# Professor Finder

> Find professors and faculty members for MS/PhD applications. Helps students discover potential advisors by searching university websites, crawling faculty pages, and extracting professor information filtered by research domain. Use when students ask about finding professors, potential PhD advisors, faculty members in a specific field, or research supervisors at universities.

- Skill: `mani5100/professor-finder` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add mani5100/professor-finder`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/mani5100/professor-finder/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Research & Search
- Author: mani5100 (https://skillmd.com/u/mani5100)
- Updated: 2026-09-22
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/mani5100/professor-finder

---


# Professor Finder

Help students find potential MS/PhD advisors by discovering ALL professors at universities who match their research interests.

## Critical Requirements

1. **Find ALL professors** - Do not limit to 3-5. Search exhaustively for every professor in the domain.
2. **Comprehensive overview** - Provide detailed background for each professor.
3. **Contact information is mandatory** - Every professor entry MUST include email and contact details.

## Workflow

### Step 1: Gather Student Requirements

Ask the user for:

1. **University name** - Which university to search
2. **Research domain/field** - Area of interest (e.g., "Deep Learning", "NLP", "Computer Vision")
3. **Department** (optional) - Specific department if known

### Step 2: Find University Website

Use WebSearch to find the official university website:
```
Search: "[University Name] official website"
```

### Step 3: Comprehensive Faculty Search

Perform MULTIPLE searches to find ALL professors. Do not stop after finding a few.

**Search queries to execute:**
```
[University] [Domain] professors
[University] [Domain] faculty
[University] [Domain] research group
[University] [Department] faculty directory
[University] [Domain] lab
[University] [Domain] PhD supervisor
site:[university.edu] [Domain] professor email
```

**Sources to crawl:**
- Department faculty listing pages
- Research group/lab pages
- Individual professor profile pages
- Research center pages
- Google Scholar profiles for verification

See [references/faculty-patterns.md](references/faculty-patterns.md) for URL patterns.

### Step 4: Extract COMPLETE Professor Information

For EACH professor found, extract ALL of the following:

#### A. Contact Information (MANDATORY)
| Field | Requirement |
|-------|-------------|
| Email | MUST find - search profile page, Google Scholar, personal website |
| Office | Building and room number |
| Phone | If available |
| Personal Website | URL to their homepage |

**If email not on profile page:**
- Check Google Scholar profile
- Search: "[Professor Name] [University] email"
- Check their personal/lab website
- Look for pattern: firstname.lastname@university.edu

#### B. Comprehensive Background (MANDATORY)
| Field | Details to Include |
|-------|-------------------|
| Education | PhD institution, year, thesis topic, advisor name |
| Career History | Previous positions, institutions, industry experience |
| Awards & Honors | Best paper awards, fellowships, academy memberships |
| Notable Contributions | Key algorithms, frameworks, or breakthroughs they created |

#### C. Research Profile (MANDATORY)
| Field | Details to Include |
|-------|-------------------|
| Research Areas | All research interests, not just primary |
| Current Projects | Active grants, ongoing research |
| Publications | Total count, h-index, notable papers |
| Google Scholar | Link to profile with citation count |
| Lab/Group | Name, URL, size (number of PhD students) |

### Step 5: Find ALL Related Professors

**Do NOT stop after finding obvious matches.** Also search for:

- Assistant Professors (newer faculty, often more accessible)
- Associate Professors
- Full Professors
- Research Scientists / Research Professors
- Adjunct Faculty working in the domain
- Emeritus Professors still supervising

**Cross-reference with:**
- Google Scholar search: "[Domain] [University]"
- DBLP for publication co-authors at same university
- Lab websites for affiliated faculty

### Step 6: Present Complete Results

Format output with FULL details for EVERY professor:

```markdown
## ALL Professors in [Domain] at [University]

Total Found: [X] professors

---

### 1. Prof. [Full Name]

#### Contact Information
| | |
|---|---|
| Email | [email@university.edu] |
| Office | [Building, Room Number] |
| Phone | [+1-xxx-xxx-xxxx] |
| Website | [URL] |

#### Background & Career
- **Current Position**: [Title] at [Department], [University]
- **Education**:
  - PhD: [Field], [University], [Year]
  - Thesis: "[Thesis Title]"
  - Advisor: [Name]
- **Previous Positions**: [List institutions and roles]
- **Awards**: [Notable awards, fellowships]

#### Research Profile
- **Research Areas**: [Comprehensive list]
- **Notable Work**: [Key contributions, algorithms, papers]
- **Current Projects**: [Active research/grants]
- **Publications**: [X] papers, h-index: [Y]
- **Google Scholar**: [URL] ([Z] citations)

#### Lab Information
- **Lab Name**: [Name]
- **Lab URL**: [URL]
- **Current PhD Students**: [Number]
- **Recent Graduates**: [Where they went - academia/industry]

#### Why Consider This Professor
[1-2 sentences on fit for the student's research interest]

---

### 2. Prof. [Full Name]
[Same detailed format]

---
[Continue for ALL professors found]
```

### Step 7: Summary and Recommendations

After listing ALL professors, provide:

```markdown
## Summary

| Category | Count |
|----------|-------|
| Full Professors | [X] |
| Associate Professors | [X] |
| Assistant Professors | [X] |
| Research Faculty | [X] |
| **Total** | [X] |

## Recommendations by Experience Level

### For Students Wanting Established Advisors
[Top 2-3 senior professors with large labs]

### For Students Wanting Close Mentorship
[Top 2-3 junior professors with smaller groups]

### Most Active in [Specific Subdomain]
[Professors publishing most in student's exact area]
```

## If Contact Information Cannot Be Found

Never leave contact blank. Use these fallbacks:

1. Search Google: "[Name] [University] contact"
2. Check their recent papers for corresponding author email
3. Search university directory
4. Provide department admin contact as last resort:
   ```
   Contact via department: [Department email/phone]
   ```

## Error Handling

- If a faculty page is inaccessible, try alternative sources
- If few professors found, expand search to related departments
- Always verify information from multiple sources