Excited by the idea of becoming a scientist since I was a small child, my interests in pursuing graduate studies intensified during my undergraduate education and my research experience. Rather than discouraging me with the tremendous amount of work and demands for creativity, my college years motivated me to earn a Ph.D. and to continue pursuing a career as a research scientist. Although my exact research goals have yet to be refined, my interests include studying the genetic basis of disease and the genetic mechanisms that govern various cellular processes, such as the cell cycle, apoptosis, and tumor formation.

Although I entered college without a clear research direction, the Biotechnology Program at Rochester Institute of Technology helped develop my interest in the field of Genetics. I found much of my laboratory training at RIT to be extremely rewarding. For example, one experience that early on convinced me to seriously consider genetics was a project involving the construction and characterization of a recombinant plasmid. Since I worked independently for the most part, the project played a key role in increasing my confidence and helping me to understand various concepts pertaining to genetic analysis. It was this experience that motivated me to seek a position as a teacher’s assistant for a course in Microbial and Viral Genetics. As a TA, I learned how demanding the teaching situation is and how much teaching a course can contribute to my own learning.

By this time, after discovering my passion for research and the joy of teaching, I began to seriously contemplate graduate schools. To excel in graduate school, I decided I would not limit my experience to my formal education at RIT. Instead, I wanted the opportunity to explore my career options to make a well-informed decision as to the area of my future research. With these goals in mind, I chose to take advantage of RIT’ s Cooperative Education Program, which meant earning my Bachelor’ s degree in five years instead of four. In December of 1997,Astra Arcus USA Pharmaceuticals hired me as a research assistant in the Electrophysiology department.
At Astra, I learned research techniques not taught by RIT. For the past year, I have been working with a subset of neuronal glutamate receptors via voltage clamping on Xenopus oocytes. The research of our lab is geared toward the study of central nervous system diseases. Working with Astra and earning an education in biotechnology from RIT sparked my interest in learning more about the genetic basis of disease.

On a personal level, I’ve gained quite a bit from my cooperative experience. Confident in my ability to adapt to new environments and learn techniques that I have never encountered, I have also learned a great deal about the nature of private-sector research and the lifestyle of the researchers. Familiar with the amount of dedication and hard work essential to project advancement, I am more focused on my goal of becoming an excellent researcher than I ever have been. No stranger to the frustration and disappointment inherent in research work, I am spurred on by the thrill of discovery. I find a great deal of enjoyment working in research and plan to stay at Astra through the summer of 2005.

I feel that my course work as a Biotechnology major at RIT and my research experience at Astra have adequately prepared me for graduate study. Eager to continue my education and improve upon my weaknesses, I am particularly interested in becoming more familiar with emerging technologies relating to genetics and in gaining more exposure in working with eukaryotic genomes. Most importantly, I want to gain the knowledge and skills necessary to design and perform research according to my interests in genetics and disease.

With these broad interests and specific goals, I am very attracted to the Graduate Program in Genetics at Duke University. With great flexibility in choosing a degree, the program would suit me well. At Duke, I would welcome the opportunity to explore my interests in Cell Biology, Neurobiology, Pharmacology, and Cancer Biology. I am also interested in learning more about possible involvement with the Duke Center for Human Genetics. My motivation to succeed is reflected in both my academic standing and my dedication to research. I feel that these attributes, combined with a profound interest in the Biological Sciences, will ensure me success as a graduate student at Duke University.

點評：

這是一篇生物專業的PS，文章開門見山，表達清晰，結構明了。是一篇比較好的文書。

首先從結構上可以把文章分為四部分：

一．表明自己的學習目的和研究方向

二．在羅切斯特技術學院的學習經歷

三．在Astra制藥公司的研究經歷

四．基于過往經歷，得出自己感興趣的研究方向和職業目標

從內容上來說，作者采取的是層層深入的方式。先是孩童時代的夢想激發自己在大學就讀期間要繼續研究生階段的學習。然后就是大學期間在羅切斯特技術學院的學習和研究工作。雖然這個階段還沒有明確的研究方向，但是作者的研究之路是朝著自己感興趣的方向發展的。作者也一步步地明確了自己研究的方向是遺傳學。明確目標之后，作者就開始有針對性地通過在Astra制藥公司的實習增加自己在遺傳學方面的研究經驗。終于，通過了大學的學習和公司的實習，作者明確的感到自己對于研究生階段教育的需求，在文章的結尾表達了想進入杜克大學的遺傳學課程的意愿。

整篇文章一氣呵成，通過具體的事例來證明自己的學習目的和需要。文分樸實，符合理工科申請的風格。但是文章也是有一定的缺點，就是所舉事例不是很specific，有點籠統，沒把研究中出現的問題具體描述一下。但是總體來說還是一篇比較好的PS。

翻譯：

在孩童時期要成為科學家的夢想的激勵下，我在本科學習及研究階段對于繼續研究生學習的愿望越來越強烈。大量的工作和對于創造力的需要并沒有使我退縮，反而激發了我要去獲取博士學位并以科學家作為職業。雖然我確切的研究方向還有待精確，但是我的興趣包括研究疾病的遺傳原理，以及支配著諸如細胞循環，細胞凋亡和瘤形成等不同細胞進程的遺傳機能。

雖然我進入大學之時沒有一個清晰的研究方向，但是羅切斯特技術學院的生物技術課程幫助我培養了在遺傳學領域的興趣。我發現自己的實驗室經驗讓我受益匪淺。例如，早期的一次經驗讓我去深刻認識到遺傳學是一個包括重組質粒的組建和構造的工程。自從我可以獨立完成大部分工作之后，這個工程在增加我的自信心和幫助我理解關于遺傳分析的多種概念方面起了舉足輕重的作用。正是這次經驗促使我去擔任微生物和病毒遺傳學課程的助教。作為一個助教，我認識到教師工作的要求是如何的高以及教授一門課程對于我自己的學習幫助是如何的大。

在發現我對于研究的熱情和教學的樂趣之后，我開始認真考慮研究生院。為了能夠在研究生院勝人一籌，我決定去增加除了羅切斯特技術學院正式學習之外的經驗。因此我要尋找一個機會去拓展自己的職業之路，使自己在未來研究領域博聞多識。腦海中的這些念頭使得我決定去好好利用羅切斯特技術學院的合作教育項目。這個項目意味著我拿到學士學位需要5年而不是4年。1997年12月美國Astra Arcus制藥公司聘請我為電生理學部門的研究助手。

在發現我對于研究的熱情和教學的樂趣之后，我開始認真考慮研究生院。為了能夠在研究生院勝人一籌，我決定去增加除了羅切斯特技術學院正式學習之外的經驗。因此我要尋找一個機會去拓展自己的職業道路，使自己在未來研究領域博聞多識。腦海中的這些念頭使得我決定去好好利用羅切斯特技術學院的合作教育項目。這個項目意味著我拿到學士學位需要5年而不是4年。1997年12月美國Astra Arcus制藥公司聘請我為電生理學部門的研究助手。

在Astra，我學到了在羅切斯特技術學院學不到的研究技術。過去的一年里，我一直在研究在蛙卵上神經元谷氨酸受體的一個子集通過電壓箝位的現象。我們實驗室的這項研究是為中樞神經系統疾病的研究服務的。在Astra的工作與羅切斯特技術學院的學習激發我要更加深入學習遺傳疾病原理的興趣。

從個人層面上說，我從合作的經歷中學到不少東西。除了對于我適應新環境和學習新技術的能力的自信，我還體會到私人研究的特性以及研究工作者的生活方式。我熟悉對于一個項目前進來說很重要的是大量的付出和繁重的工作，我更加重視的是要成為一個優秀的研究員的目標。每個人在研究工作中都免不了挫折和失望，我是在發現的激勵下不斷進步的。我在研究工作中得到了很大的樂趣并計劃在Astra度過2005年的夏天。

我感覺到在羅切斯特技術學院的生物技術課程以及Astra的工作經驗為我將來的研究生學習作了充分的準備。我渴望去繼續我的學習生涯并提高自己，我特別想熟悉遺傳學的相關技術并且更多的接觸真核基因組。最為重要的是我想獲得跟我在遺傳學與疾病興趣相符的必備知識和技術去設計和完成研究。

基于廣泛的興趣和明確的目標，我對于杜克大學的遺傳學研究生課程特別感興趣。由于其選擇學位的靈活性，我覺得這個課程很適合我。在杜克大學我將會有機會去擴展在細胞生物學，神經生物學，藥理學以及瘤生物學方面的興趣。我也有興趣學習更多與杜克人類基因學中心可能有關的知識。促使我不斷前進的動力來源于我的學術成績和研究上的付出。我相信這些因素加上我對于生物科學的濃厚興趣可以保證我作為杜克大學一個研究生取得成功。