I am still remembered your impressed lecture you gave us on wheat genomic conference at Indianapolis last year.
After I am working in the USDA genotyping Lab for nearly three years at Manhattan, KS, I am planning to pursue one more PhD in plant genetic at U.S.A. and that is why I am writing this letter. I believe it is an important and wise resolution for me, though I have received one in botany from Nanjing University, China. Therefore, later of this year, I have taken the GRE and TOELf exams by spending weekends of three months in preparation.
In the last three years, my work have mainly focused on genome-wide association researches from linkage disequilibrium(LD), model simulation, aluminum tolerance, and scab and stem rust resistance. Because most of phenotypic, genotypic data and statistical analysis have been done, all the left will go to manuscript organization. One manuscript about population structure and genome-wide LD analysis on U.S.A. winter wheat has been submitted to Plant Genome recently. One more manuscript about genome-wide stem rust resistance in U.S.A. elite wheat breeding lines goes to nearly final edition and is going to be submitted early of next year. Now I am working on the aluminum tolerance draft which have included three-year works of mine. In this study, two association mapping populations, three biparental populations, one full gene sequence and two-year field and greenhouse phenotypic data were joint in details to illustrate the genome-wide mechanic accounting for aluminum tolerance. Same process was also conducted on scab resistance. One more season of greenhouse data for scab type-II resistance will be available before this Christmas.
As the integrated project is going to finish, it's time for me to leave for another place. Dr. **, one of the important advocates for my initiative of my project, has advise me sometime of last year to pursue a PhD at U.S.A. if possible and he has given me the one copy of the book written by your cooperation. In the book, you have given highly valuable review and prospective progress of AM in the upcoming future.
Since the year of 1998, just after I was graduated from Dept. of Agronomy, Yangzhou University, China, I have been working on plant physiology, gene expression, gene cloning, QTL mapping and association mapping for more than ten years. Except the papers on writing, more than ten papers have been published on kinds of journals. One new gene, SbPIP (GenBank: DQ451602), was cloned by mRNA subtractive hybridization during my last PhD program and registered as National Patent in China in 2006.
When I was working in Jiangsu Academic of Agricultural Sciences before 2006 in China, I have known your name as well as your prestigious works in wheat science community, and so I realize it is not easy for me to compete a PhD admission in your department, but I still want to express my high interests and resolution in plant population genetics where you researches have been leading the advancement for a ten years. And so, here I would like to consulting you the possibility of my application before submitting all the necessary files officially. I know your opinion is the first information I must to cognize. Also before this, I haven't told my intention to Dr. ** and Dr.***. But if necessary, I will ask them to give a letter as my references for application.
Thanks for your consideration!
Sincerely,
As it sounds as if your present job is coming to a natural close. If you feel like you can without causing problems where you work now I would ask the professor that recommended that you get a PhD in the USA if you could list him as a reference and if he would help you with this letter or recommend someone that can. He knows the professor you are writing to and knows you. He can be more help than any letter ever can be. A good letter of introduction, a phone call or better yet a personal introduction by him to the professor you want to do your PhD with can do more good for you than almost anything else I know of.
I would also read everything the professor you are applying to has written at least in the last 10 years and at least look over the rest of his writings including his PhD thesis if could get it. Get to know this man's present and past work really well. It will help.
Most of us in agriculture are tolerant of writing style as many of use don't write all that well ourselves. I expect a wheat breeder is far more interested in what you have done than in how you say it. But your never get a second chance to make a first impression. So get some help from someone in your field that is a good writer and make a great fist impression. Good writers that don't understand what you do can't help with the fine points of language of wheat and agriculture. I am sure you work with someone that can.
As an Oklahoma wheat farmer for the last 50 years and working agricultural research the last part of that we need more people working with wheat in every way. The tools you have today make wish I was young again. I would have gone into breeding if my computer hadn't been a black mechanical beast that took a minute and half to do a division and there was some way to understand genetics than observing the statistics shown in the offspring.
Good luck
Gordon
