Email to a professor about an advertised master’s thesis topic
Who wrote it
Yara Saad, from Damascus, is a second-year MSc student in computer engineering in Milan. A professor in her department has posted a thesis topic she wants.
The writer and every detail about them are fictional.
What went into the template
- The professor and their group
- Prof. Marco Valenti, Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering, Politecnico di Milano
- What are you looking for?
- A master's thesis
- Your situation
- Applying to their advertised position
- What you read of their work, and your thought about it
- Thesis topic posted on the department board in October: on-device fall detection from smartwatch data. His 2025 paper tested the model on falls simulated by young volunteers in a lab. How does it handle near-falls and the slower movements of older people? That may be where false alarms come from.
- Your background, in facts
- MSc Computer Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, second year, average 28.4/30
Embedded Machine Learning course project: gesture classifier on an nRF52 board; 8-bit quantisation kept 96% of accuracy, inference time from 41 ms to 9 ms
BSc Computer Engineering, Damascus University, 2023 - The question you would like to work on
- Start by testing whether adding near-falls to the training data reduces false alarms
- Funding, start date and attachments
- Could start in February 2027; CV and transcript attached
The writer’s facts, as typed into the template’s form. The example uses nothing else.
The example
Email to a potential supervisor: Master’s thesis
Numbered notes in the margin explain each choice.
Subject: Thesis topic “On-device fall detection from smartwatch data”1, MSc Computer Engineering student
Subject line
Note 1: Quoting the advertised title exactly makes the email easy to match with the post, even if the professor advertised several topics.
Dear Professor Valenti,
Greeting
I am a second-year student in the MSc in Computer Engineering, and I would like to apply for the thesis topic on on-device fall detection that you posted on the department board in October2.
Who and what
Note 2: When you answer an advert, say which one and where. It shows you read it, and it saves a reply asking.
I read your 2025 paper on the same problem. The model was tested on falls simulated by young volunteers in a lab, and I wonder how it would handle near-falls and the slower movements of older people, which may be where false alarms come from in practice3.
Their work, her thought
Note 3: A specific, modest thought about the paper’s limits. It turns an application into the start of a conversation.
My background fits the embedded side of the topic. In my Embedded Machine Learning course project I deployed a gesture classifier on an nRF52 board; quantising it to 8 bits kept 96% of its accuracy and cut inference time from 41 ms to 9 ms4. My current average is 28.4/30, and I hold a BSc in Computer Engineering from Damascus University (2023). If the topic is still open, I would like to start by testing whether adding near-falls to the training data reduces false alarms.
Fit, in facts
Note 4: One result that matches the topic’s hardest part, with numbers.
I could start in February 2027. My CV and transcript are attached.
Practical details
Is the topic still available, and if so, could I come to your office hours to discuss it?5
The question
Note 5: An easy next step for a professor in her own department: no scheduling needed.
Kind regards,
Yara Saad
Structure
How it is built
Each part in order, with its share of the words.
Checklist
Before you send
Go through your own draft line by line.
Before and after
Common mistakes and how to fix them
Lines like these turn up in many drafts by Arabic speakers. Each fix keeps the meaning and changes only the English.
I am interested in your topic.
I would like to apply for the thesis topic on on-device fall detection that you posted on the department board in October.
I have a good knowledge in embedded systems.
I deployed a gesture classifier on an nRF52 board; quantising it to 8 bits kept 96% of its accuracy.
Waiting your positive response.
Is the topic still available, and if so, could I come to your office hours to discuss it?
Questions people ask
How do I find a master’s thesis supervisor?
Start with the thesis topics your department posts and the courses you enjoyed most. Read one recent paper by the professor, then write a short email like this one, or go to their office hours with the same points ready.
Is an email about an advertised topic different from a first enquiry?
Yes, slightly. Name the advert and show that you meet what it asks for. But still add one thought of your own about the work: that is what makes you more than one applicant among several.
Should I attach my transcript?
For a thesis in your own university, a transcript and a one-page CV are usually welcome, because they answer the professor’s first practical questions. Two attachments are enough.
Every writer in this library is fictional, and so is every detail about them. Universities and companies appear only as places someone applies to; the professors, papers and facts mentioned around them are invented for teaching. Use the examples to learn the moves, never as text to copy: committees notice, and your own facts are stronger.