Writing

How to write lab member bios: templates for PIs, postdocs, students and alumni

Short, readable bios make a lab’s people page its most visited page. Templates and examples for the PI, postdocs, PhD students, undergraduates and staff — and how to keep an alumni list that helps recruiting.

By the Labsite team · 30 October 2026 · 2 min read

The people page is often the most visited page of a lab website. Prospective students want to see who they'd work with; collaborators want to find the right person; and lab members send the link to everyone. Yet bios are usually inconsistent: three paragraphs for one person, a single line for the next, and photos of every shape.

Here's how to write bios that read well and make the lab look like a team.

Principles

Same length for everyone (except the PI): two to four sentences.
Third person, present tense: "Priya studies…", not "I am working on…".
Lead with the research question, not the degree history.
One personal line humanises the page — hobbies, where they're from, what they'd do if not science.
Consistent photos: similar framing and background. A group photo works well too.
Links: email, ORCID, Google Scholar, GitHub or a personal site where relevant.

Templates

[Name] is [position] in the Department of [X] at [University], where [his/her/their] lab studies [question in plain language]. Before starting the lab in [year], [Name] was a postdoctoral fellow with [mentor] at [institution] and did a PhD at [institution]. [Recognition, e.g. awards or fellowships.] Outside the lab, [Name] [personal line].

The PI usually also has a full page with education, positions, awards and a CV — see our new PI checklist.

Postdoc

[Name] joined the lab in [year] after a PhD at [institution] on [topic]. [He/She/They] now [what they study and how]. [Fellowship if any.] [Personal line.]

PhD student

[Name] is a [first/second…]-year PhD student in the [programme]. [His/Her/Their] project asks [question]. Before joining the lab, [Name] studied [subject] at [institution]. [Personal line.]

Undergraduate or intern

[Name] is a [year] student in [subject] working on [short project description] with [mentor].

Staff

[Name] is the lab's [role], keeping [instruments/the lab] running and [what else]. [Background in one line.]

Alumni: your best recruiting asset

When people leave, don't delete them. Move them to an Alumni section with what they do now: "Faculty at …", "Scientist at …", "Science writer at …". Applicants read alumni outcomes as proof of good mentoring. Our guide to writing a Join us page explains how to link the two.

Let people write their own

The most current people pages are the ones where each member edits their own profile. Give everyone access to their own entry with these templates as a guide, and review occasionally.

On Labsite

Labsite's People page is a simple table: name, role, photo, bio and links for each person, with alumni and "where they are now" built in, and a page for every member. Each person can edit their own profile, and the PI can limit others to the sections they look after. Pick a people layout that suits your lab — grid, cards, portraits or a list — in any of the templates. See the people page on the example lab.