Letter of motivation for PhD - help needed!

Hello!

I am trying to write a motivation letter for my application for a PhD position. I am not really satisfied yet. Probably someone can help me a bit. I have read many comments here and I am impressed! Great and helpful forum!

So, just let's go! I am curious what you might say! THANKS IN ADVANCE

Dear ...

According to your advertising on naturejob.com I am writing to apply for a PhD position in project x beginning in August 2011 at the ... . After handing in my diploma thesis in February I am searching for the opportunity to focus on challenging research projects in coral reef biology. Currently I am working on additional analysis for my thesis project at the... in ... to preare a publication.

During my studies of biology at the University of ... I sharpened my knowledge in several fields from molecular biology to ecology as well as geography. After realizing my wish to achieve a scuba diving licence, combined with a basic course in marine biology, I decided to focus on marine ecosystems. For getting a better and most of all practical insight into ongoing research topics of marine biology I organized myself internships at the ... and at the ... at ...'s researching group for .... At the University of ... I worked as a student assistant in a project about Geomicrobiology of reef organsims.

To improve my knowledge about ... and the ... I moved to ... where I developed my diploma project. In collaboration between Xy and Yx we combined molecular and ecophysiological methods in a manipulative aquarium study to investigate the effects of water current and acidification on physiology and associated microbial communities of Acropora p..The experiments were conducted in close team work with a master student from Ireland. Working independently, we managed to modify laboratory methods for bacterial diversity analyses from mucus samples and to establish a stable seawater mesocosm, which is suitable to perform manipulative experiments.

In November my supervisors gave me the opportunity to join the IWR symposium in DenHaag, where I presented my preliminary results on a poster. I enjoyed interesting presentations and discussions with professional scientists about ongoing research topics in ... biology.

Throughout several internships and student assistant jobs I could enhance my practical skills and expertise in methods. Furthermore I made good contact with many different people from diverse cultural and scientific backgrounds and thus I could improve the ability to integrate into teams and new environments quite successfully.

As it is highlighted in recent studies, ... interact with organisms out of every empire. It would be exciting to enhance our knowledge about the parasite-... interaction between ... and ...to assess the evolutionary origin of inter-specific relationships. I am confident that the combination of molecular and toxicological methods with ecological surveys will lead to a broad view on the underlaying mechanisms. The approach would provide an exciting methodical and theoretical challenge for a PhD project. The results of the project might bring us to a point from where we can develop our understanding on how ... as the keyspecies in ..., function. Only by enlarging our knowledge about the connections in ... and how they evolve it is possible to develop more specific mechanisms to protect these ecosystems.

One of your students recommended the PhD programm at ... and the worldwide network of your institution to provide a great environment to do professional research. I would be grateful to become part of it for the upcoming years. I am sure, that my engagement and enthusiasm, my practical experience and team work abilities can contribute to the success of the project.

Please feel free to contact me regarding any questions or concerns you might have. Thank you for reviewing my application,and I look forward to your acceptance.

Sincerely

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