Motivation Letter PhD

Good evening,

I am currently a Master student in Psychology and am planning to apply for a doctoral degree. The requirements are strong GPA, grade transcripts and a motivation letter. I wrote a number of drafts and this is the format I reached until now. If anyone can provide some advice or suggestions for improvement - content, structure, length, grammar, I would greatly appreciate it.
Thank you!

I am writing with reference to the advertised position of PhD in “” at the Institute. A close overview of your program curricula and current research has convinced me that my interests and skills can find a terrain for excellent development at your Institute. The great diversity of theories taught from decision making, management control and optimization techniques to game theory and behavioral and experimental economics complemented by the possibility to acquire methodological skills pertaining to multivariate statistics, structural equation modeling and advanced regression techniques have determined me to apply for your program. I have a long and lasting interest in these areas, and did not hope to find a program that optimally combines both theory and technique as the Phd at. The direction that I am pursuing is of quantitative research and empirical testing and I am sure that I will find an opportunity to apply large scale studies as well during my doctoral stay.

I have obtained my Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology in June 2011, being ranked among the top 15 % of my class and currently am studying for the final year of my Master’s degree in Organizational Psychology and Human Resources, degree expected to be obtained in June 2012. My interest in organizational research stems from the management and organizational Psychology courses attended during my Bachelor studies, which determined my current choice of secondary degree. The opportunity to apply research plans in organizations using quantitative methods has given me the insider perspective on organizational structure and processes. A need for better and deeper knowledge of organizational design and the way it influences strategies adopted by firms is on top of my research interests, and organizational research has become a desired and pursued career path.

During my Bachelor studies I have developed and improved my research skills and gained an in depth view on research areas of various specializations. For example, as an assignment for a cognitive psychology course, I have investigated the domain of decision making theory through a research study dealing with the differences in solving complex reasoning tasks between scientific vs. humanistic orientations college students. This research has opened my interest in decision making under risk and game theory, which I hope to further develop through applicative research.

Most of my recent research projects focus on determinants of organizational behavior and labor market characteristics. My interest in investigating person-organization fit as a predictor of organizational retention and job attitudes has determined me to apply and consequently win a one year scholarship with the scope of conducting an independent research project. In this context, I have improved both my theoretical knowledge by doing intensive literature reviews, and my quantitative research skills, by designing and implementing research plans, constructing and applying surveys for organizational assessments, data analysis, interpretation and results reporting. Owing to analysis needs of my project, my statistical knowledge outside master level courses has advanced – for example, I can now apply multiple regression, exploratory factorial analysis, and analysis of variance at an advanced level compared with the knowledge gained in master level courses. Also, the necessity to apply suitable techniques for my data has extended my interest and knowledge of various techniques, as mediation using bootstrapping techniques to adjust for sample size influence on results or ridge regression to adjust for multicolinearity in the data. My objective is to further develop my knowledge and apply advanced statistical techniques in organizational experimental research.

Apart from developing my technical skills, the independent research project contributed to the improvement of my interpersonal skills — I have contacted, surveyed or interviewed organizational representatives in the process of searching for organizational application sources or when actually applying my research plan. Moreover, I have improved my presentation skills and adapted my research material for publication and conference presentation guidelines. The contact with the professional world has been ongoing; I have exchanged ideas with various academic professionals and have been supported in implementing research through advice regarding theoretical or methodological issues.

The opportunity to conduct research using my own resources for a year has provided me with better insight into the meaning and process through which a research plan is objectified. This has led me to further search new opportunities to conduct psychological research in the work domain, and I recently have begun another study by proactively approaching organizations that agreed to provide access to study participants. Currently I am analyzing the data collected and testing the hypotheses of my study; my objective is to analyze the data using more advanced techniques as structural equation modeling and categorical data analysis, by self-acquiring statistical knowledge through lectures and available courses, and gradual application of concepts.
Besides self-conducted research, I seek and am involved in other research projects, amongst which an internship stage for the Romanian Institute for Psychology of the Romanian Academy, that currently conducts a project dealing with adolescent problem behaviors with the purpose of constructing a screening and prevention instrument to be used by the Ministry of Education. I was assigned responsibilities for the application phase, having applied quantitative surveys in Romanian highschools, for the preliminary data analysis phase and for the results interpretation phase by helping support study findings through literature reviews. My teamwork skills have improved as I had to provide timely and accurate results for the rest of the team, and permanently communicate to assure alignment with team goals.
As I permanently attempt to develop and improve my personal skills and knowledge, I have taken the role of team coordinator for a Psychometric course assignment scheduled for the current semester. My role is to coordinate team efforts for the construction of a psychometric instrument to measure job satisfaction, having such responsibilities as —defining project scope and clarifying activities to members, assigning tasks and deadlines for task completion, collecting, synthesizing and adapting material received as well as providing timely access to information and accurate material for members, availability to answer questions and managing conflict, and permanent motivation and encouragement of team to accomplish objectives, as well as providing constructive feed-back for activity. The project has greatly improved my task management and organization skills, as well as given me insight into the role of a team coordinator, by testing abilities which I haven not utilized in a formal setting before.
Apart from my interest in research, I am involved in volunteering activities, being from 2010 a volunteer for a non-profit organization that deals with gifted and talented youth. My role here is to assess the cognitive ability of children that apply for the school of excellence in order to determine their cognitive level; we use for assessments licensed psychometric instruments as the Raven Standard Matrices or the Wechsler Scale of Intelligence. Creating personality profile assessments is also part of my duties at the centre, as well as communication with childrens’ parents to provide understanding of their children capabilities and developmental potential, and to help establish better parent-child relationships.

Even if my knowledge in the field of organizational design is open to improvement, I consider having the theoretical and methodological foundation required by your program. Moreover, a deep interest and personal motivation in conducting organizational research complements my skills. I would like to study, for example, how companies chose what innovative ideas to implement, what barriers to adopting innovative ideas exist, what are the main characteristics of new forms of organizations. A future personal goal is to get involved in current research projects at the Institute and to bring productive ideas for new projects. One of my strengths is creativity and pragmatism in finding research ideas. Also, I seek to develop publishable research and to apply for grants that can financially sustain the implementation of research plans. I wish to develop my abilities in a structured manner and the courses proposed by your university can provide me the opportunity to both get acquainted with the novel theories in the area of organizational design and strategy. The research experience and methodological assets of the team at () are a fit with my research development needs and I am confident that the skills and potential that I bring can be an asset for your institution.