At the dawn of the 21st Century, we stand braced between a collapsing past and an uncertain future. The world is agnizing the truth that the 'capital' furnished by nature is diminishing very rapidly. With diminishing resources, we need to conquer new frontiers of knowledge to ensure sustenance of life on earth. Nearing the completion of my under-graduate studies, I foresee graduation and research as the right path to amass knowledge and provide me with an opportunity to contribute to human welfare.
I heard the word 'Clone' for the first time when my mother narrated a story to me. At that point of time I thought it was a magic spell used to create a lot of identical babies. I was thrilled to hear it again, when the 'Clone' was reintroduced to me in my biology class; this had evoked my passion and interest to enter the world of helices and coils. Having been in the field of Biotechnology right from school, I believe it has the potential tools to understand and engineer life that could benefit the society at large and shape our future for centuries to come.
I always had faith in the motto "Never Give In", which has given me the inspiration to excel even in the most difficult of situations. During my under graduation study in Biotechnology at SASTRA University, I have had the benefit of being exposed to various facets of the curriculum. Biochemistry and Genetics, being the backbones of Biotechnology, were among the subjects that caught my interest. In my first few classes of Biochemistry I felt like a fish out of water, unable to grasp a single word of the lectures. Through extensive reading and with immense encouragement from my professor Dr. Gino Kurian, I was able to understand the finer nuances of the subject and add another credit to my account by achieving the 2nd highest mark in my batch. I had the 6th best GPA out of the 200 students in my department. As a reward for my hard work and consistent outstanding academic performance I was awarded 20% scholarship from the university.
I realized that though I had an in-depth theoretical background of every subject, I felt it would not suffice to graduate as an Engineer. I needed to own something more in my armoury, in pursuit of which, I attended many Conferences and Symposia in and outside the university, where I could develop my oratorical skills and build up my self confidence. I had valuable experience training at Shasun Chemicals and Drugs where I learnt the techniques involved in the upstream processing for the production of recombinant protein, 'Streptokinase'. It helped me figure out the necessity to possess skills at an industrial level, where the environment is quite different from the laboratory set up. Realising that knowledge can be applied and gained only through research, I opted to aid my professor Mr. R. Senthil Kumar in one of his research modules on 'Characterization and Investigation on Aqueous Two Phase Extraction Methodology for Protein Separation'. Currently I am working on the project "Construction and Characterisation of Diabody from Hepatitis A scFv" for my B.Tech thesis, at Indian Immunologicals Ltd. It involves the construction of Diabody sequence by employing SOE PCR and characterising the expressed product by PAGE, ELISA and IFAT.
I firmly believe in the adage 'prevention is better than cure'. My primary goal is to formulate bio textile dyes by engineering natural sources viz. plants and microbes, that could help fight pollution, a problem rampant in my home town as a result of the emergence of numerous textile industries. I would like to head my journey towards attaining a Masters' degree, with focus on green technology in my mind. My interest to continue graduate studies in Sweden aroused when I attended a workshop conducted by one of my seniors, who is presently doing his Master's in Lund University. I was captivated by the gamut of research opportunities available and the exceptional educational system in Sweden.
On reading the department's brochure, I was captivated by the active research going on, especially in my area of interest. A Masters' degree in Biotechnology from your esteemed university will definitely provide me with intellectual depth, which I feel is essential to take up a career in research. I will also have the opportunity to learn from the best and the fact that I will study in an international environment will give me the privilege to create new relationships with people from different cultures.
I am confident that, given a chance to pursue my graduate studies at your university, I will strive to live up to the standards set up by your research community. I hope to meet your expectations of a promising graduate student.
I look forward to see my dreams come true by becoming an alumnus of your university.
Mohanraj Ramachandran
I heard the word 'Clone' for the first time when my mother narrated a story to me. At that point of time I thought it was a magic spell used to create a lot of identical babies. I was thrilled to hear it again, when the 'Clone' was reintroduced to me in my biology class; this had evoked my passion and interest to enter the world of helices and coils. Having been in the field of Biotechnology right from school, I believe it has the potential tools to understand and engineer life that could benefit the society at large and shape our future for centuries to come.
I always had faith in the motto "Never Give In", which has given me the inspiration to excel even in the most difficult of situations. During my under graduation study in Biotechnology at SASTRA University, I have had the benefit of being exposed to various facets of the curriculum. Biochemistry and Genetics, being the backbones of Biotechnology, were among the subjects that caught my interest. In my first few classes of Biochemistry I felt like a fish out of water, unable to grasp a single word of the lectures. Through extensive reading and with immense encouragement from my professor Dr. Gino Kurian, I was able to understand the finer nuances of the subject and add another credit to my account by achieving the 2nd highest mark in my batch. I had the 6th best GPA out of the 200 students in my department. As a reward for my hard work and consistent outstanding academic performance I was awarded 20% scholarship from the university.
I realized that though I had an in-depth theoretical background of every subject, I felt it would not suffice to graduate as an Engineer. I needed to own something more in my armoury, in pursuit of which, I attended many Conferences and Symposia in and outside the university, where I could develop my oratorical skills and build up my self confidence. I had valuable experience training at Shasun Chemicals and Drugs where I learnt the techniques involved in the upstream processing for the production of recombinant protein, 'Streptokinase'. It helped me figure out the necessity to possess skills at an industrial level, where the environment is quite different from the laboratory set up. Realising that knowledge can be applied and gained only through research, I opted to aid my professor Mr. R. Senthil Kumar in one of his research modules on 'Characterization and Investigation on Aqueous Two Phase Extraction Methodology for Protein Separation'. Currently I am working on the project "Construction and Characterisation of Diabody from Hepatitis A scFv" for my B.Tech thesis, at Indian Immunologicals Ltd. It involves the construction of Diabody sequence by employing SOE PCR and characterising the expressed product by PAGE, ELISA and IFAT.
I firmly believe in the adage 'prevention is better than cure'. My primary goal is to formulate bio textile dyes by engineering natural sources viz. plants and microbes, that could help fight pollution, a problem rampant in my home town as a result of the emergence of numerous textile industries. I would like to head my journey towards attaining a Masters' degree, with focus on green technology in my mind. My interest to continue graduate studies in Sweden aroused when I attended a workshop conducted by one of my seniors, who is presently doing his Master's in Lund University. I was captivated by the gamut of research opportunities available and the exceptional educational system in Sweden.
On reading the department's brochure, I was captivated by the active research going on, especially in my area of interest. A Masters' degree in Biotechnology from your esteemed university will definitely provide me with intellectual depth, which I feel is essential to take up a career in research. I will also have the opportunity to learn from the best and the fact that I will study in an international environment will give me the privilege to create new relationships with people from different cultures.
I am confident that, given a chance to pursue my graduate studies at your university, I will strive to live up to the standards set up by your research community. I hope to meet your expectations of a promising graduate student.
I look forward to see my dreams come true by becoming an alumnus of your university.
Mohanraj Ramachandran