Motivation letter for PhD application

Hi there!

I am currently writing a motivation letter for an application for a PhD project and till now the threads in this forum were a great help (thanks for that!). Sadly I am not a native speaker and not that practiced in writing. Therefore it would be great if someone could have a look at it. Unfortunately my deadline is tomorrow so I can understand if nobody answers in time. Nevertheless some quick general questions:
1. Is there any rule for the space between the sender and the adressee and between the adressee and the "Dear"? For now I used the common definition used in my Country...
2. What do I do if the letter is slightly more than one site? In my oppinion is decreasing the font size (Arial 12pt) not an option...
3. Is the letter okay?

Thanks a lot in advance!!!

Ben
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Blue Sea, 28.06.12
Ben Blub
Bubblestreet 1
1337 Bikini Bottom
Blue Sea

[3 lines]

Uni No Name
Prof. Norbert Name
Nothingsstreet 1
P.O.Box 1
1337 No City
No Country

[4 lines]

Dear Prof. Name:

With reference to our previous E-Mail conversation I am writing to apply for the PhD project “PhD continuous flow separation of biomolecules”. In May 2012 I graduated in production engineering at the University of Bikini Bottom. My master degree focuses on mechanical engineering and within my studies I developed a strong interest in biotechnology.

Due to its complexity and multidisciplinary the combination of biology and engineering is a very interesting scientific field. In combination with the technique on the micro- and nanoscale it provides a fascinating, team oriented research environment. These interdisciplinary and challenging tasks are one of the most interesting and enriching parts of our profession.

In my studies I have developed specific skills in micro- and nanotechnology. I am skilled in programming with Matlab as well as numerical modeling in the field of fluid dynamics. In addition, my master project and my master thesis widened my experience in the aforementioned areas. Furthermore, the course Bioceramics provoked my strong interest for engineering applications with a biology background. While studying I have worked as a student research assistant in different institutes. This gave me the opportunity to expand my knowledge about scientific research. The core responsibilities were laboratory work and experimental analysis as well as data control and programming with MatLab. For instance, I performed experiments dealing with microstructuring of metals. Beyond that I had the chance to plan and supervise the laboratory course in control theory.

According to the description, your application offers a PhD project in a very multidisciplinary environment. It covers and combines the scientific fields that I find most interesting. Thank you very much for considering my request. I look forward to your response.

Sincerely yours,

Ben Blub

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