Could you check some paragraphs of my cover letter, please?

Hi English Forum,

I have to write a cover letter in which I have to specify why I cannot undertake a PhD in my home country and, therefore, why it is important for me to study in another country.

I will be really thankful if you could check these paragraphs.

1) Firstly and generally speaking, I think X is the ideal place to study because, in my opinion, it is a nation that considers investment in education and research of utmost importance, therefore considerably valorising students’ and researchers’ conditions. X spends more than 2.5% of the gross domestic product (GDP) for investments in education and research and in 2010 the Ministry of Education and Research earmarked 10% of the GDP by the year 2015 , against the 1% spent by X (Eurostat).

2) Nowadays in my home country there is a lack of institutes dedicated to X and there are few professional figures in this field.

It would, therefore, be important for me to study for the PhD programme entirely in X since my home country cannot offer equal opportunities of research in the specific subject I have chosen.

As regards the specific case of the university from where I graduated, the professorship of X is not being permanent since the retirement of the Chair Professor in 2011. This could seriously compromise the undertaking of my research.

Many thanks.

Sera