A statement for Melbourne Abroad Travel Scholarships

Please provide a statement (of more than 500 words) outlining how the conference will benefit your research.

Since 2007 that I conducted my first research project as a final year undergraduate student in my home country, XXX, I have had no doubt that research is what I have always wanted to do as my profession. What I learned through these years was that writing and public speaking skills are two essential tools in the hands of a researcher for sharing his ideas with his colleagues and expanding his professional network from a small research group to thousands of people all across the world. To obtain these skills I published several full research papers in the best journals of my field of study and gave presentations in some XXX symposiums and conferences. However, I have never had a chance to attend an international conference. Hence, I am deciding to attend the TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition 2016, which is held in the US every year where more than 4,000 business leaders, engineers, scientists, and students from around the world in the fields of minerals, metals, and materials are brought together.

Giving presentation is an inseparable part of today's research world, since it is a powerful method through which you can advertise your new scientific and industrial findings, draw the attention of people in the same field and eventually sell your new ideas. To meet this end, a platform where people can share their new ideas with a broad range of people, from young students to academics to professionals, and public speaking skills are essential. I believe that the TMS Meeting provides me with such a platform and it is a great opportunity for me to bring up my skills of giving speeches. As a young researcher, I am at a stage of my career that I need to practice and gain experience to gradually strengthen my communication skills. As such, attending well-known, international events like TMS is the first step that I need to take in this path.

Networking and exchanging knowledge are two other crucial aims of attending a conference. TMS includes a symposium called Ultrafine Grained Materials, which is in my immediate field of study. This symposium will help me to be known in academic circles by introducing my work to people with the same interests and expertise. Furthermore, many prominent scientists present their recent findings in this symposium every year, not only giving me a chance to learn from their presentations and improve my knowledge about my field, but also see them and have a short chat after their talks. This can be a beginning for future collaborations between me and these people. Besides, networking is critical to find an academic job. Although scientific records of applicants are viewed as the deciding criteria for giving a job vacancy to a candidate, among people with similar resumes, the one who is already known by selection committee members is hired.

Melbourne Abroad Travel Scholarships for Engineering & IT (MATS) financially aids PhD students to attend conferences and provides them a chance to develop their communication skills and networks. I hope to be one of those students awarded a scholarship and it is with great appreciation that I submit this application for your consideration (526 words).

While this essay explains your background in your field of research / study, it lacks a focus on the conference itself and its direct connection with your current research and future endeavors. In fact, the essay can be faulted for giving unnecessary information to the reader. Information such as the background of the conference, where it is held, how often, and who are in attendance. Those are aspects of the application essay that can easily be discarded as irrelevant towards your application for sponsorship.

The concentration of this essay must center upon your future plans for your research and how the conference exposure will benefit not only you, but your continued employment with the university you are currently connected with. Remember that scholarships are given, at this point of your career with an end goal in mind for both you as the researcher, and the school, as your sponsor. Therefore connecting the two are of the utmost importance and consideration when applying for this scholarship.


- I would totally omit this portion in your application because it connotes that you are only interested in what the conference can do for you. You are not interested in cultivating your relationship with your current employer so you might want to reconsider or rephrase this particular portion of your essay. I really believe it has the potential to be detrimental to your application.

Try to present a future plan for your career after you attend this conference. Mention how it can help you and how the connections you make can help the university as well with future research. Redirect your message to show that sponsoring you for this conference will result in numerous benefits for the university as represented by you. That should help increase your potential for consideration.

It is getting better Ahmad. You were able to integrate the relationship between yourself, the university, and the conference towards the end of the essay. The thing is, the way you did is too generalized in terms of the benefits that the conference can provide you and the university as a single unit. There is a chance for you to build this portion up at the start of your essay. It is imperative that you so this so that you can strengthen the chance of your application.

Consider that you have already mentioned that you have been doing the research in this field since 2007. Inform the reviewer that you continued to pursue this research as a graduate student at your current university. Then explain how you feel that your research still has room for growth and that you feel that by attending this conference, you will be able to achieve that result. Follow it up with your ideas regarding the potential exposure of the university in an international event (as represented by you) and how you will promote the achievements of the university alongside your personal achievements in this field.

The key to earning a scholarship is presenting a strong case in support of your endeavor. In this case, explain how the conference ties in with your research at this point and where the research can go from there. Expound on the fact that you could even work as a go between for the university with the prominent scientists at the conference whom you hope to entice into gaining an interest in your research and in the process, partnering your university with that person.

It may help to mention names of specific scientists whom you are targeting to meet at the conference. Explain how this will be the chance of a lifetime for you to meet this person or these persons who can help you and the university gain prominence in this particular field. Always play up the fact that you will be nothing without the support of the university and that their support of your quest is something that is sure to benefit the image of the university in the long run.

Your essay is improving. I am pointing out the areas that still require improvement. I hope it helps :-) You have time to make this perfect so don't fret. We are here to help you out :-)