Apply for PhD-Personal Statement for Environmental/Geographic Science

As a senior student at one of the leading agricultural universities in the world, I will graduate next year with a diploma of Master in Science. I am writing to support my application for acceptance into your Ph.D. program someday to become one of China’s experts in my field.

In September 2019, I was admitted to China Agricultural University, one of the “985 Project” universities, and started my research life. Several days ago, I won the first-class academic scholarship of CAU, ranking top 2 among 37 students. In particular, the scholarship committee awarded me the “Dream·Future” Scholarship, and only three people in the college won the honor.Through over one year of study, I elucidated the roles of natural resources, especially the *******, in the environmental system, based on reading literature widely and plenty of hands-on experiences. Besides, I participated in various highly essential research projects and completed four academic articles as the first author.

Graduate education at this distinguished institution endowed me with a strong ability to conduct independent research. This achievement was mainly due to the following direct reasons. First, the scientific research capabilities of China Agricultural University in the fields of agriculture, resources, and environment are among the top in China, which provides me more research opportunities than others. For instance, starting from the beginning of my first year, I have been enjoying research work in the key laboratory for ********. Second, my supervisor is one of the most authoritative experts in ******* in China. I can catch cutting-edge ideas during our daily communication. Third, my department is staffed with scientists who have diverse academic backgrounds in geography, ecology, economics, management, etc. Therefore, I can absorb knowledge in different fields and establish my own research interests through interactions with them.

During my graduate studies, the research outputs were built upon the solid grounding I gained in my previous working and educational experiences. Before I was matriculated into the CAU, my major was *******, a branch of humanities and social sciences, which prompted me to complete courses about economics, natural sciences, and computer science (e.g., macroeconomics, econometrics, physical geography, C program language). My compulsory courses are all 90 points or more, with an overall GPA of 3.88, ranking one among 55 students. Thus, I won the national scholarship, the provincial government scholarship, and the *****Scholarship  with only five awards in my university. These scholarships completely covered the tuition of my four-year undergraduate study.

Scientific research requires not only a solid theoretical foundation but also social skills, outstanding leadership, and perseverance. These abilities are not inborn but formed by participating in student activities. I became the chairman of the college’s student union in the election for undergraduate cadres, fortunately. While completing the arduous studies, organizing various student activities allows me to organize my schedule in an orderly manner. With outstanding performance, I was rated as “Outstanding University Student in Liaoning Province”, “Shenyang Outstanding Student Leader”, “Top Ten University Student” during my undergraduate studies.

The basic skills I gained during my undergraduate studies gave me wings for sophisticated research. During the master’s degree, I served as the chairman of the department’s student union and carried out the above-mentioned academic research as a promoter. Meanwhile, I am actively expanding academic partnerships. For instance, during the period of home isolation caused by covid-19, I was involved in an English project with a researcher from *******, Germany, through the Internet, and the research output was successfully published in an SCI journal. Working with people from different educational backgrounds inspired my enthusiasm to study abroad.

Moreover, the primary motivation for me to pursue a Ph.D. degree comes from my interdisciplinary background in humanities and natural sciences. My undergraduate studies in humanities and social sciences taught me to understand human beings’ initiative and human society needs systems and rules to restrain people’s behavior. While the courses during the master’s degree focused on natural resources, especially agricultural *****resources, made me realize that natural resources are limited, and humans need to establish a systematic consciousness to appropriately manage natural resources and promote the sustainable use of natural resources. Unlike others’ monotonous educational background, the natural and humanistic academic background furthered my research interest and sense of mission, hoping to achieve certain academic achievements in the field of human-environmental interaction (e.g., agriculture, and *******) through advanced studies in your institution.

I am glad that your university has an influential faculty in these fields. With your emphasis on close interaction between students and faculty, I think I can count on your faculty’s help while I seek to scale higher intellectual heights and take up greater challenges. Under the guidance of your distinguished faculty and with the benefit of your remarkable research facilities, I am sure I will be able to ground myself solidly in my chosen career.