Best Portfolio Website for
PhD Applicants (2026)
A faculty member spends 90 seconds on each PhD application. They want to read your one-page abstract, scan your publications, and find your advisor. A LaTeX paper PDF is great — but they read it after they like your website. Here's the portfolio template built specifically for research-track students and PhD applicants.
SitesPlaced offers a portfolio template built specifically for research students: the Research Paper Portfolio (`student-research`). It mirrors the structure of an ACM-style paper: title block, affiliations, abstract, keywords, and a numbered bibliography. From ₹99 one-time on the Student plan.
The Research Paper Portfolio template
Reads like an arXiv paper. Acts like a personal page.
Title block with author name and footnoted affiliations. Abstract paragraph below. Italic keywords. Numbered sections (1. Introduction, 2. Publications, 3. Methods & Tools, 4. Research positions, 5. Correspondence). Bibliography-style citation entries with [pdf] [arxiv] [code] links inline.
Best for: PhD applicants in CS, ML, EE, and physics; final-year research-track undergrads at IIT Madras, IIT Bombay, IISc; visiting research scholars at Mila / MILA Quebec / MSR.
What faculty actually look for on a PhD-applicant portfolio
A clear research statement
One paragraph explaining what you work on, what you've done, and what you want to do. Don't bury this — it's section 1 of the page for a reason.
Real publications, not 'submitted' fluff
If a paper is under review, say so. If it's a class report you wrote alone, don't dress it up as a publication. Faculty smell exaggeration in 30 seconds.
Advisor names
Who you trained with matters. Name the lab, the advisor, and the time period — even for short summer fellowships.
Code released, not just claimed
If your paper has a [code] link, the faculty will click it. Make sure it's a public repo with a working README, not a 'coming soon' placeholder.
Methods & tools, grouped
Programming languages, methods (variational inference, RLHF, ...), and tooling (LaTeX, Slurm, Tikz). Faculty want to know if you can hit the ground running.
A working email
Direct correspondence email at the bottom. Faculty often email applicants directly during admissions season — make it findable.
Faculty pages, GitHub Pages, or a portfolio builder?
Most senior researchers run a personal site on Jekyll + GitHub Pages with the al-folio theme. It works because they have time to maintain it. PhD applicants don't.
- al-folio / academic-pages: Free, but requires Jekyll, Ruby, and a weekend of YAML wrangling. Updating means a Git push.
- OpenReview / Google Scholar: Authoritative for citations, but they're profile pages, not portfolios. You can't write a research statement there.
- SitesPlaced Research template: Same look as al-folio, but ships in 5 minutes. Updates from a browser. ₹99 one-time, no GitHub commits required.
For most PhD applicants, the right move is: keep your Google Scholar and OpenReview as canonical citation sources, and use SitesPlaced as your application website — the URL you put on every email signature, every CV header, and every faculty inquiry.
How to set up your research portfolio (3 steps)
Sign up and pick the Research template
Free account, no card. Pick `student-research`. The template auto-fills with example content for an ML researcher — replace each section as you go.
Paste your research statement and bibliography
Copy your abstract from your statement of purpose. Paste your publications in citation format. Add [pdf]/[arxiv]/[code] links to each entry.
Add advisors and publish
List your research positions with advisor names and time periods. Hit publish. Add the URL to your CV header, email signature, and application emails.
Frequently asked questions
Will faculty actually visit my portfolio?
Yes. Most faculty Google applicant names within the first 30 seconds of opening a file. Your portfolio is what they find — make it count. The Research template is built to be readable in under 2 minutes.
Should I host my publications PDFs on the site?
Either way works. You can upload PDFs directly (SitesPlaced has 500MB on Student plan) or link to arXiv. Linking to arXiv is preferred for visibility — your paper gets discovery on top.
Can I use this for a research-track Master's application too?
Absolutely. The Research template works equally well for M.Tech and MS thesis-track applications. Replace 'PhD' framing with 'MS' and you're done.
Does the template support equations / LaTeX?
The template uses serif typography (EB Garamond) that pairs naturally with LaTeX-rendered images. For inline equations, you can paste rendered PNG images via the editor — full MathJax support is on the roadmap.
Will it look like every other research portfolio?
It will look academic — that's the point. But you control the color palette (8 presets including ACM White, arXiv, NeurIPS Cobalt, and Night Reading) and the section ordering. Most PhD applicant portfolios should look academic; that's the expected language.
Can I keep my Google Scholar profile as my main citation page?
Yes — and you should. Use Google Scholar for citation tracking, OpenReview for review history, and SitesPlaced as your applicant-facing website that ties them all together.
Build your applicant page like a paper.
Title block, abstract, bibliography. The Research Paper Portfolio template ships in 5 minutes. From ₹99 one-time.
2-day refund policy · No auto-renewal