The Cold Email Impasse: Finding the Words That Got a Top Professor to Reply
Why generic prompts produce replies a supervisor deletes, and how viva prep prompts and a cold email template give your question a shape worth answering.
AI Prompts That Break Down Hard Concepts with Analogies
Ask for the mental model behind a dense theory, an analogy you can repeat to a supervisor, and the questions that show whether you really understood it.
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Frequently asked questions
How is this different from simply asking for a simpler explanation?
It asks for the mechanism, not a summary: what the thing does, what changes if it is removed, and an analogy that survives being repeated to a supervisor. A simplified paragraph reads well and teaches nothing; the mental model is what you can still use in a viva.
Can I use it on a paper I have not read fully?
Yes, and the prompts are written to be honest about that: you paste the abstract or the passage you have, and it is asked to say what it cannot know from that excerpt instead of filling the silence.
Will the analogy be wrong in a way I get marked for?
An analogy is a bridge, not a definition. The prompt asks for the point where the analogy breaks down as well, which is the sentence that keeps you out of trouble and often the one an examiner is waiting for.