PhD cover letter example
A PhD cover letter is written to the supervisor about their project: why it interests you, what your dissertation found, which of its methods you already use and one idea you would like to test. Keep to one page unless the advert asks for a longer statement.
Fictional letter from Hannah Okafor, the applicant in the phd cv example. Every person and employer in it is invented.
Why each paragraph is there
I am applying for the funded PhD studentship on farm run-off and chalk stream recovery. I am completing an MSc in Environmental Science (Freshwater Systems) at the University of Wensum, with a current average of 74%, after a 2:1 in Biology.
The studentship by name and your degrees with marks.
My MSc dissertation sampled invertebrates at 18 sites on three Norfolk chalk streams and related family richness to nitrate using mixed-effects models in R. Sites below arable fields had fewer mayfly and stonefly families, which is the question your project takes further.
The dissertation as research: the method and what you found.
The project's eDNA surveys build on my summer post with Broadland Rivers Trust, where I collected samples and kept the chain of custody. I would like to test whether eDNA picks up the recovery of sensitive families sooner than kick sampling after buffer strips are planted.
Methods you already use, and one idea of your own.
My CV and transcripts are attached, and my two referees are named on the application form. Thank you for considering my application.
Attachments and referees as the advert asks.