Statement of Purpose

Doctoral
study is a significant milestone in the perpetual journey to education and the
best exposure to this would be a worthy platform to prove the skills and
knowledge that I have learnt. With due reverence to the department and the
university, I pen down a ‘statement of purpose’. This statement is an endeavour
to project; my credentials as an aspiring researcher, my achievements as a biotechnology/biology
graduate, my interest in this doctoral program and my ambitions. I have always
had an interest in science, beginning in elementary school. With a simple
microscope at secondary school level I was fascinated with the secrets of life
hidden in cells, I wondered what else I could see with a higher magnification.

I
acquainted with some of major impressions of biology like cell, tissues, genes,
microorganisms, DNA etc. during school education. I always love to acquire
knowledge in different fields of science other than restricting my knowledge in
a specific field.

Hence
I entered in Graduation/Bachelor’s programme with Botany, Zoology and
Biotechnology as the main subjects at Kurukshetra University, India. During the
graduation I have been exposed to many fields of biology as cell biology,
genetics, microbiology, Biochemistry, Animal and Plant biotechnology, immunology,
plant science, Genetic engineering etc. I also got practical knowledge of
techniques in the fields of biochemistry, microbiology and molecular biology as
well as I participated actively in various inter-departmental events, classroom
seminars which helped me to develop leadership and communication skills. I also
Attended training Programme entitled “Molecular Diagnostics and Bioinformatics
tools” at Department of Animal Biotechnology, Lala Lajpat Rai University of
Veterinary & Animal Sciences, Hisar (India).

In
order to excel in graduate school, I decided I would not limit my experience to
my formal education at Kurukshetra University then I selected microbiology for
my master’s degree.

Even
though I had a strong intension to direct my career towards research, I joined
for post-graduation in Department of microbiology at Maharshi Dayanand
University Rohtak India. That is where I learned the basics of research under
the guidance and supervision of well experienced professors and successful researchers.

during
the post-graduation I also Submitted a thesis entitled on “Isolation, screening
and Biochemical characterization of alkaline protease producing bacteria from
soil and their optimization using low cost substrates” during Post-graduation (2015)
at Maharshi Dayanand University Rohtak-124001 INDIA.

While
studying in Post-Graduation (Microbial Biotechnology) at Maharshi Dayanand
University Rohtak (India), my interest is developed in infectious biology
(Virology). Thus just after submission of my Master’s thesis i have joined
National
Centre for Veterinary Type Cultures (NCVTC), Hisar (India) as
Junior Research Fellow (JRF).

Here,
at NCVTC I am currently working on technology development of veterinary
cultures; Isolation of viruses from outbreaks, authentication and
characterization of viruses at molecular level following by accessioning of
viruses in repository of National Centre for Veterinary Type Cultures (our
institute’s mandate). For this I established several primary cell cultures
(fibroblast, liver, kidney, intestinal etc.) from SPF chicken embryos and also
maintaining cell line(S). I am able in isolation and cultivation of viruses. I
also performing viral genome amplification (RT-PCR) and sequencing of the viral
genome following the submission in online database.

 

Here at NCTC i also involved in “kinome” studies followed by screening
the library of “kinases and phosphatase” inhibitors that have potential to
develop as antivirals. Recently our team published a paper in Antiviral Research (2017) where i was co-first
author. In this paper, we established the in
vitro and in ovo antiviral
efficacy of emetine against diverse groups of DNA and RNA viruses and
suggesting that emetine could provide significant therapeutic value against
certain viral infections without inducing an antiviral drug-resistant
phenotype. Concurrently, data of some other antiviral compounds are in
submission from our lab.

Now I wish to continue my academic career with PhD
in virology, from an esteemed place like Institute of Science
and Technology,Vienna (Austria)

I am confident that I can complete the research
project under which I am applying, as I already have experience in the techniques
like cell culture, virus quantification, in
vitro and in ovo drug efficacy
studies, in vivo experiments, PCR/
qRT-PCR, cloning and expression, western blot analysis, co-immunoprecipitaion
assay, ChIP assay, immunofluorescence assay, CRISPR/cas9 mediated genome
editing etc. 

I
also have knowledge of bioinformatics; gene annotation, BLAST search, primer
design, alignment, homology search, sequence analysis etc.

During my Bachelor’s and Master’s
degree program, the medium of instruction was English while at NCVTC Hisar, all
routine work is being carried out in English. Besides, English has been
compulsory subject up to 12th standard school, overall it makes good
command in English (written & spoken).

I have potential to achieve
excellence in my research with exceptional work ethics, willing to put extra
time and effort to achieve the objectives. I don’t have any conflict with my
research group while working at NCVTC as good team member.  

I rely on my
professional expertise and experience; will make me capable to complete a
larger-scale project like a PhD. I hope to develop more expertise and boost the
quality of my research. I am keen to continue my education in this
subject and to perform my own research which can contribute to the knowledge of
the field.

I am confident
that my academic record, experience, professional goals and my enthusiasm will
make me a strong candidate for a place on this course. I would be honoured if
you decide to accept my application to be PhD student in your prestigious
Institute.

 

I
have enclosed my application and CV. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Thank
you very much for your time and consideration.