[opensourcedex]

hugo-theme-academic-cv is a free, open source blogging & personal sites project written in Jupyter Notebook and released under MIT. It has 5,065 GitHub stars, 6,444 forks and 0 open issues, and was last pushed 5 days ago. On this registry it ranks #12 of 25 tracked projects in Blogging & Personal Sites, with 5 head-to-head comparisons available. It gained 3 stars over the last 3 tracked days.

What is hugo-theme-academic-cv?

What it is

hugo-theme-academic-cv is MIT-licensed Hugo theme and template for academic portfolios. It lives in HugoBlox ecosystem. It builds personal website from Markdown files. Repository category is Content & Publishing / Blogging & Personal Sites. Primary language shown is Jupyter Notebook. Topics include academic, academic-website, blog-engine, blogdown, digital-garden, hugo, hugo-academic, hugo-site, hugo-theme, netlify, obsidian, personal-website. Page lists 5062 stars, 6446 forks, 9 years age, last push 2026-09-13.

Problem addressed is static PDF CVs getting lost. It creates always-on portfolio for publications, projects, talks. BibTeX or DOI import generates citation pages. AI page generation and visual editing help create structured pages. Content stays plain Markdown. It can deploy to free static hosts. README frames site for students, researchers, faculty, PIs to present academic work online.

Key capabilities

  • BibTeX and DOI auto-import turns .bib file into publication pages with citations.
  • Jupyter and RMarkdown support publishes .ipynb notebooks as posts with code, outputs, narrative.
  • LaTeX math and reveal.js Markdown slides render equations, syntax highlighting, diagrams, speaker notes.
  • Hugo Chat generates structured pages with front matter, shortcodes, blocks from plain English requests.
  • Ownable CMS provides drag-and-drop block editing inside VS Code.
  • Plain Markdown storage avoids database and lets users move content elsewhere.
  • Free deployment paths include GitHub Pages, Netlify, Vercel, Cloudflare.

Who uses it and how

  • Students and graduates use it for applications to labs and industry roles, replacing flat PDF with living site.
  • Researchers use it for citable presence grouping publications, projects, talks.
  • Faculty and PIs use it to showcase lab, group news, team members.
  • Authors with BibTeX or DOI records use it to avoid manual citation formatting.
  • README examples describe PhD students publishing profiles by editing Markdown without IT tickets or WordPress logins.

Getting started

Browser deployment from hugoblox.com/templates/academic-cv creates live site without local install. CLI setup uses npx hugoblox create site --template academic-cv and requires Hugo Extended and Node.js.

When to use it β€” and when not to

Use when academic content should remain plain Markdown, static hosting is enough, citation or notebook import matters. Avoid when dynamic database-backed CMS, hosted visual editing outside VS Code, or non-static app features required. Self-hoster must operate Hugo Extended, Node.js, static host, while content remains files; README marketing and metadata show contributors as - and open issues as 0, so direct maintenance visibility limited.

project readme (upstream, from github) β€” read inline

The Academic CV That Gets You Hired

Screenshot

The Portfolio That Works While You Sleep

Your unfair advantage in academia.
Stop sending PDFs into the void. Build a living portfolio that boosts citations, attracts collaborators, and lands offers β€” all from simple Markdown files you own.
Built on HugoBlox β€” the open-source framework where AI generates your pages and you own everything as Markdown.

Deploy Free (60s)   |   Customize with AI   |   Live Demo

GitHub Stars Discord HugoBlox Stars

Part of the HugoBlox ecosystem Β· Trusted by 150,000+ researchers at MIT, Stanford, Google & NVIDIA Β· Rated 4.9/5 (official survey) Β· Since 2016

Why This Template?

Most academic CVs are static PDFs that get lost in the pile. This is an always-on portfolio that works 24/7 to advance your career:

  • Students & grads applying to top labs and industry roles β€” stand out with a living portfolio, not a flat PDF
  • Researchers who want a citable online presence with publications, projects, and talks in one place
  • Faculty & PIs showcasing their lab, group news, and team members
  • Anyone with publications who wants auto-imported citations from BibTeX/DOI without manual formatting

"My citations went up 3x after switching to this template. Colleagues started finding my work through Google Scholar links back to my site. The BibTeX auto-sync is a lifesaver." β€” Dr. Li Zhang, AI Research Scientist

"I set this up during a weekend and my PhD students had their profiles live by Monday. They just edit Markdown β€” no tickets to IT, no WordPress logins." β€” Prof. Sarah Chen, Computer Science, ETH ZΓΌrich

Deploy this template

Features

Feature Benefit
BibTeX / DOI auto-import Drop in a .bib file β€” publication pages generated automatically with proper citations.
Jupyter & RMarkdown Publish .ipynb notebooks as beautiful posts β€” code, outputs, and narrative intact.
LaTeX math Native rendering for equations and technical writing.
Markdown slides Present with reveal.js β€” math, syntax highlighting, diagrams, speaker notes.
SEO & AI-ready Optimized for search engines and LLMs β€” your work gets found, cited, and recommended.
AI page generation Describe what you need to Hugo Chat β€” get structured pages with correct front matter instantly.
Visual editor Drag-and-drop blocks in VS Code with Ownable CMS. No coding needed.
Plain Markdown Every file is human-readable. No database, no lock-in, take your content anywhere.
Free hosting Deploy to GitHub Pages, Netlify, Vercel, or Cloudflare β€” all free tier.

πŸš€ Get Started

Step 1: Deploy Your Site

Option A: Launch in browser (fastest β€” no install needed)

[!TIP] Deploy a live site in 60 seconds β€” no software to install: Deploy Academic CV free

Option B: Use the CLI

# Requires Hugo Extended & Node.js
npx hugoblox create site --template academic-cv

Step 2: Customize With AI + Visual Editing

✨ Hugo Chat β€” AI customization

Tell Hugo Chat what you want in plain English. It generates structured pages with the right front matter, shortcodes, and blocks for this template.

"Add a publications page with my 2024 papers from this BibTeX file"

Try Hugo Chat β€” free

Ownable CMS β€” visual editing in VS Code

  1. Install Ownable CMS
  2. Open your project in VS Code
  3. Click the Ownable icon to start editing visually

Ownable CMS in Action Ownable CMS: Drag-and-drop page builder inside VS Code.

[!NOTE] New to Hugo? No problem. You don't need to know Hugo β€” edit visually or write Markdown. Hugo is the engine under the hood that makes your site fast, secure, and free to host. Learn more β†’

πŸ’Ž Go Premium

Love the free version? Academic CV Pro and Resume Pro take it further:

  • Premium designs that make an unforgettable first impression
  • Advanced timeline and layout options
  • Full-featured course/lecture sections
  • Remove attribution, priority support
Academic CV (Free) Academic CV Pro
Design Professional & clean Premium designs
Layouts Standard sections Advanced timelines
Courses/lectures Basic Full-featured
Support Community Priority

Compare plans   |   Deploy Academic CV Pro   |   Deploy Resume Pro

πŸ† Why HugoBlox?

Why not just use WordPress, Webflow, or an AI builder like Lovable?

AI builders (Lovable, v0) CMS platforms (WordPress, Webflow) HugoBlox
AI generates your pages Yes No Yes
You own the output as readable files No β€” React code No β€” database Yes β€” Markdown
Free to host forever No No Yes
Human-editable without the tool Barely No Yes β€” it's Markdown
Open source No No Yes β€” MIT licensed

[!IMPORTANT] Your content is plain Markdown files. No lock-in, no database, no vendor dependency. If you ever want to leave, take your files and go.

FAQ

Do I need to know Hugo? No. Edit visually with Ownable CMS or write Markdown. Hugo is the build engine β€” you don't need to touch it.
Can I import my existing publications? Yes. Drop a BibTeX file and publication pages are generated automatically with proper citations, metadata, and links.
Can I host for free? Yes. GitHub Pages, Netlify, Vercel, and Cloudflare Pages all have free tiers for static sites.
Can I migrate my content later? Yes. Your site is just Markdown files in a folder. Copy them anywhere.
What's Hugo Chat? An AI assistant train

readme truncated β€” read the full docs on github

Frequently asked questions

Is hugo-theme-academic-cv free to use?

hugo-theme-academic-cv is open source under the MIT licence. There is no licence fee and no seat count β€” you can self-host it or, where the project offers one, pay a vendor for a managed version instead.

What does hugo-theme-academic-cv do?

πŸŽ“ Academic portfolio that boosts citations. AI generates pages, you own as Markdown. BibTeX auto-import, Jupyter, LaTeX, slides, visual block editor β€” free to

What is hugo-theme-academic-cv written in?

hugo-theme-academic-cv is primarily written in Jupyter Notebook. Its source is publicly available at https://github.com/HugoBlox/hugo-theme-academic-cv, and it has 5,065 GitHub stars.