Scholarship / I believe in the critical role of effective communication. Requirement of networking skill Chevening [3]

Hi friends,

This is my essay for applying Chevening scholarship, I would appreciate any comment, grammatical correction and feedback on how to improve it. Thanks

Chevening is looking for individuals with strong networking skills, who will engage with the Chevening community and influence ...

I believe in the critical role of effective communication and how networking can accelerate individual's and organization's success. Throughout my academic and professional career, networking has provided me with a multitude of opportunities to learn from people and develop my expertise, thus had positive influences on the accomplishments my goals.

My first experience with professional networking was when I attended the Student Scientific Conference in my university. The conference was an opportunity for students to present their research and got their results evaluated. Aside from getting updated information about various projects from laboratories of other institutes, I had my biggest gain when spent time reaching out to students whose projects had similar challenges as what I had with mine. Not only did we discuss our research methods and share related scientific articles, they also gave me contact of a Master student with more experience in the field. Later when I was looking for a job, one of them introduced me to Prof. XXX, who was one of the Vietnam's leading scientists in genetics and also the founder of a DNA research and testing center. Thanks to the introduction, I was given a chance for an interview and got employed.

After graduation, I started to work for the largest human DNA identification project of Vietnamese government. As a new comer in DNA and forensic analysis, I seized this chance to push my personal boundaries to meet new opportunities and challenges, starting with building networks in my area of expertise. The project was formed with the collaboration between five Vietnamese institutions and laboratories in both public and private sector, created a good environment for me to establish professional relationships. While attending trainings and workshops held within framework of the project, I approached and built connections with other laboratory's representatives and foreign experts to discuss our work experiences. Then I proceeded to develop the initial conversations into a circle of colleagues who shared and exchanged information with each other through email. As the group mainly included young technicians and analysts who directly involved in analysis activities, their unique experiences were valuable references for the improvement of our laboratory. Recently, seeing the benefits of such communication, we have formed an official working group with wider membership of other laboratories and agents of scientific product distributors. Our target is becoming the first forum for Vietnamese forensic scientists to openly discuss the difficulties, share methods, protocols, and technology updates to standardize forensic analysis in Vietnam.

In the future, I plan to further my expertise in biomedical field. In terms of technical aspects, collaboration between molecular biologists and medical doctors should be established to enhance the applications of biotechnology advances in healthcare. In terms of social interaction, raising community awareness about fatal diseases is essential in the fight against them. Therefore, I aim to network with the media and health organizations to seek for support and cooperation in order to reach these targets. Furthermore, as a Chevening scholar, I am inclined to commit to the community of Chevening alumni. It will not only provide me with opportunities to network with elite leaders in my field, I will also be able to mentor young Vietnamese scholars in their study and career path.