Excited by the idea of becoming a scientist since I was a small child, my interests in pursuing graduate studies intensified during my undergraduate education and my research experience. Rather than discouraging me with the tremendous amount of work and demands for creativity, my college years motivated me to earn a Ph.D. and to continue pursuing a career as a research scientist. Although my exact research goals have yet to be refined, my interests include studying the genetic basis of disease and the genetic mechanisms that govern various cellular processes, such as the cell cycle, apoptosis, and tumor formation.
Although I entered college without a clear research direction, the Biotechnology Program at Rochester Institute of Technology helped develop my interest in the field of Genetics. I found much of my laboratory training at RIT to be extremely rewarding. For example, one experience that early on convinced me to seriously consider genetics was a project involving the construction and characterization of a recombinant plasmid. Since I worked independently for the most part, the project played a key role in increasing my confidence and helping me to understand various concepts pertaining to genetic analysis. It was this experience that motivated me to seek a position as a teacher’s assistant for a course in Microbial and Viral Genetics. As a TA, I learned how demanding the teaching situation is and how much teaching a course can contribute to my own learning.
By this time, after discovering my passion for research and the joy of teaching, I began to seriously contemplate graduate schools. To excel in graduate school, I decided I would not limit my experience to my formal education at RIT. Instead, I wanted the opportunity to explore my career options to make a well-informed decision as to the area of my future research. With these goals in mind, I chose to take advantage of RIT’ s Cooperative Education Program, which meant earning my Bachelor’ s degree in five years instead of four. In December of 1997,Astra Arcus USA Pharmaceuticals hired me as a research assistant in the Electrophysiology department.
At Astra, I learned research techniques not taught by RIT. For the past year, I have been working with a subset of neuronal glutamate receptors via voltage clamping on Xenopus oocytes. The research of our lab is geared toward the study of central nervous system diseases. Working with Astra and earning an education in biotechnology from RIT sparked my interest in learning more about the genetic basis of disease.
On a personal level, I’ve gained quite a bit from my cooperative experience. Confident in my ability to adapt to new environments and learn techniques that I have never encountered, I have also learned a great deal about the nature of private-sector research and the lifestyle of the researchers. Familiar with the amount of dedication and hard work essential to project advancement, I am more focused on my goal of becoming an excellent researcher than I ever have been. No stranger to the frustration and disappointment inherent in research work, I am spurred on by the thrill of discovery. I find a great deal of enjoyment working in research and plan to stay at Astra through the summer of 2005.
I feel that my course work as a Biotechnology major at RIT and my research experience at Astra have adequately prepared me for graduate study. Eager to continue my education and improve upon my weaknesses, I am particularly interested in becoming more familiar with emerging technologies relating to genetics and in gaining more exposure in working with eukaryotic genomes. Most importantly, I want to gain the knowledge and skills necessary to design and perform research according to my interests in genetics and disease.
With these broad interests and specific goals, I am very attracted to the Graduate Program in Genetics at Duke University. With great flexibility in choosing a degree, the program would suit me well. At Duke, I would welcome the opportunity to explore my interests in Cell Biology, Neurobiology, Pharmacology, and Cancer Biology. I am also interested in learning more about possible involvement with the Duke Center for Human Genetics. My motivation to succeed is reflected in both my academic standing and my dedication to research. I feel that these attributes, combined with a profound interest in the Biological Sciences, will ensure me success as a graduate student at Duke University.
点评:
这是一篇生物专业的PS,文章开门见山,表达清晰,结构明了。是一篇比较好的文书。
首先从结构上可以把文章分为四部分:
一.表明自己的学习目的和研究方向
二.在罗切斯特技术学院的学习经历
三.在Astra制药公司的研究经历
四.基于过往经历,得出自己感兴趣的研究方向和职业目标
从内容上来说,作者采取的是层层深入的方式。先是孩童时代的梦想激发自己在大学就读期间要继续研究生阶段的学习。然后就是大学期间在罗切斯特技术学院的学习和研究工作。虽然这个阶段还没有明确的研究方向,但是作者的研究之路是朝着自己感兴趣的方向发展的。作者也一步步地明确了自己研究的方向是遗传学。明确目标之后,作者就开始有针对性地通过在Astra制药公司的实习增加自己在遗传学方面的研究经验。终于,通过了大学的学习和公司的实习,作者明确的感到自己对于研究生阶段教育的需求,在文章的结尾表达了想进入杜克大学的遗传学课程的意愿。
整篇文章一气呵成,通过具体的事例来证明自己的学习目的和需要。文分朴实,符合理工科申请的风格。但是文章也是有一定的缺点,就是所举事例不是很specific,有点笼统,没把研究中出现的问题具体描述一下。但是总体来说还是一篇比较好的PS。
翻译:
在孩童时期要成为科学家的梦想的激励下,我在本科学习及研究阶段对于继续研究生学习的愿望越来越强烈。大量的工作和对于创造力的需要并没有使我退缩,反而激发了我要去获取博士学位并以科学家作为职业。虽然我确切的研究方向还有待精确,但是我的兴趣包括研究疾病的遗传原理,以及支配着诸如细胞循环,细胞凋亡和瘤形成等不同细胞进程的遗传机能。
虽然我进入大学之时没有一个清晰的研究方向,但是罗切斯特技术学院的生物技术课程帮助我培养了在遗传学领域的兴趣。我发现自己的实验室经验让我受益匪浅。例如,早期的一次经验让我去深刻认识到遗传学是一个包括重组质粒的组建和构造的工程。自从我可以独立完成大部分工作之后,这个工程在增加我的自信心和帮助我理解关于遗传分析的多种概念方面起了举足轻重的作用。正是这次经验促使我去担任微生物和病毒遗传学课程的助教。作为一个助教,我认识到教师工作的要求是如何的高以及教授一门课程对于我自己的学习帮助是如何的大。
在发现我对于研究的热情和教学的乐趣之后,我开始认真考虑研究生院。为了能够在研究生院胜人一筹,我决定去增加除了罗切斯特技术学院正式学习之外的经验。因此我要寻找一个机会去拓展自己的职业之路,使自己在未来研究领域博闻多识。脑海中的这些念头使得我决定去好好利用罗切斯特技术学院的合作教育项目。这个项目意味着我拿到学士学位需要5年而不是4年。1997年12月美国Astra Arcus制药公司聘请我为电生理学部门的研究助手。
在发现我对于研究的热情和教学的乐趣之后,我开始认真考虑研究生院。为了能够在研究生院胜人一筹,我决定去增加除了罗切斯特技术学院正式学习之外的经验。因此我要寻找一个机会去拓展自己的职业道路,使自己在未来研究领域博闻多识。脑海中的这些念头使得我决定去好好利用罗切斯特技术学院的合作教育项目。这个项目意味着我拿到学士学位需要5年而不是4年。1997年12月美国Astra Arcus制药公司聘请我为电生理学部门的研究助手。
在Astra,我学到了在罗切斯特技术学院学不到的研究技术。过去的一年里,我一直在研究在蛙卵上神经元谷氨酸受体的一个子集通过电压箝位的现象。我们实验室的这项研究是为中枢神经系统疾病的研究服务的。在Astra的工作与罗切斯特技术学院的学习激发我要更加深入学习遗传疾病原理的兴趣。
从个人层面上说,我从合作的经历中学到不少东西。除了对于我适应新环境和学习新技术的能力的自信,我还体会到私人研究的特性以及研究工作者的生活方式。我熟悉对于一个项目前进来说很重要的是大量的付出和繁重的工作,我更加重视的是要成为一个优秀的研究员的目标。每个人在研究工作中都免不了挫折和失望,我是在发现的激励下不断进步的。我在研究工作中得到了很大的乐趣并计划在Astra度过2005年的夏天。
我感觉到在罗切斯特技术学院的生物技术课程以及Astra的工作经验为我将来的研究生学习作了充分的准备。我渴望去继续我的学习生涯并提高自己,我特别想熟悉遗传学的相关技术并且更多的接触真核基因组。最为重要的是我想获得跟我在遗传学与疾病兴趣相符的必备知识和技术去设计和完成研究。
基于广泛的兴趣和明确的目标,我对于杜克大学的遗传学研究生课程特别感兴趣。由于其选择学位的灵活性,我觉得这个课程很适合我。在杜克大学我将会有机会去扩展在细胞生物学,神经生物学,药理学以及瘤生物学方面的兴趣。我也有兴趣学习更多与杜克人类基因学中心可能有关的知识。促使我不断前进的动力来源于我的学术成绩和研究上的付出。我相信这些因素加上我对于生物科学的浓厚兴趣可以保证我作为杜克大学一个研究生取得成功。
>>我感兴趣,马上在线咨询