An academic-first Typst CV template: one serif family, one accent colour, a restrained type scale, and simple content helpers.

• cv is the single entry point. It is the best default for long documents, printing, accessibility, and applicant tracking systems (ATS).
• cv(columns: 2, ...) is a compact one-page variant for human readers. Multi-column PDF extraction can interleave content, so do not use it when ATS parsing matters.

The examples use fictional people, institutions, publications, and awards.

For a matching letter and statement template, see modernpro-coverletter. The two packages share a design system and take the same profile shape, so a CV, a cover letter, and a research statement read as one application. Each starter keeps that dictionary inline so the document remains self-contained. An optional photo is a CV-only presentation detail; letter and statement templates ignore it.

Preview

Canonical academic CV

Compact two-column CV

Choose a layout

When in doubt, use the single-column version. Keep the two-column version to one page and do not rely on it when automated PDF extraction matters.

Quick start

Create and compile a project with the Typst CLI:

typst init @preview/modernpro-cv:2.1.1
cd modernpro-cv
typst compile cv-single.typ

The starter contains:

modernpro-cv/
├── bib.bib
├── cv-double.typ
└── cv-single.typ

During editing, rebuild automatically with:

typst watch cv-single.typ

You can also select modernpro-cv from the template gallery in the Typst web app.

First edit checklist

1. Replace the placeholder identity at the top of cv-single.typ.
2. Open cv-single.typ and delete any sections that do not apply.
3. Replace every fictional appointment, degree, publication, date, and claim.
4. Compile the document and check page breaks, contact wrapping, and the final line of each page.
5. Use cv-double.typ only if you also need a compact one-page version.

The repository examples use explicit Placeholder entities from Exampleland and reserved .invalid domains. Put real information only in your own downstream document, not in a public template fork.

Minimal academic CV

profile is the only argument a typical CV needs. Define it at the top of the same file so identity, content, and presentation stay together:

#import "@preview/modernpro-cv:2.1.1": *
#let profile = (
  name: [Dr. Nova Placeholder],
  role: [Lecturer in Speculative Systems],
  address: [Sample City, Exampleland],
  contacts: (
    (text: [nova\@candidate.invalid], link: "mailto:nova@candidate.invalid"),
    (text: [nova.candidate.invalid], link: "https://nova.candidate.invalid"),
    (text: [Fictional ID~0000-0000], link: "https://registry.example.invalid/0000-0000"),
  ),
)

#show: cv.with(profile: profile)

#section("Research Profile")
#summary[
  Researcher studying imaginary institutions and simulated decision engines.
]
#section-gap

#section("Academic Appointments")
#experience(
  title: "Lecturer in Speculative Systems",
  institution: [Exampleland University],
  location: "Sample City, Exampleland",
  date: "20XY-present",
)
#section-gap

#section("Education")
#education(
  institution: [Placeholder Institute],
  major: [PhD in Speculative Systems],
  date: "20XS-20XW",
  location: "Demo Harbour, Exampleland",
)
#section-gap

#section("Selected Publications")
#entry(
  title: [Governing imaginary models through simulated review],
  right: "20YY",
  meta: [N. Placeholder and A. Example, Journal of Imaginary Systems 8(2)],
)

Sections render in source order. Move a section to move it in the CV; delete it to hide it.

Recommended content workflow

Keep presentation decisions in the #show: cv.with(...) call and keep application content below it:

• Put identity and contacts immediately above the #show rule in the same file.
• Use one #section(...) for each academic category.
• Use semantic helpers such as experience, education, and entry instead of manually aligning dates.
• Write dates as short strings such as "2023-present" so the right rail stays compact.
• Add #section-gap once after a complete section; entry helpers already manage spacing between records.

For a long CV, begin with the default preset and let it flow to another page. Use the compact preset only after removing redundant content.

The four settings

Everything beyond profile is optional:

#show: cv.with(
  profile: profile,
  preset: "compact",
  accent: rgb("#1e3a5f"),
)

• "default" is the academic baseline: clear section hierarchy, comfortable entry spacing, a compact identity header.
• "compact" is for unusually long CVs or strict page limits.
• "relaxed" suits shorter dossiers and presentation copies.

A preset coordinates header rows, section-to-content spacing, entry rows, descriptions, body leading, and list spacing at once. Choose a preset rather than tuning gaps individually.

Design system

The same tokens drive modernpro-cv and modernpro-coverletter.

Entry layout is a left content block and a right date rail: the title and its institution sit on the left, the date alone occupies the right, and location joins the institution line. The right edge therefore stays a single clean column, and there is no zig-zag reading path.

Hierarchy comes from weight, case, italics, colour, and position — not from extra type sizes. Section headings are body-size, uppercase, bold, tracked, and followed by a rule; that is enough separation without introducing another step in the ladder.

Contacts

Contacts are plain text by default, keeping the header quiet and PDF extraction clean. A contact can be linked or unlinked:

contacts: (
  (text: [nova\@candidate.invalid], link: "mailto:nova@candidate.invalid"),
  (text: [nova.candidate.invalid], link: "https://nova.candidate.invalid"),
  [Sample City, Exampleland],
)

Escape @ as \@ inside Typst content. Two or three concise contacts usually fit best; email, a personal or institutional website, and a researcher identifier are good academic defaults.

For a human-facing version, add an optional icon field. The template accepts any Typst content and keeps the icon in a small fixed column, so the labels stay aligned and remain fully searchable:

#import "@preview/fontawesome:0.6.2": fa-icon

contacts: (
  (
    icon: fa-icon("envelope", solid: true, top-edge: "baseline"),
    text: [nova\@candidate.invalid],
    link: "mailto:nova@candidate.invalid",
  ),
  (
    icon: fa-icon("id-badge", solid: true, top-edge: "baseline"),
    text: [Fictional ID~0000-0000],
    link: "https://registry.example.invalid/0000-0000",
  ),
)

The core template does not import an icon library. The example above uses Font Awesome for Typst and requires the corresponding Font Awesome desktop fonts. Omit icon for the lowest-friction, ATS-first setup. Icons should supplement familiar labels, not replace them.

Optional profile photo

Pass a ready-to-render image as profile.photo. The default 16 x 20 mm portrait uses a formal 4:5 crop, square corners, and the same hairline border as the rest of the document:

#let profile = (
  name: [Dr. Nova Placeholder],
  role: [Lecturer in Speculative Systems],
  address: [Sample City, Exampleland],
  photo: image(
    "portrait.jpg",
    width: 16mm,
    height: 20mm,
    fit: "cover",
    alt: "Portrait of the fictional candidate",
  ),
  contacts: (
    (text: [nova\@candidate.invalid], link: "mailto:nova@candidate.invalid"),
  ),
)

The image is resolved in the CV document, then placed at the right edge of the first-page header. This masthead is identical in single- and two-column CVs; only the body grid changes. When a photo is present, identity and inline contacts form one left-hand group while the portrait anchors the right edge; the masthead grows from 17 mm to 20 mm. The field accepts any Typst content, including a simple initials placeholder. It is not repeated in continuation headers. Omit photo for ATS submissions or applications where photographs are discouraged; cover letters and statements keep the shared typography and rule without repeating the image.

Academic content helpers

Use one small helper for each kind of content:

In every entry helper, date (or right) goes to the date rail, and institution/meta and location are joined on the line below the title.

experience, education, and entry add their own spacing after each entry. Do not insert #item-gap between these helpers. #item-gap remains available for custom content that is not produced by an entry helper.

A common academic sequence is:

1. Research Profile
2. Academic Appointments
3. Education
4. Publications
5. Research Funding
6. Teaching and Supervision
7. Service
8. Awards
9. References

Use only the sections that strengthen the document.

Compact two-column variant

columns: 2 uses the same fonts, colour tokens, and content helpers as the canonical CV. Only the page structure changes.

#import "@preview/modernpro-cv:2.1.1": *
#let profile = (
  name: [Dr. Nova Placeholder],
  role: [Lecturer in Speculative Systems],
  address: [Sample City, Exampleland],
  contacts: (
    (text: [nova\@candidate.invalid], link: "mailto:nova@candidate.invalid"),
    (text: [nova.candidate.invalid], link: "https://nova.candidate.invalid"),
  ),
)

#show: cv.with(
  profile: profile,
  columns: 2,
  left: [
    #section("Research Focus")
    #summary[Imaginary governance and simulated decision engines.]
    #section-gap

    #section("Methods")
    #detail-line(title: "Methods", content: [synthetic trials, mock audits])
  ],
  right: [
    #section("Academic Appointments")
    #experience(
      title: "Lecturer in Speculative Systems",
      institution: [Exampleland University],
      location: "Sample City, Exampleland",
      date: "20XY-present",
    )
  ],
)

Keep this variant concise and preferably to one page. The left and right columns are visually independent, but text extraction and screen readers may not preserve the intended reading order.

Common recipes

Hide the footer date

#show: cv.with(
  profile: profile,
  options: (last-updated: false),
)

Use inline contacts

#show: cv.with(
  profile: profile,
  layout: (contact-layout: "inline"),
)

Disable continuation headers

#show: cv.with(
  profile: profile,
  layout: (continue-header: false),
)

Continuation headers are useful for an academic CV that runs beyond one page. They repeat only the candidate name, document label, and page count—not the full contact block.

Advanced configuration

Most documents never need this section. When you do need a specific override, the grouped API keeps optional settings separate from content:

#show: cv.with(
  profile: profile,
  theme: (
    font: "Libertinus Serif",
    accent: rgb("#1e3a5f"),
  ),
  layout: (
    preset: "default",
    margin: (left: 1.7cm, right: 1.7cm, top: 1.5cm, bottom: 1.5cm),
    continue-header: false,
  ),
  options: (
    last-updated: true,
    page-count: true,
    date: "2026-07-09",
  ),
)

For exceptional cases, the rhythm gaps map directly to the visual hierarchy: section-content-gap separates a section heading from its first block, entry-row-gap separates a bold entry title from its institution line, description-gap separates that line from a description or bullet list, and item-gap separates complete entries. The default preset intentionally leaves more space inside a block than the compact preset so dense academic content still scans as a sequence of distinct records.

continue-header defaults to true for cv and cv-single. The full identity header appears only on the first page; later pages receive a compact header with the candidate name, “Curriculum vitae”, and page count instead of repeating contact details. cv-double keeps the historical false default because it is intended as a one-page summary.

Optional section ordering

Direct source order is the simplest approach. If a generated workflow needs to reorder or conditionally hide sections, use section-block and render-sections:

#let sections = (
  section-block("profile", title: "Research Profile")[
    #summary[Research summary.]
  ],
  section-block("education", title: "Education")[
    #education(
      institution: [Placeholder Institute],
      major: [PhD in Speculative Systems],
      date: "20XS-20XW",
      location: "Demo Harbour, Exampleland",
    )
  ],
)

#render-sections(
  sections: sections,
  order: ("profile", "education"),
  include-remaining: false,
)

This is an advanced option; it is not required for an ordinary CV.

BibTeX publications

For a short selected-publications section, entry is usually easiest. To cite records from bib.bib, list the citation keys and keep the hidden bibliography at the end of the document:

#section("Publications")
+ @article-key
+ @another-key

#show bibliography: none
#bibliography("bib.bib", style: "chicago-author-date")

The legacy publication helper remains available. Because imported packages cannot construct paths into the calling project, resolve the path in the CV file before passing it to the helper:

#publication(path("bib.bib"), "chicago-author-date")

The helper also accepts raw bibliography bytes or an array of resolved paths and bytes. It rejects bare path strings because those would resolve inside the installed package rather than beside the CV document.

Legacy API

Nothing from 1.x was removed. cv-single and cv-double still work, as do the flat arguments font-type, name, address, contacts, continue-header, lastupdated, and pagecount, including string booleans such as "true". layout: (density: ...) remains an accepted spelling of preset.

Older helper names are aliases:

• descript -> summary
• job -> experience
• twoline-item -> entry
• oneline-title-item, skill-line -> detail-line
• references -> reference-list
• sectionsep -> section-gap
• subsectionsep -> item-gap

Use cv, the four settings, and the semantic helper names for new documents.

Upgrading from 1.x

Your existing documents keep compiling. They will look different: 2.0.0 replaces the PT Sans / PT Serif pairing with a single serif family, rebuilds the size ladder, moves location out of the bottom-right corner, and widens the page margins to 2.2cm to match the letter template. To modernise a 1.x document, replace cv-single.with with cv.with and layout: (density: "balanced") with nothing at all — "default" is the default.

Troubleshooting

• The email causes a syntax error: escape @ as \@ inside Typst content.
• Font Awesome icons do not render: install the corresponding desktop fonts or remove the optional icon fields.
• The CV feels too dense: try preset: "relaxed" before changing individual spacing tokens.
• The CV exceeds a page limit: remove low-value detail first, then use preset: "compact".
• Copied PDF text is out of order: submit the single-column layout.
• A font is unavailable: use theme: (font: "Libertinus Serif") for a broadly available serif fallback.

Local development

Compile the repository examples against the working template:

typst compile example_single.typ
typst compile example_double.typ

The single-column example is the visual and behavioural reference for the academic design. The double-column example demonstrates the compact variant.

Release notes

See the changelog for version history and migration notes.

License

This template is released under the MIT License. See LICENSE.