Personal Statement
Application: Bioprocessing Graduate Scholarship

My love for my specialty—Biochemical Engineering—is inextricably intertwined with my love for human life and existence. In undertaking studies in my specialty, I hope that I may contribute to making people live happily and healthily. Biochemical engineering is precisely such an academic discipline that is closely alloyed with the welfare of human life and existence because it applies engineering technologies to the analysis and solution of the difficult issues in medical and biological fields. It is my expectation that, through your program, through my unremitting academic efforts in completing your program, and through my future research, I may help develop effective new medicines that can relieve patients of their physical pains. If opportunity presents itself, I will even try to launch my own pharmaceutical firm dedicated to the development and manufacturing of purely natural new medicines, with low-toxic level and low side-effects. Specifically, I would like to see myself make contributions in the process of overcoming those stubborn diseases as cancer and Parkinson’s disease (paralysis agitans) that seriously threaten human health and quality of life. Toward such aspirations, I believe that a Master’s program in Biochemical Engineering at University XX is bound to significantly enhance my academic level and research competence. It is my conviction that such a Master’s program will be a turning point in my lifelong career.

The most important evidence that I cite to prove my qualifications as a worthy candidate of your scholarship is my academic background and outstanding scholastic performance in the undergraduate career. In the realm of chemical engineering, XX Institute of Technology enjoys a significantly high academic reputation within China and being a student of this renowned institute means receiving comprehensive and systematic instructions and trainings both in coursework and in experiments, allowing me to build up a solid theoretical groundwork and to develop strong hands-on abilities. In most of the specialized courses, courses like Advanced Mathematics, Computer Fundamentals, Physical Chemistry, Modern Molecular Biology and English for Science and Technology, I achieved top scores and, in terms of overall GPA, I was consistently ranked No. 1 in a total of 39 students in my class. For three consecutive years, I have been the winner of top-level scholarships.

Apart from devoting to coursework, I have worked as research assistant in several research projects to develop new drugs. My most important experience by far is serving as research assistant to Prof. XXX, a leading biomedical expert in the field of Neuroscience, in testing the therapeutic effects of newly-developed drugs against Parkinson’s disease on tumor cells. In this project, I not only perfected my skills in performing experiments but also cultivated many essential qualities necessary for future research such as interpersonal communication, time management, leadership skills and teamwork. This year, I have been lucky enough to attend the Conference on Advanced Engineering jointly held by my Institute and the XX University of XX, during which I came to be exposed to the most updated research achievements made by both China and XX in the biochemical field. I was especially impressed by the photopolymerized hydrogels, which can be used in drug controlled release, wound healing and tissue engineering having extensive safety record. In retrospect, this important experience still makes me excited because, faced with the golden opportunities for the boom of modern biomedical science, I can feel an unquenchable desire to be personally involved in this historical process.

A careful examination of the features of your program indicates that your program is somewhat related to management and entrepreneurship. In this regard, I believe that I am also in possession of relevant qualifications. As I realized that biomedical science is necessarily related to drug manufacturing and requires certain business knowledge, I attended several courses related to international business at the University of XX last year, developing some basic understanding of the subject. In addition to that, I have often spent my spare time listening to the lectures at the XX Management School of XX University where the lectures by world famous scholars and specialists in the field of management give me tremendous enlightenment and edification. Later this year, I will take the Certified International Business Negotiation Expert Course by American Certification Institute, which will further improve my business foundation.

One thing that distinguishes me from the rest of average Chinese applicants is the extensive internships that I have done in relevant enterprises and institutions, which include XX, XX Corp., and XX Company of 502 Institute of China Areo-space Company. In performing responsibilities immediately related to my specialty, I devoted a great deal of energy and fully demonstrated my talents. The most important thing is that those opportunities of directly experiencing the realities of China’s medical and pharmaceutical industries have made me soberly aware of the difficulties that they face and their serious gaps from advanced western technologies. In particular, Chinese pharmaceutical enterprises lack sufficient research and development input, resulting partly from lack of research funds and partly from the lack of well-trained biochemical engineers. The excessively long process of new drug development, among others, makes it difficult for Chinese enterprises to compete against their international counterparts. A related problem is the unnecessary exhaustion of large sums of money involved in this long process. I believe that my prospective program in Bioprocessing at University XX will provide me with important ideas to solve at least some, if not all, of the problems currently facing Chinese enterprises. Specifically, I wish to shorten the R & D process of new drugs while enhancing its technical level.

It is universally acknowledged that XX occupies a leading academic position in biochemistry and biomedicine in the world. It has accomplished especially noteworthy achievements in bioprocessing Therefore, to be admitted by this prestigious university and become part of it has long been my cherished aspiration. I am particularly fascinated by the new Science Enterprise Center at your department which promises to effect a perfect combination between my professional knowledge of biochemistry and biomedicine with business practices, with the ultimate goal to cultivate in me an important entrepreneurial spirit. Apart from this, your department has a wide range of interactions with a lot of disciplines and companies, such as a recent collaboration with the XX School. This will create the possibility for me to understand the management concepts and the R & D experience of Britain’s first-rate pharmaceutical companies in the world, all of which will be closely connected with my own career objectives in the future.

My outstanding academic performance in the past, my internship and research experience, the perfect match between your program and my situation, my abundant but little-tapped academic and business potential, and above all, my self-motivation, they all make me a worthy candidate for your Bioprocessing Graduate Scholarship. Here is an ambitious and aspiring young man with great expectations for the future, who cannot bear to lose this rare opportunity for his personal development. My eligibility for the scholarship will serve as a recognition of my past academic excellence on one hand and, on the other hand, a motivation toward greater academic excellence in the future. Most importantly, the spiritual significance of the scholarship will overwhelm its materialistic significance. It is a special honor granted to only the elitist few. To such an extent, I will feel very proud of myself and the scholarship will be a source of inspiration for me to strive to be the leader of the tomorrow’s world.