Free tool that turns your academic CV into a personal website in under a minute

[javier_self]

Hi everyone,

I’ve been working on a tool called Self that turns an existing CV into a personal website in a few minutes.

I originally built it because making a decent personal site is one of those things that sounds simple until you lose an entire weekend choosing fonts and moving boxes around.

For grad students and postgrads, I think it can be particularly useful because a CV often contains much more than just employment history. You might have research, publications, teaching, conference presentations, projects, awards or technical work that deserves more space than a couple of bullet points.

The process is pretty straightforward:

1. Upload your CV (go to https://self.cv/studio)
2. It extracts your education, experience, projects and other information
3. It creates a personal site from that content
4. You can edit it, choose a design and publish it

The idea isn’t to replace your CV. It gives you somewhere to expand on it. For example, instead of just listing your dissertation or research project, you can explain what you worked on, link to papers or code, and give someone a much better idea of what you actually do.

I can see it being useful for people applying for PhDs, postdocs and research positions, but also for anyone moving from academia into industry who wants one place to present both their academic and professional work.

It’s free to use, and you can generate and preview the site before deciding whether you want to publish it.

I’d also be interested to hear what you think a good postgraduate personal site should include. Research and publications are obvious ones, but I suspect academic CVs have quite a few sections that normal portfolio builders don’t handle particularly well.

Cheers!

Edited August 7 by javier_self
missing urls

[Alex741]

This sounds like a genuinely useful idea, especially for postgraduate students whose CVs often don’t have enough space to showcase research, publications, projects, presentations, and academic work in detail. A personal website can provide a much better way to connect those individual achievements and give visitors a clearer picture of someone’s expertise.

I’d definitely include sections for research interests, publications, conference presentations, teaching experience, projects, awards, technical skills, and links to relevant papers or repositories. An easy-to-navigate design is also important so that the site feels professional rather than simply being a longer version of the CV.

The ability to upload an existing CV and generate a starting point sounds particularly convenient. I think tools like this could save applicants a lot of time while still allowing them to personalize how they present their work.