Cover letter for PhD position at Linköping University

job application in the letter form

Hei, I have written a cover letter for a PhD position at Linköping University. Please help review my cover letter. There's no specific requirement for this letter, and I tried to write it like I'm applying for a job instead of a simple doctoral position based on my understanding of the nordic way of doing. Also I am not so sure if it's necessary to add my experience in relation to teaching. Your comments are much appreciated!

Dear Members of the Selection Committee:

I am writing to apply for the PhD position in Gender Studies at Department of Thematic Studies (TEMAG), Linköping University (LiU) as advertised on your website. Upon completing my Master's degree in Gender Studies at XXX University, I am passionate about pursuing an academic career. I believe my academic background and working experience have prepared me well for this position, and the doctoral program at TEMAG, LiU will provide me the opportunity to fulfill my goal.

With a background in Gender Studies and Communication, I have developed my research interest in gender, social media, China, and young people. Having studied in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Oslo and Canberra, I have gained the ability to conduct research between cultural contexts. Departing from a national online debate, my master thesis analyzes a disputed Chinese sex education textbook in the context of Chinese sex education tradition and social transitions, which was nominated as the best master thesis with gender perspective in 2018 at XXX University. In addition to applying critical discourse analysis in my master thesis, I have also conducted a four-month online ethnography for studying Chinese young people's attitudes towards sex and gender in my masters. I have presented my work in Norway, China, and Denmark. These experiences have taught me to select and classify findings into a coherent account, apply Western theories to interpret Chinese data in a critical manner, build rapport with people online, customize my communication for different audiences, and manage project for meeting deadlines. With these capabilities, I am confident to embrace a four-year in-depth study in Gender Studies.

For my doctoral project, I propose to study the thriving HPV vaccination service for mainland Chinese young women in Hong Kong. As a result of my previous study and work experiences, I have created a social media portfolio and established social network in the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta regions, that will enable me to conduct online ethnography and fieldwork in China effectively. As my research draws on the entanglement between medical technology and the women of China, it would nicely complement the ongoing research in gender and medicine at TEMAG. The collaboration between TEMAG and the Faculty of Medicine at LiU will allow me to acquire new perspectives for enriching and completing my research. I wish to collaborate and exchange with fellow students and scholars from different areas in the LiU Medical Humanities and Social Sciences Network. Further, I would be thrilled to work with Professor Ericka Johnson, who specializes in feminist science studies and medical sociology. Her metaphor of refraction in Gendering Drugs highlights the significance of discursive construction and contextualization, which has been inspiring for my research project. As she has experience in working on projects about HPV vaccination, I hope I could learn more from her, meanwhile, I can provide a non-occidental, feminist project at TEMAG.

Lastly, my previous work experience at YYY University has offered me the opportunity to learn about the design thinking pedagogy. My main responsibility was to take charge of the communications; besides, I have actively participated in all kinds of academic activities. I coached a student team in collaboration with ZZZ University for a social entrepreneurship project, facilitated several university-industrial collaborative workshops, and designed a hands-on course for students to do spatial design at . I am willing incorporate these pedagogic skills in the teaching program at TEMAG.

I believe that I can cultivate professional competence for my academic career at TEMAG, LiU, and my academic background and experience will meet your requirements. Thank you for your consideration. I look forward to hearing from you.

Wenjia, try to revise the content of your essay to call attention to the similarities between your doctoral project and the work being done by Prof. Johnson. If you can indicate reasons as to why your addition to the team, and the exposure of the professor to your project would help to increase the validity, quality, or attention of the professor's work, then the professor will be more inclined to take you on as a team member. Try to frame your skills and previous research work not as your personal achievements, but as skills and accomplished research that you would be more than willing to share with the university, its students, and Prof. Johnson herself. Right now, I do not see a direct relationship between your accomplishments and training with the work that the professor is undertaking. You have to be specific, you have to use highlights that connect the dots, you have to make yourself sound like an indispensable future research partner who can bring attention and considerable accomplishments to the university's gender studies department. The potential exists in your essay. You just have to figure out how to best do that. The mistake most students make with these letters is that they choose to remain vague and general in presentation due to a lack of proper insight and understanding of the professor's work and how it applies to their own. Specifics are important. Only if commonalities and true indicators of your strength as a researcher are found will your application be considered in earnest. The big question you have to answer is, "How will it complement the research of Prof. Johnson and improve Gender Studies at the university? "

Thank you very much for pointing out this, Mary!