Can someone critique my statement of purpose? (Master's Degree in Quantum Engineering)

In summary: I would highly recommend to anyone looking into this topic.In summary, the motivation behind the applicant's decision to pursue a masters degree in quantum engineering from the University of Wurzburg is to gain a theoretical understanding of condensed matter physics and topology for future applications in quantum computing. The applicant plans to do a PhD in topological quantum computing after completing this course. The applicant has a strong predilection towards mathematics and physics, which has driven their academic journey. The applicant studied engineering in order to gain practical understanding of materials, and after completing a course on the structure of materials, they pursued a research internship in Italy where they worked on e-beam deposition of monolayer WSe2 on Au-111 single crystal.
  • #1
Vatsy31
3
1
I have written and rewritten a lot of times but I need some fresh eyes on my sop.
It would be great if someone can help me out. I have less than a week to readjust it and send.

My motivation to apply for the Masters Degree in quantum engineering at University of Wurzburg is to acquire a theoretical understanding of condensed matter physics and topology for applications in quantum computing. I aim to do a PhD in topological quantum computing and this course will laid the perfect foundation for my career.

A strong predilection towards mathematics and physics had been the backbone of my academic journey. I was always interested in the practical application of these subjects and decided to study engineering. After clearing a rigorous entrance exam and securing rank in the top0.1% among 1 million candidates I took admission at the Indian Institute of Technology,Varanasi with a major in Metallurgical Engineering.

The basic science courses in my first year prepared me with the tools required to understand the fundamentals of materials. A course on the structure of materials captured my interest in crystal and electronic structures. Countless discussions with the professor in and out ofthe class inspired me to take a project to get a practical understanding of the field. I joined the structural and chemical analysis lab of Prof. Mukherjee where I worked on the depen-dence of localized surface plasmonic resonance on the shape of gold nanoparticles (nanospheres,nanoplates, nanorods) deposited on 1T phase of 2 dimensional MoS2 for photoelectrochemicalHER applications. This experience helped me in learning the fabrication and characterization methodologies including X-ray diffraction, SEM, TEM and electrochemical characterization.To understand the problem I had to study light-matter interaction and classical scattering theory which is where I realized my interest in the physics of materials.

My research in energy materials progressed in the summer of my sophomore year where I worked on graphene functionalized metal organic frameworks for hydrogen storage applications at the Defence Institute, Pune, India. As it was a defense project we could not present our work but with our understanding we wrote a review paper discussing about the field whichgot published in theJournal of Material Science. I continued research in 2D materialsin my department by studying Ruddlesden popper-based 2-D halide perovskites for solar cellapplications under Prof. Joysurya Basu as my bachelor thesis. I studied the structure propertyrelationship of different ordered phase of halide perovskites. It was amazing to sit with the professor for hours on the electron microscope trying to get the perfect image and diffractionpattern of the complex system. learning from his experience and real time analysis.

A course on Electronic and Magnetic properties of materials in my junior year intrigued me todelve deeper into the study of the electronic structure of 2D materials. My passion helped mesecure an International Internship at the University of Padova, Italy in the group of GaetanoGranozzi. In Italy, I worked on e-beam deposition of monolayer WSe2 on Au-111 single crystalwith in-situ photoelectron spectroscopy and Scanning Tunneling Microscopy .We performed insitu potentiodynamic studies to analyze the active catalytic sites using electrochemical STM.I investigated the indirect to direct bandgap transition, effect of dopant on the electronic structure of monolayer WSe2 using Angle Resolved UPS.For visualizing the angle resolved data in the k-space. I wrote a MATLAB script to integrate with Igor Pro software. This successful collaboration helped me understand that with proper guidance and determination, I could thrive in an international setting.

In the meantime I was trying to understand the importance of spin-orbit interactions that we observed in WSe2, I came across an interesting paper by (Kane and Mele 2005) explaining how spin-orbit coupling can lead to topological insulator phases. After coming back to India I tooka reading project under physics faculty, Dr. Sandip Chatterjee, to understand more about it.Inparallel I was writing a invited book chapter on design and synthesis of two dimensional materials and heterostructures. I spent the winter of 2019 at TIFR Hyderabad under Dr. Karthik Raman reading and understanding several architectures for the observation of majorana fermions in topological materials. With guidance from the professor I was motivated to apply for a masters in the field to gain more theoretical background to contribute to the field.

Due to Covid 19, I had to switch my plans to the next year. During my gap year, I attendeda summer school organized by IBM on Quantum Computing. The summer school gave me a hands-on experience in implementing algorithms on a quantum computer and introduced me to several interesting applications of the field. Being from a materials engineering backgroundI was naturally interested in the hardware aspect of it. I was already familiar with the research going on in the field of topological materials for quantum computing applications. I decided tolearn more about the field and therefore joined a project position in the quantum technologieslab at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.My work with the group was to couple surface acoustic waves with superconducting quantumbits.It involved fabrication of SAW devices and Josephson junctions using optical and e-beam lithography, deposition using e-beam evaporation and characterizing them using Vector networkanalyzers at millikelvin temperature. It also involved simulation of devices on COMSOL whichhelped me in understanding the multiphysics of the problem. In the process, I learned to setup a dilution refrigerator and measurement electronics. I automated the task of measuring from the instruments by writing python drivers for interfacing with VISA protocol. The secondwave impeded my laboratory work but I utilized my time at IISc by learning the qutip python module to study the open quantum system dynamics.
My plan is to bridge my interest in condensed matter with the field of quantum computing i.e to work on topological quantum computing. Masters in quantum engineering from the Universityof W ̈urzburg will not only give me the necessary theoretical background to understand the fieldbut also a hands-on experience with world-class clean room and fabrication facilities in the form of the Institute for Topological Insulators. The Experimental Physics III group chairedby Prof. Molenkamp and the theoretical physics group of Prof. Bj ̈orn Trauzettel are very activeresearch groups in the field. With collaborative efforts like ct.qmat and recent collaborationwith Julich, JMU is set to establish itself in the field of topological quantum computing andI would like to be a part of it. I believe that my undergraduate education and research haveequipped me well to carry out my graduate studies and research at a prominent institute likeJMU, Wurzburg.I would like to mention that being an engineering undergrad I don’t have core physics courses in my transcripts but my projects and research experience have helped me to understand and implement the concepts in a practical setting. Self-study and countless discussions with professors have helped me develop a solid understanding of most of the undergraduate physics theory. The quantum engineering course will help me to get a formal training in the field to be fully capable to tackle interesting problems.

In my entire journey as an undergraduate, I have been guided by great lecturers and professors who have incorporated in me a love for the subject, always helping me in overcoming differentobstacles with due guidance and mentoring. Inspired by them I have decided to be in academiato transfer the wisdom and knowledge back to the scientific community. I have attended andpresented in several research conferences and have been actively involved in extra-curricularactivities which have whetted my appetite for leadership and provided me several opportunities to work in a team and handle pressure successfully . Research experiences have taught me that patience, hard work, perseverance, and requisite efforts are required to achieve anything in life
 
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  • #2
Welcome to PF. I mostly saw a lot of simple typos in your text. Running it through a simple spell-check program (like MS Word has) will catch these types of typos.
Vatsy31 said:
will laid the perfect foundation
Change "laid" to "lay"
Vatsy31 said:
rank in the top0.1% among 1 million candidates
Congratulations! That is very impressive. But also add a space after the word "top".
Vatsy31 said:
discussions with the professor in and out ofthe class
Add a space between "of the"
Vatsy31 said:
where I worked on the depen-dence of localized surface plasmonic resonance
The word "dependence" should not be hyphenated.
Vatsy31 said:
about the field whichgot published in theJournal of Material Science
Add a space in "which got" and "the Journal".
Vatsy31 said:
trying to get the perfect image and diffractionpattern of the complex system
Add a space after "diffraction".
Vatsy31 said:
always helping me in overcoming differentobstacles with due guidance
Add a space after "different".
Vatsy31 said:
decided to be in academiato transfer the wisdom
Add a space to "academia to".

There may be other similar typos, so I do still recommend using a spell-checker program on your text. Best of luck! :smile:
 
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  • #3
berkeman said:
There may be other similar typos, so I do still recommend using a spell-checker program on your text. Best of luck!
Sure is nice of you to take the time to help him.
 
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  • #4
berkeman said:
Welcome to PF. I mostly saw a lot of simple typos in your text. Running it through a simple spell-check program (like MS Word has) will catch these types of typos.

Change "laid" to "lay"

Congratulations! That is very impressive. But also add a space after the word "top".

Add a space between "of the"

The word "dependence" should not be hyphenated.

Add a space in "which got" and "the Journal".

Add a space after "diffraction".

Add a space after "different".

Add a space to "academia to".

There may be other similar typos, so I do still recommend using a spell-checker program on your text. Best of luck! :smile:
Hey Thanks for pointing out.
Actually these typos are there as I copied and pasted it from my latex prompt. When I see the pdf these are not there. I ran it through Grammarly for once and it doesn't show any errors. They came because of copy and pasting. I would be very grateful if you can critique the content of the sop.
Thanks
 
  • #5
Common guys. I am in need of help. Can someone critique the content here?
 
  • #6
Well I 've only worked as a high school teacher, so I am not sure I can give you the right advice, but ok quantum computing might be the next big step in the evolution of computers (analog computers->digital computers->quantum computers). Pursue your PhD in topological quantum computing that seems to bridge the physics of condensed matter (a field where you have considerable knowledge if I 've understood well) with the field of the quantum computing.
 
  • #7
Vatsy31 said:
Common guys.
I think you mean "Come on". "Common" would be faintly insulting. Not that demanding volunteers pick up the pace and work faster for you is much better. Yes, there is a deadline coming up. That means you should hace posted this sooner. As they say, "poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on our part. It's disrespectful, and that's going to be a theme.

I have been working on finding a gentler way to say this, but since you want feedback Right This Minute, here goes: It is poor. Exceptionally so. As in "we were thinking about making him an offer, until we read his statement". That poor.

Berkeman did a great job of pointing out errors. There should not have been that many. You should have fixed all that before giving it to others. Not doing that is disrespectful of their time.

It is not what they asked for. "a statement of purpose explaining why you choose our master's program (letter of motivation". Roughly 10% answers what they asked, and the other 90% is about you. What is there about you sounds like bragging ("I'm in the top 0.1%!") and what is written about Wuzrbrug is so vague it could be the same letter you send everywhere - just fill in some blanks. That's disrespectful. Not follwoing the directions is disrespectful. If you can't write anything more specific than "very active research groups in the field", that tells me you haven't even looked up their papers. That too is disrespectful.
 
Last edited:
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  • #8
Vatsy31 said:
My motivation to apply for the Masters Degree in quantum engineering at University of Wurzburg is to acquire a theoretical understanding of condensed matter physics and topology for applications in quantum computing. I aim to do a PhD in topological quantum computing and this course will laid the perfect foundation for my career.
Some of us could make that passage more economically or efficiently expressed, but then they would no longer be YOUR wording, but the wording of one of us.
 
  • #9
Vatsy31 said:
A strong predilection towards mathematics and physics had been the backbone of my academic journey. I was always interested in the practical application of these subjects and decided to study engineering. After clearing a rigorous entrance exam and securing rank in the top0.1% among 1 million candidates I took admission at the Indian Institute of Technology,Varanasi with a major in Metallurgical Engineering.
Excuse me, but I wish to ask; WHAT?
 

FAQ: Can someone critique my statement of purpose? (Master's Degree in Quantum Engineering)

What is a statement of purpose?

A statement of purpose is a written document that explains your academic and professional background, your interest in a specific field or program, and your future goals. It is often required as part of the application process for graduate programs, such as a Master's degree in Quantum Engineering.

Why is a statement of purpose important?

A statement of purpose gives the admissions committee a better understanding of who you are as a candidate and why you are interested in pursuing a Master's degree in Quantum Engineering. It allows you to showcase your strengths, experiences, and goals, and helps the committee determine if you are a good fit for the program.

What should be included in a statement of purpose?

A statement of purpose should include your academic and professional background, your research interests, your motivation for pursuing a Master's degree in Quantum Engineering, and your future career goals. It should also highlight any relevant experiences, skills, and achievements that make you a strong candidate for the program.

Can someone else critique my statement of purpose?

Yes, it is recommended to have someone else, such as a professor or mentor, review your statement of purpose before submitting it. They can provide valuable feedback and help you identify any areas that need improvement. However, make sure to also revise and edit the statement yourself to ensure it reflects your own voice and goals.

How can I make my statement of purpose stand out?

To make your statement of purpose stand out, be specific and personal. Avoid using generic statements and instead, provide specific examples and experiences that demonstrate your passion and qualifications for Quantum Engineering. Also, make sure to proofread your statement for grammar and spelling errors, and ensure it is well-organized and easy to read.

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