Letter of motivation

Hello everybody!!...I am applying for master in Denmark, could anubody help me checking my letter of motivation please!!...any suggestion on grammar and writing style is welcome : ) : )

The discovery of microbial life at Yellowstone Park by Carl Woese and his colleagues in the late 1970s meant a turning point not only in microbiology but also in science in general. Ever since, the organization of living organisms changed with the introduction of a new domain, and microorganisms with novel physiological adaptations to live in the so called extreme environments have been elucidated. These findings have been possible due to molecular tools, in particular the use of functional genomics has let scientist to identify genes and proteins that enable bacteria and Achaea to adapt, survive, and reproduce successfully in unusual conditions. Extremophiles have been exploited also in biotechnology where its enzymes and metabolites are used extensively. Despite recent findings on extreme microbial life and development of new molecular tools and approaches such as metagenomics and next-generation sequencing technologies, lots of extreme ecosystems and insights of microorganisms that inhabitant them remain to be studied. Thus, my main goal in research is to dedicate myself to the study of microbial life in extreme environments from a genomic approach. I want to reveal how these organisms arrange and interact one another at a molecular scale, and identify molecules with potential application in biotechnology.
To get acquainted with these topics, and chasing my interest in the molecular sciences, during my undergraduate in Industrial Microbiology I attended several courses about microbiology and postgraduate lectures in advanced topics on genetics and genomics. As part of my bachelor, I made a six month internship and my undergraduate thesis at the Colombian Center for Genomics and Bioinformatics of Extreme Environments. There, using a sequence-based metagenomic approach I worked on the bioprospection of a psychrophilic environment to identify novel lipases- coding genes, which are enzymes broadly used in industry for their biochemical properties.
I developed a novel strategy to screen fosmid libraries following a pool-based strategy and rounds of amplification with highly degenerate primers. I subcloned pools of clones presumptive to harbor a lipolityc gene to generate short insert libraries. After screening them on agar containing different lyipolityc substrate as sole carbon, I was able to identify single clones showing the desired activity. Confirmation was made via PCR and the partial fragments amplified were sequenced. Bioinformatic analyses showed that most of the sequences bear a motif belonging to the a/ß hydrolase superfamily, which is expected to be found in lipases, these could also represent novel genes. For this research, I obtained the highest grade in my undergraduate thesis (5.0/5.0), and because of the significance of it, further studies and a complete characterization of the clones are being conducted in the group, and also, a paper is in preparation.
This was my first experience in research which not only strengthened my practical skills and theoretical knowledge but reinforced my confidence as a researcher, improved my writing of academic documents and taught me to propose ideas to overcome troubles as a member of a research team.
To broaden my experience in functional genomics, I joined the Plant Biotechnology group at Javeriana University. The aim of my work was screening promoters that may increase the expression of drought-tolerance genes from Gmelina arborea to be further used in different crops of commercial interest. I cloned the promoters atp (Arabidiopsis thaliana), mec, mesc (Manihot esculenta) and B33 (Solanum tuberosum), in vectors designed to assess promoter activity (GUS system). To evaluate which one was the fittest promoter (which could increase the expression the most), I transfected them into potato leaves and nodes via Agrobacterium tumefaciens, and used histochemistry to evaluate the results. This was a really enriching experience as all the procedures and concepts I learned and the people I met there had a strong impact in my research career.
I have also gained teacher experience in the course of “microbial genetics”. During this teaching assistantship, I was responsible to lead the laboratory section, and designed a new experiment to evaluate the transcription regulation in bacteria.
After finishing my bachelor in the fourth place of a cohort of 51 people, and due to my high grades obtained, I was awarded with the national “young researcher” scholarship by the Colombian government. This scholarship is awarded to the most talented students in Colombia to work in projects that promote the progress and development of the country. Through this scholarship, I have been working in the Laboratory of Molecular Population Genetics and Evolutionary Biology at Javeriana University to reveal the evolutionary history of drosophilids in Colombia using a molecular approach. Because a research with this scope has never been conducted in the country, this study will have a major impact in the field of evolution worldwide. In this new experience besides learning to handle an animal system model (Drosophila sp), I am acquiring concepts and tools on evolution and phylogenetics; really important and useful topics but a little unknown to me so far. The phylogeny is being reconstructed based on the study of nuclear (alcohol dehydrogenase, dopa decarboxylase, alpha metildopa, hunchback) and mitochondrial (cytochrome oxidase II) genes.
From my undergraduate studies and participation in different projects, I have gained a solid background in both theory and practice. Due to a multidisciplinary training by working with different model systems, I am able to approach a scientific question from a broader and more complete point of view. I can combine different tools and strategies in order to drive correctly a research. Moreover, now I analyze and discuss more critically scientific literature in order to target a topic or an unsolved question.
As a next step in my career, I am highly motivated to pursue the master programme in Biology with profile in Microbiology at Copenhagen University which is one of the leading institutions in Europe with high standards of education and top research. The aim and purpose of the programme fits my academic and research expectations because it offers several fields wherein I’ve got some experience and other ones where I would like to learn and strengthen. The emphasis, physical resources, multidisciplinary approach and the way the programme is targeted, will let me undoubtedly accomplish career goals. In addition, it is well known that Copenhagen University has historically established as a top research institution in biological sciences at international level, therefore I would be honored to join such an important university.
I would like to join the Danish Archaea Center which is broadly recognized for its extensive research on extremophilic prokaryotes and its contribution to the field with novel insights on the molecular physiology of these microorganisms. The way the group drives the investigations by employing molecular methods fulfills my research expectations and fits my background, therefore, in case of being admitted; joining the Danish Archaea center, would be truly enriching and it would let me advance in my research career. I would be glad to learn from them and support their research carrying out my master thesis with them, and acquire the experience to continue for a further doctoral degree, and hopefully, make contributions in the field
Finally, one of my goals in life is becoming a professor at university level, therefore attending this master programme is a critical step to progress in my academic and professional pathway, and it is a vital stage to grow as an investigator to subsequently become a senior researcher.