Motivation letter for PhD Biomed

Hey everybody, dear moderators,

as you can see I am currently applying for an PhD position at a Graduate School in Germany. This is my first letter of this kind and one of my first drafts. So I think there will be a lot to correct, formally and concerning the content and maybe the order. Additionally it is still too long (900 instead of 500 words).
I hopefully got informed well in your forum as I read a lot of threads and comments. I hope there won't be too many beginners' mistakes. I love this forum and the moderators' work.

I would highly appreciate you helping me to improve my letter.

Thanks a lot in advance.
Christopher

PS: I strongly got inspired by Abhinav Gaur's letter and his co-work with MountainHiker.

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Dear Sir or Madam,

I chose the XXX International Graduate School of XXX (program A), especially in cooperation with the YYY (program C) “ZZZ”, as the favored place for my PhD because of the outstanding call of Famous City as a biomedical research area and the unique merger of basic research and clinical oncology imbedded in the collaboration of program A, B (International Graduate School of XXX), and the program C. I consider doing my PhD in your program preparing and enriching me and serving as a springboard for my future academic career.

In my studies I not only learned a lot about molecular and cellular biology, both theoretically and practically, but also to quickly adopt new methods. During my bachelor thesis, besides molecular cloning, I got familiar with cell culture and associated transfection techniques as well as downstream analyses like qPCR, Western Blotting, or other read-out methods. The master studies further raised my devotion for solving problems coming up in the daily lab-life. I had to grapple a mysterious problem arising at a properly established technique during my master thesis. After racking our brains for months and sifting through the procedure step-by-step, we finally figured out the problem. That made not only my day, it also proved my passion for science to me.

The three majors I chose for my master studies - Biochemistry, Cell Biology and Plant Biochemistry, and Human Genetics - formed my personality by showing me the relevance, importance, and need of and for – also basic – research. An internship at the University Hospital Science City fueled my passion for clinical research even more. While dealing with the complement system – a part of the innate immune system –, which is linked to age-related macular degeneration (AMD), I realized the necessity but also the prospects of well-founded fundamental research concerning medical issues. The huge potential hidden in the infinite width and depth of a cell fascinates and inspires me to discover it and create novel approaches for still incurable diseases.

After my first six-week rotation during my master studies in the labs of Prof. Dr. Slavedriver (Cell Biology and Plant Biochemistry, University of Science City) they offered me a research assistant position, because of my excellent performance and rapid integration into the group. I was working with Dr. Hammerhead on the evaluation of her yeast two-hybrid screens for about two months and with Clint Westwood (PhD student) on different analyses of his Arabidopsis thaliana-mutants about six months alongside my studies. Moreover, another supervisor, Dr. Famous Chick, together with Prof. Dr. Ilove Science (both University Hospital Science City) directly wanted to keep me for a combined master and PhD thesis project after my internship in their lab. I also attended Dr. Famous Chick to an external lab (Prof. Dr. Paul Brown, XXX Institute, PCR town) where we performed some experiments in order to be able to establish them in our own lab. I enjoyed the bracing interactions as well as the technical and personal exchange.

Beside the academic life, which is definitely the biggest part, I certainly enjoy my extracurricular activities and social contacts. After having finished school in 2008, I joined the Caritas social station in Boring City for my nine-month civilian service where I was caring for old and disabled people in need. The personal interactions and the teamwork with the nurses gave me particular satisfaction. To bridge the time to the beginning of the semester afterwards, I started working as a postman. Cooperation with the colleagues, independent and reliable work as well as social skills for the continuous contact with customers are once more indispensable there. Even after years, they still keep calling me as circumstances require and I help out on Saturdays. In 2011 I additionally joined the “Organization X” (office for municipal youth work), Science City, to look after kids in their vacations. While arranging holiday camps and outings, one not only needs a powerful voice but rather interpersonal skills and the ability to lead a group and keep up a harmonic ambience.

Moreover, I love doing sports. I have been playing in our local soccer team for more than 10 years, but quit when I started studying because of time issues. Since then I regularly go for a run, play volleyball, basketball, or soccer with friends and thereby enjoy pushing myself to the limits. This represents also my attitude towards life and work. Although running on my own helps me to clear my mind, it is great fun to do sports together with others and feel the team spirit. Last year in October, I managed to arrange a Biochemistry III-running team successfully participating at the XXX run in Science City. In contrast to burning calories I am succumbed to creating delicious food in the kitchen. As it is true for the lab work, here, I believe, it is the trial and error, the mixing and observing the outcome that defines my passion.

I wish to become a part of program A as I expect it to be the best fitting for me, to give me opportunities to enhance myself, personally and scientifically, and to prepare me and my peers best for our future academic careers. I am looking forward to give all my heart and energy pushing my project forward, helping the group to achieve peak performance, and getting involved in courses and seminars with other highly motivated students. I am confident to enrich the program and research with my strong background knowledge, dedication to work and open-minded manner.

Thank you for considering my application. I am looking forward to your positive response.

Sincerely yours,
Me