10. SOP

 

“A Statement of Purpose, also referred to as an SOP, is a reflection of your personality that you portray in front of the admission committee for getting enrolled in universities. It is your chance of impressing the committee by presenting your profile strongly through an essay that describes your personality traits, which are not covered in your academic documents.”

SOP which is also known as Statement of purpose/ Statement of intent is kind of a document which states your real intention/ purpose to pursue a postgraduate study. SOP is usually needed when you are going to make your application to the university. However, some people also send this when contacting supervisors for the first time. SOP is usually 1-2 pages of documents which should be unique to yourself. It contains details of your education background, your future goals, expectations in postgraduate studies, reasons for the interest to respective supervisor and university, most importantly the story of your passion for the respective research area and also for doing postgraduate studies. It is better to write the SOP with a good flow and as a story. It’s not recommended to write it as a general story and therefore be specific to show your real intentions and passion. Stating that I am passionate is not very realistic unless you cannot show some examples with regards to your real life.

As an example, my selection for Chemical & Process Engineering was mainly due to the fact that I need to engage in the Food Processing/ Engineering area which is one of the subareas in my major. It was because of the turning point of myself with the critical issue of heavy metals identification in Sri Lankan rice in 2013. So, I write this as a story with highlighting the starting point and my future expectations to be in food research areas.

Another thing which should be included is why do I need to do postgraduate studies? It can be due to the desire for being a lecturer/ researcher or need to obtain a good job, etc. For me, it was because of my dream job to become a lecturer since my family background and my self-satisfaction when teaching.  So, I wrote these details as an interesting story. 

My SOP is 2 pages long (about 1500 words) and I prepared it after self-studying about SOP making from web resources. I did not adhere to any specific structure for SOP but tried to include every important fact which can make me into a good candidate and show my passion for postgraduate studies. There may not be some standard structure to be followed to make the content of SOP (In preparation of academic CV or research proposals, there are some standard structures you can follow). In my view, you should arrange your details needed to make a strong profile in a proper flow and captivating manner.

The structure of my SOP for providing some idea when you are creating your SOP. However, please remember that you should not copy or follow this structure because it is always recommended to prepare a unique SOP with your own story. Thus, the flow of your SOP is certainly based on the way you are going to provide your details as a story.  

Content and Structure of My SOP

Paragraph	Content
Paragraph 1	Who am I, what do I need from pursuing a PhD and my future goal, the reason for the preference for my major in bachelors, story behind the preference for my specific research area, the link between my story and the need for doing a PhD.
Paragraph 2	My preference for my major in bachelors, main modules/ things I learnt during bachelors, main modules/ things related to my preferred research area I learnt/ was exposed, some main projects I did during my industrial training period, some of my achievements in undergraduate period.
Paragraph 3	My undergraduate research project, the reason and objectives of conducting that research, my development during the research project, my enhanced passion for research work, my publications.
Paragraph 4	Some other project (design of a waste treatment plant) I did during my final year, the reason and objectives of conducting that project, what I really did in that project.
Paragraph 5	My working experiences after my bachelors, the role of each job opportunity, reasons behind changing some jobs, my development from professional experience, why I prefer a particular job, what is my dream career and the reason behind it.
Paragraph 6	Some explanation for the link between my passion for a specific research area and the desire for doing a PhD, the reasons behind the selection of a particular university, I was going to apply, how getting a PhD from that university will support me for my future goal, the reasons behind the selection of a particular department in that university, my passion towards working as a research student under a particular supervisor in that department,
Paragraph 7	My understanding of the structure of the program and the requirements of my commitment, skills and comprehension, statement that I am willing to do a good job, paying sincere gratitude to them

In some universities, they provide specific templates to be used by applicants for making their research proposals. Therefore, please check if there is such a condition in your university by going thoroughly on the admission section on the university website. If there is such a template, you may have to prepare your research proposal in that given format. 

* Please noted that quoted statements are obtained from some online resources.

* You can study some materials uploaded (which I have used as references) in the following drive for further understanding. 

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1nCwZIeGtlNt2D1flUrCEXmXvQIerCxAx?usp=sharing