To Whom It May Concern,
I am writing to apply for a long-term student visa for Germany in order to pursue my education in Computational Engineering at University of XXXXX.
After graduating with an MSc and publishing several papers derived from thesis outcomes in the international magazines, I have been appointed as a reviewer at Electric power components and systems journal including ISI journals from 2011 to now. Furthermore, I have been working as a researcher at R&D Department of a company and my duties include designing and simulating power systems and analyzing the impact of electric devices in power networks which are fully consistent with my research interests. Since my career goal is to become a successful researcher, working in a university or an R&D center, I need to do a PhD degree because I personally believe that doing a doctorate degree would open doors to special high-tech research positions or even high-level management. My major research interest includes joint studies of electromagnetic theory and electric devices simulation. Specifically, I am interested in computational electromagnetics and its application in modeling and simulating power supplies. In this way, I intend to pass my PhD at Computational Engineering which is completely matches with my research interest.
Regarding the way that I become familiar with this major, I should mention that in my Master's Degree, I did several academic projects so that in the most of them we considered the impact of various electric phenomena on power systems through simulating electric devices. The purpose of conducting these simulations generally was gaining a precise analysis to predict the performance of devices in real conditions. During my master thesis, moreover, I worked on designing pulsed power supplies in which one of major issues faced was to provide an accurate mathematic model of semiconductor switches as well as to choose the best numerical method for simulating the power supply. It was the first times that I had become encounter such challenging problems. To solve the problem, therefore, I should have found a working knowledge of numerical simulation and modern software. Through my supervision guides, I became familiar with Computational science and engineering (CSE) and its applications in the field of electrical engineering. In this path, I found the major as a relatively new discipline that deals with the development and application of computational models and simulations, often coupled with high-performance computing, to solve complex physical problems arising in engineering analysis and design (computational engineering) as well as natural phenomena (computational science). CSE has been described as the "third mode of discovery" (next to theory and experimentation) and found diverse applications in electrical engineering including in computational electromagnetics, semiconductor modeling, simulation of power systems, etc.
Hence, I broadly began to look for a well-known university in Computational engineering with strong research background close to my interest. As sophisticated knowledge in this new-born field is lacking at universities of my country, I prefer to continue my studies abroad. In addition, clearly, researchers, my self-included, like to pursue their studies in an industrialized country where they are able to keep up their knowledge with newest technologies and breakthroughs. During my research and job experiences, I become familiarized with Germany industry. This country is one of the major political powers of the European continent and a technological leader in many fields so that the Electrical industry of the country serves as a prevalent example among many because of big companies such as Siemens and Bosch which are well known in different fields of power and electronic engineering. Furthermore, I choose Germany because is, on the one hand, one of the pioneers in the field of design and simulating electric equipment, and on the other, offers one of the best education systems in the world due to well-equipped universities and well-known professors. With such favorable conditions, Germany has become a highly attractive place to study Electrical and Computer Engineering and related majors, for Bachelor, Master, or PhD degrees.
Amongst the many universities in Germany offering Computational engineering, I found the Faculty of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering in the University of XXXXX the best choice for me because of focusing on application of Computational sciences in the field of electrical engineering and widespread researches similar to my interest being conducted in research centers in the university. I will study, moreover, in well-equipped learning centers and work in modern PC and workstation labs. As I intend to continue my education toward PhD in Computational Electromagnetics, I contacted with Professor XXXXXX chair of Electromagnetic Theory in the institute of general electrical engineering that my research interest is similar to her. After considering my CV, she suggested me to do the international Master's program in Computational Engineering as a preparation course before beginning my studies as a PhD student due to the fact that this major is considered as an interdisciplinary major between electrical engineering and computer sciences and the program's curriculum includes the prerequisite courses necessary to do a PhD such as "Modeling and Simulation with Applications to the Life Sciences", "Computational Electromagnetics and Thermodynamics" and "Computational Methods" which I have passed none of them so far although I have a working knowledge of these courses. As a result, I applied for the course and I got admitted to start my studies in this master program.
Following completion of my studies at University of XXXX, I intend to return to my country and start my career at knowledge base companies where engineers try to implement scientific theories in practice. Using computer simulations and virtual engineering will be the mainstream solution in almost every engineering sector, especially in a complex sector and I believe with what I would have learned at University of XXXX, I will be able to better serve my country.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Yours sincerely,
Well ... is this letter for your student visa? And is it addressed to your visa officer?
If this is for your visa, I think this may not be the format that you need to do the covering letter. (I really don't know the requirement, so please disregard my opinion if it is wrong). But generally the visa officers are not keen about your detailed academic career or aspirations. All what they need to know the purpose of your stay (in this case it is studies - so mention what you are going to study , uni etc.), intended stay (duration of the program), your accommodation details (where you stay and who's paying the cost), your financial background (how would you meet the expenses of your studies and other living expenses)... They are interested in knowing that you have a genuine reason for the entry to their country and you will return once your objective is met.
