PhD cover letter

Dear all,

I'm currently working on my phd cover letter and need an opinion(s) about it. Any advices and corrections are highly appreciated. Thanks for the helping hand .

Ari.

Dear Prof. ***,

Based on recommendation of Prof. ***, I am writing to you in order to apply for the PhD program you are offering in your institute. In March 2009, I got my Master degree in Oceanography from the University C. In my thesis, entitled "Biologically active secondary metabolites from tropical marine organisms", I demonstrated the ability of isoaaptamine and theonellapeptolide Id from the Indonesian marine sponges as cancer immunotherapy agents by regulating specific enzymes that are responsible for the biochemical pathways of cancer, i.e. IDO (indoleamine-2,3-dioxygenase) and SHIP1 (SH-containing inositol 5-phosphatase). I was also working on the crystallographic study of australin E, a novel diterpenoid bearing a eunicellin-based skeleton from the Micronesian soft coral that also activated SHIP1.

My interest on natural product chemistry was started during my undergraduate research by studying the antioxidative activity of flavonoids isolated from bee propolis Apis mellifera, of which I received a funding from the Indonesian Directorate General of Higher Education and an award as the best national presenter on the 17th Annual Competition of Student Creativity Program. My skills and knowledge on the related subject were furthermore broadened throughout my 4-month visit to the Department of Chemistry of C in 2006 on the isolation and identification of bioactive constituents from the Indonesian marine sponges under the supervision of Prof. ***. During the visit, I and co-workers discovered two new sesquiterpene alcohols that exhibited a modest activity against human lung carcinoma cell-lines.

Since late 2009, I am working on the isolation of anticancer agents from sponge-associated microorganisms, i.e. Streptomyces sp., Aspergillus sp. and Penicillium sp. collected from Indonesian waters at the ***, under the supervision of Dr. ***. In a different project, I am also working on the isolation of secondary metabolites from marine invertebrates that have been significantly affected by climate change and anthropogenic stressors; to study the effect of physical and chemical imbalance toward the quantity of secondary metabolites they are producing. Both projects are currently in progress.

For my future career, I see that pursuing PhD program with your esteemed research group would further extend my knowledges in the area of marine natural products. Therefore, I have enclosed my curriculum vitae for your consideration and would happy to send you additional materials. Thank you very much for your time and your consideration. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,