general rule, you should make every effort to reply within 24 hours, but as soon as possible is preferred.

13. Be sure to CC any relevant person, such as Dr. Tasoglu and your team leader. We do not use BCC here.

14. Take care to use the Reply All feature – forgetting this can easily cause confusion for everyone. You can set your email to reply all be default if you tend to forget. See http://help.satdaya.com/support/solutions/articles/183065-setting-your-gmail-to-automatically-reply-all-

15. If you can’t make any deadline (however informal it may be), you must let your PI know as soon as you are aware of the delay. He won’t forget the deadline, even if you don’t send any email.