12/30/2020 Writing A Scholarship-Awarding Motivation Letter | by Fakrul Islam Tushar | Dec, 2020 | Medium
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Fakrul Islam Tushar
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Writing A Scholarship-Awarding Motivation
Letter
Fakrul Islam Tushar 4 days ago · 6 min read
A guide to writing a MOL/SOP
M otivation Letter or Statement of Purpose is one of the most asked documents
whenever applying for any admission and scholarship.
In many cases, it’s the most important part of the application which could award you a
scholarship/admission as the majority of the people applying for scholarships may have
the same profile in terms of grades, LOR, and co-curriculum activities.
I had the pleasure to apply and be awarded the prestigious Erasmus Mundus Joint
Master Degree in Medical Imaging and Applications (MAIA), fully funded by the
European Union. Since then I have frequently asked to guide or provide tips regarding
writing MOL/SOP. So I think let’s discuss My Erasmus SOP and What was my mindset
that time writing my MOL.
*Important Note: Just before starting, See motivation letter is always your thing,
My motivation letter reflects me as an applicant, it shows my points or the points
that are most important to me to show the admission committee that I am the best
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12/30/2020 Writing A Scholarship-Awarding Motivation Letter | by Fakrul Islam Tushar | Dec, 2020 | Medium
fit for the program, but maybe these points do not apply to you. Please read this Blog
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as a guide or seeing a Scholarship-awarding SOP standard but not be fOOl and copy
it line by line, that will only reduce your chance of acceptance.
A guide to writing a MOL
In the picture below I have shown the sections in my MOL
Sections of my MOL and motivation behind each section
Let’s go step by step through my SOP.
1. I started with a short intro about my interest and motivation in the program I am
applying to.
Since the beginning of my final year as an undergraduate student, I had set a goal of
pursuing higher studies in Biomedical Engineering and have been planning and preparing
step by step throughout the year. To finally realize my goal, I would like to enroll for the
Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree in Medical Imaging and Applications.
2. In the next section I started talking about, How science always catches my attention
and how I get into engineering university and onwards I never lose interest in science. I
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12/30/2020 Writing A Scholarship-Awarding Motivation Letter | by Fakrul Islam Tushar | Dec, 2020 | Medium
am building my story and trying to grab the reader’s attention to my academic journey
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so far.
Although I had always academically excelled in almost all my subjects, my main interest
from secondary school level was in Physics and Mathematics. I found the practical
implications of these subjects very intriguing and thought-provoking. On completion of my
Higher Secondary school, I enrolled at American International University-Bangladesh
(AIUB) in the Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Electronic Engineering program. Within
a few weeks of starting engineering school, I knew I had made the right decision. With my
strong foundation in Science and Mathematics, I excelled in my academic courses as well as
laboratory tasks. Seeing my interest and academic success, my course faculties as well as my
family always encouraged me to pursue higher studies and earn sound knowledge in
specialized fields.
3. In the next two sections I Continued my story, but I am driving the reader's attention
to the fact, how I found my love for biomedical engineering and provide my genuine
points. And what I believe some lines that sure caught the reader’s attention like
“My lecturer began his course starting with the electrical conduction of the body; how Willem
Einthoven recorded his first ECG in 1902 by placing limbs in buckets of conducting solution.
I found the uncanny accuracy of the innovation made such a long time ago very impressive.”
Here are the next two sections:
I believe undergraduate level was the time for me to explore the field of Electrical
Engineering. My Interest in biomedical engineering began during my second year. Being a
student member of IEEE, I went through plenty of IEEE Spectrum’s articles and attended a
number of seminars dedicated to the Biomedical Engineering field, such as biomedical uses
of sensors, telemedicine, biomedical image processing, and its prospect, and many more.
From that, I have increased my focus in this field.
During my second and third year, we had courses such as electronic devices and analog
circuits where we learned the very basics of electronics. When I took the elective course
Biomedical Instrumentation Measurement and Design in my third year, I found the subject
very appealing from the very first lecture. My lecturer began his course starting with the
electrical conduction of the body; how Willem Einthoven recorded his first ECG in 1902
by placing limbs in buckets of conducting solution. I found the uncanny accuracy of the
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12/30/2020 Writing A Scholarship-Awarding Motivation Letter | by Fakrul Islam Tushar | Dec, 2020 | Medium
innovation made such a long time ago very impressive. Throughout the course, the
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measurements and analysis of physiological systems using the basics that we learned earlier
to design artificial pacemaker, pulmonary function tests, insulin pump immediately
grabbed my interest. My interest grew further in Biopotential Signal Processing and
instrumentation. The non-invasive medical imaging techniques, such as X-ray, Ultrasound,
and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) are of particular interest to me.
4. During My Erasmus Application I only had one research experience regarding my
Undergrad final year project, So I described that a little bit and the success associated
with it.
All these interests lead me to my undergrad project. My undergraduate project in the Faculty
of Engineering at AIUB has been focused on the Designing and Implementation of a
reconfigurable low-cost biopotential trainer module (RTR module) capable of measuring
ECG, EEG, and EMG for academic uses. As a group project with two others, I worked
towards designing the reconfigurable model of the trainer and fabrications of the filters.
Through my project, I have been prepared to come up with a market-ready product. My
final year project was highly appreciated and took us in the top-9 out of 180 undergraduate
project/thesis of the year 2016 at the faculty of Engineering, AIUB. The final ranking is yet
to be announced.
5. I had a little bit of co-curricular activities experience. If you have some please try to
mention them, this type of experience gives a massage that besides studies you can also
manage other activities which is kind of a measure of your multi-tasking and
management skills.
I have completed my undergraduate study in December 2016 with Cum Laude which is a
further motivation for me. Besides academic studies, I had also been volunteering for IEEE
AIUB Student Branch for three years, during I attended national level congresses, grew my
network with people who share similar interests and being involved myself in teamwork
building activities as well as organizing and participated in leadership roles, which has
enriched my undergraduate experience. Besides technical activities, the humanitarian side
of IEEE has also been a huge source of inspiration.
6.In this final and last section I was talking a little about my interest in the field related
to the subject I am applying to (A relatively new finding related to medical imaging at
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12/30/2020 Writing A Scholarship-Awarding Motivation Letter | by Fakrul Islam Tushar | Dec, 2020 | Medium
that time), a little bit about courses. Finally concluding by stating my future goals and
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how admission to this program will help me to achieve that.
My interests have matched with the Medical Image Analysis and Computer-Aided Diagnosis
(CAD) system areas. The current work on MRI to predict high-risk of Autism in babies who
had an older sibling with autism has particularly caught my attention. While browsing
through the MAIA website, I have grown to admire the wide range of courses it offers to
make one specialist in this field. Since my long term plan is to pursue a Ph.D., it would also
give me the opportunity to take part in a Research Thesis and collaborate with industries
during my study. Having access to state-of-the-art laboratories and getting the opportunity
to learn under the guidance of world-renowned faculty members will be a major stepping
stone for my future career. Moreover, I will also be able to continue my affiliation with IEEE
and voluntary activities through the university program. I strongly believe that the cultural
diversity and student communities of the universities will support me in the successful
completion of the program. Studying and engaging in research at the MAIA program will
allow me to explore specialized fields in Biomedical Imaging and in the future will help me
to make significant contributions to the field
I hope this post will help some people who want to see a sample of SOP.
while writing an SOP I always tell people that:
If you consider yourself like a book, your CV would be
the Index of your book and your Motivation will have
intro about you, details> about your skills, showing
your interest to the subject, lastly the conclusion why
you are the IDEAL CANDIDATE for this program.
Always make sure that your SOP is a story of yourself and that reflects all your keypoints
:).Here are a few other posts I have written about Erasmus+ if you want to know more.
[1] Erasmus Mundus Scholarship FAQs
[2] My Erasmus Experience-MAIA
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