LOM for Erasmus Mundus E-Pico Program (Views, ideas, anything)

the letter of motivation

Dear Sir, Madam,

I am a senior undergraduate student in the Control and Automation Engineering department at Yildiz Technical University - YTU Faculty of Electrical & Electronics in İstanbul, which is one of the top engineering schools in Turkey and one of the few universities that offer this particular degree. With my interest in e-mobility and the automotive industry with a background in control engineering, please accept this letter as an expression of my interest in applying for E-Pico as a graduate student.

During my bachelor's degree, I gained a solid grasp on control theory, system modeling, electrical engineering basics, and industrial automation in my four years of study with more than competent and skilled academic staff. I also had the opportunity to study control theory more in-depth for a year on Erasmus+ exchange at the West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin, Poland, in the Automatic Control and Robotics department, during which I developed a strong interest in control theory and its applications. I already had an interest in electric vehicles after one of my teachers invited the engineers at AVL Turkey to present the current trends in the automotive industry. All these given, when I first saw the E-Pico program, I noticed that it offers everything that I'm looking for, so when I told -now my thesis instructor- Asst. Prof. Dr. Claudia Fernanda Yaşar about E-Pico and that I wanted to do my graduation project on propulsion control in EVs, we decided to move forward with "Modeling and Control of an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle" which I am currently working on. I was also one of the selected students to participate in a certificate program on e-mobility conducted by BOSCH and YTU, which gave some insight into basic principles of EVs such as hybrid systems for motor vehicles, VCUs, powertrain calibration, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), drivability and other related subjects which further interested me in this field. Overall, particularly with my background as a control engineer and my keen interest in EVs with a strong motivation to help prevent climate change, I am sure I will be a good fit for this master's degree program.

Today, where e-mobility is crucial for reducing climate change, I believe that we as engineers play an essential role in producing solutions that will help reduce greenhouse gas emission and fossil fuel usage by improving EVs to be more efficient and available to all. With this motivation in mind, firstly, I want to take my controls knowledge and my understanding of electrical machines one step further along with the renewable energy and storage systems, which are undoubtedly one of the most critical aspects for an EV to reach its goals in terms of efficient energy usage. Besides these, I have had a significant interest in learning autonomous systems in EVs in detail since the future possibilities seem endless with the upcoming technology while being aware that this is already a critical aspect for the industry because of the EU's regulations on autonomous systems such as AEBS. Then I aim to focus on the powertrain and propulsion control, which with the knowledge of, I can proceed to do my internship and work on my graduate thesis at the end of my studies where I can apply all that I learned in practice in an industrial partner's facility in the automotive industry. After graduation, I aim to continue my career in the automotive industry as a control and calibration engineer in an R&D center.

Having experience in international environments both on jobs and on Erasmus in variouıs countries across Europe, participating in E-Pico will not only be a familiar experience, but it will surely improve my social skills and my appreciation of diversity furthermore. I would like to point out that with the comprehensive curriculum, reputable academic staff, and significant industrial partners, E-Pico is the perfect program for me to reach my goals. I would be honored to be accepted as a student to this program, which covers the immediate need for future engineers regarding the problems we face as the world.

Thank you for your consideration.
Kind Regards,

It would be better if you reverse the presentation of your letter. Since this is a motivation letter, the reviewer will automatically look for the motivation in the first paragraph. So, you should revise your 3rd paragraph to become the opening statement, supported by the information that you are already a previous EM scholar. These are the 2 pieces of information that will allow you to garner the interest of the reviewer and impress him enough with regards to the implied qualifications that you have, as a previous EM scholar.

Once you have presented the information of value, the rest of your qualifications and motivations become secondary to the presentation. It will be noted by the reviewer, but not really make much of a difference to your motivational letter when compared to the 1st paragraph that is composed of the hook and EM scholarship reference.