Cover Letter 1 [Scholarship Offered]
When I read about the Clinical and Psychosocial Epidemiology (CPE) research master program and the accompanying PhD opportunity, I was very excited. Coming from Nursing science background, I joined the Clinical and Psychosocial Epidemiology program because I wanted to be involved in epidemiological research instead. This is a new paradigm shift and a golden opportunity to accomplish my goal. I therefore opted to complete my master thesis at the department of Epidemiology. Over the past year I have been happy to find that this has been a very good choice indeed. Beyond the knowledge I acquired from the CPE program, I developed the skills to work with large data sets and translating them to useful output that can be usable for clinicians. The most striking question for me was that the reason why psychiatric diseases and somatic diseases co-occur, and what factors determine the favorable and poor outcomes of these diseases. In this regard, I studied the comorbidity of depression and diabetes. In addition, as part of my thesis, I worked on identifying shared genetic and environmental risk factors of diabetes and schizophrenia.
My proposed PhD project builds upon the work I have done so far and aims to answer some of the questions that emerged over the past year. Despite the abundant cross-sectional studies conducted to date, use of genetic data is limited, longitudinal studies are scarce and the sample was small; as a result, conclusions are ambiguous. However, technological advancement and availability of big cohort data with long duration of follow-up are a good fortune to begin to address these issues.
Given the high burden of mental illness, one of my utmost long-term goals is to pursue a successful academic career in psychiatric epidemiologic research particularly schizophrenia and somatic comorbidities. I believe that the sole reason for pursuing a more advanced research is to approach with the moment of facing a new challenge and the need to solve it. Continuing my PhD will advance my knowledge and to produce evidence about several genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors attributed to the comorbidity of schizophrenia and somatic diseases.
It is my life ambition to conduct a high-quality demand based epidemiologic research. I believe that scientific research and its methods provide an unrivaled framework in which the problems of the physical world can be determined, and found solutions. In addition, discovering the implied meanings behind the scientific theories always encourages me to think and research the subject matter. I believe that the quality of life can’t be improved with possession, but through contribution. In this context, my effort to contribute to evidence-based personalized medicine shall be one of the greatest satisfaction in my life. Therefore, this PhD program is the golden opportunity to share extensive research experience to conduct the best research, manage projects, and expand my academic career for the future.
Cover Letter 2 [Invited for Interview]
Dear Prof. Christina Dalman,
When I read about the Karolinska Institutet vacancy for a Doctoral (PhD) student position in Public Health Epidemiology, I was very excited. I am a well-qualified psychosocial and clinical epidemiologist who would be an excellent candidate for this PhD position.
I have a research master degree in Clinical and Psychosocial Epidemiology, the top research master degree programme in the Faculty of Medical Science, University of Groningen, Netherlands. My master project focused on investigating the psychosocial, clinical and demographic risk factors of physical morbidities in patients with non-affective psychosis. This project is embedded within the Genetic Risk and Outcome of Psychosis (GROUP) project, a large prospective Dutch and Belgian cohort study. During my internship, I have learned plenty of skills on big cohort data management, sophisticated data analysis, and project writing. I have also a research master degree in Adult Health Nursing which helps me to acquaint clinical knowledge and skill. Moreover, I have more than 15 publications on psychiatric disorders and related topics which you may find here <https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=mW4v4kwAAAAJ&hl=en> or < http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4476-518X> . I am interested in Psychiatric Epidemiology research.
Given the high burden of mental illness, children with parental mental illness have poor health and social outcomes. One of my utmost long-term goals is to pursue a successful academic career in psychiatric/public health epidemiologic research. Therefore, this Ph.D. program is the golden opportunity to conduct demand-based research and develop novel personalized preventive and therapeutic models for patients care.
If you should have any further questions, please feel free to contact me. I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience regarding this application.
For further information, find my curriculum vitae attached together with this application.
Sincerely yours,
Tesfa Habtewold (BSc, MSc, CPE ReMa)
[email protected]
0630710580
Cover Letter 3
I was very excited to see your vacancy for the job of ‘Ph.D. students in Heart Failure Research: studies into protein homeostasis in inherited cardiomyopathies’ which was advertised yesterday on the UMCG website. I am a well-qualified health professional who would be an excellent choice for this position. I have Bachelor degree in Nursing and Master degree in Adult Health Nursing. Since 2013, I have worked as a lecturer at Debre Berhan University, Ethiopia as well. Moreover, I have the experience to work on big data in the Netherlands.
Since I am keenly interested and highly motivated in doing research, I started to follow research master degree study at the University of Groningen, Clinical and Psychosocial Epidemiology Department from 2015. I have several publications which you may find <here>. I am interested in cardiovascular research to examine environmental and genetic risk factors. My current project focused on disentangling the genetic and non-genetic risk factors of type 2 diabetes in patients with psychosis. This project is embedded within the Genetic Risk and Outcome of Psychosis (GROUP) project, a large prospective Dutch cohort study.
One of my utmost long-term goals was to pursue a successful academic career in cardiovascular research and clinical practice. I believe that the sole reason for pursuing a more advanced research is to approach with the moment of facing a new challenge and the need to solve it. Continuing Ph.D. will increase my knowledge about the effects of several genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors attributed to cardiovascular disease.
It is my life ambition to conduct a high-quality demand based clinical research. I believe that scientific research and its methods provide an unrivaled framework in which the problems of the physical world can be determined, and found solutions. In addition, discovering the implied meanings behind the scientific theories always encourages me to think and research the subject matter. I believe that the quality of life can’t be improved with possession, but through contribution. In this context, my effort to contribute to evidence-based medicine practice shall be the greatest satisfaction in my life. Therefore, this Ph.D. program is the golden opportunity to share extensive research experience to conduct the best research, manage clinical project, and expand my academic career for the future.
Cover Letter 4
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am writing to express my great interest in applying for the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)/ Doctor of Nursing program in School of Nursing. I recently had the privilege of speaking with Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) program students at the University of Adelaide. Their enthusiasm and zest further strengthened my desire to participate in the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) program.
In July, 2013, I got the research Master degree in Adult Health Nursing supervised by Prof. Yoseph Tsige (Associate) in the Nursing and Midwifery Department of Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia. During my academic years, I was doing the research on prevalence and determinants of depression among type 2 diabetic outpatients.
After my Master’s degree graduation, I worked as an instructor at Debre Berhan University, Ethiopia for the last 2 years. I conducted research on health workers Occupational exposure to HIV infection, diabetes mellitus among ambulatory patients, premenstrual dysphoric disorder among university students, and youth’s perception to HIV infection among high schools students. Additionally, I reviewed one article published in BMC open access publisher. I gained further understanding of academic research principles and experiences in conducting research, project application and team-working.
Now I am keenly interested and highly motivated to contribute a little about the role of Nurses in the field of psychiatry and mental health. Your knowledge translation research program covers areas of research that match my interests.
I firmly believe that I have the intellect, skills and talents necessary to succeed in the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) program. As well as my good understanding of academic principles, I am a very motivated and effective individual. I value leadership, teamwork, honesty, and ethics. Throughout my career, I obtained a good communication and organizational skills. It makes me confident that I will be suitable for your research team.
My strong desire to contribute to the advancement of psychiatry and mental health care continues to drive me to succeed and to accomplish my goals.
Therefore, I would like to ask your excellence supervising my research project.
Now my curriculum vitae (CV) and other relevant documents enclosed together. If further information is needed, please feel free to let me know. Thank you very much for your time and consideration. I look forward to hearing from you earlier.
Yours sincerely,
Cover Letter 5
Dear Karin Modig,
When I read about the Karolinska Institutet vacancy for a Doctoral (PhD) student position in Ageing Epidemiology (Reference number: 2-3369/2017), I was very excited. I am a well-qualified professional who would be an excellent candidate for this PhD vacancy.
Recently, I have completed an international research master degree in Clinical and Psychosocial Epidemiology from the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. I am interested in Epidemiologic research particularly in cardiovascular diseases; therefore, I am co-authored in two international studies on cardiovascular diseases
(https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28527533) and its risk factors
(http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1614362#t=article). I wrote my master thesis on the environmental and genetic risk factors of cardiometabolic abnormalities in patients with psychosis. This project is embedded within the Genetic Risk and Outcome of Psychosis (GROUP) project, a large prospective Dutch and Belgian cohort study. During my internship, I have learned plenty of skills on big cohort data management, sophisticated data analysis, and project writing. In addition, I have more than 11 publications on related topics which you could find here https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=mW4v4kwAAAAJ&hl=en or
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Tesfa_Habtewold or < http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4476-518X> . One of my utmost long-term goals is to pursue a successful academic career in aging research. Therefore, this Doctoral (PhD) student position is the golden opportunity to conduct demand-based research and develop novel personalized preventive and therapeutic models for patients care.
Life expectancy has been increasing globally from time-to-time due to several factors, such as changes in lifestyle and socioeconomic status. According to the Global Health Observatory (GHO) data, the global average life expectancy at birth in 2015 was 71.4 years. The world population is aging rapidly. Similarly, the occurrence and risk of chronic diseases, such as diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases, and its comorbidity increases dramatically and becomes severe. Of note, cardiovascular diseases are all-age group disease and affect the physical, social, and psychological wellbeing. Cardiovascular diseases affect healthy aging due to its pathophysiological diseases process, complications and comorbidity with other diseases. Therefore, it is essential to investigate the causes and underlying disease mechanisms of cardiovascular diseases. This will be helpful for early screening of cardiovascular diseases, further understanding of the causes, and to develop appropriate intervention strategies for preventing and managing the diseases. Furthermore, the result of this study will be helpful to predict cardiovascular diseases using environmental and genetic variables. This altogether ultimately contributes to improved quality of later life and healthy aging.
If you should have any further questions, please feel free to contact me. I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience regarding this application.
For further information, find my curriculum vitae attached together with this application.
Sincerely yours,
Tesfa Habtewold (BSc, MSc, CPE ReMa)
[email protected]
0630710580
