Academic CV

Academic CV is a LaTeX template for producing an academic curriculum vitae as a PDF, created by urban planning scholar Geoff Boeing and published as an open-source GitHub repository.

What is Academic CV?

Academic CV is a repository containing the LaTeX source for a professionally formatted academic CV. It takes a .tex file as input and produces a polished PDF as output, with the compiled document publicly viewable at geoffboeing.com/cv. The template follows academic formatting conventions for research, teaching, and service sections, and is authored by Geoff Boeing.

Key Features

• LaTeX source — The CV is written entirely in LaTeX, giving precise typographic control and publication-quality output.
• Automatic PDF compilation — A GitHub Actions workflow (build_publish.yml) compiles the TeX file and updates the public PDF whenever a commit is pushed to the main branch.
• Hosted at a personal URL — The rendered PDF is published to geoffboeing.com/cv, providing a stable and consistent distribution link.
• Commit hygiene — The PDF is generated in CI rather than committed to the repository, avoiding binary file churn in the commit history.
• Permissive license — The repo is openly licensed, allowing others to adapt the layout and content for their own CVs.
• Academic formatting — Sections and typography follow academic CV conventions, with clear presentation of information and a focus on readability.

Who is it for?

• Academic researchers — who want a clean, LaTeX-based CV that compiles to PDF automatically as their record evolves.
• Graduate students — who need to prepare an academic CV for applications and seek a proven, adaptable starting point.
• Professors and faculty — who maintain a professional CV and prefer automated publishing through GitHub Actions.
• Open-source adapters — anyone comfortable with LaTeX who wants to fork a permissively licensed template and replace the author's content with their own.

Use cases

• Faculty members: keep a public CV always current by pushing changes to GitHub, letting the workflow regenerate the PDF.
• Job applicants: compile a tailored academic CV from the LaTeX source without relying on word processors or manual formatting.
• Documentation maintainers: reuse the same repository pattern to automatically build and publish LaTeX documents from a main branch.

How does it work?

Edit the .tex file locally, commit your changes, and push to the main branch. GitHub Actions then runs the build_publish.yml workflow, which compiles the TeX source and publishes the refreshed PDF to the public URL.

Pros and cons

• Pros: Permissive license, automated PDF generation through CI, professional academic formatting, and no binary artifacts polluting the commit history.
• Cons: Requires LaTeX knowledge to edit content; the source reflects Geoff Boeing's specific CV structure, so adapting it for another person entails replacing all personal details.

Pricing

Free — the repository is publicly available under a permissive license, with no paid tiers or fees.

Alternatives

• moderncv
• Awesome-CV

FAQ

Is this CV template free?

Yes. The repository is permissively licensed, so you can freely view, adapt, and use the LaTeX source for your own CV without cost.

How is the PDF generated?

A GitHub Actions workflow named build_publish.yml compiles the TeX file and publishes the resulting PDF each time a commit is pushed to the main branch.

Do I need to know LaTeX to use it?

Yes. The template is a .tex source file, so customizing your name, publications, and job history requires basic LaTeX syntax.

Can I see a sample PDF before using it?

Yes. A compiled PDF is publicly viewable at geoffboeing.com/cv.

Can I use this template for my own CV?

Yes, the permissive license explicitly allows others to adapt the template. You can fork the repository and replace the author's content with your own details.