motivation letter eth zurich

• Press Enter to activate screen reader mode.

Department of Architecture

Admission and application.

Please use the online application option to apply for the Master of Science programme in landscape architecture. For further questions regarding admission requirements and application process, please contact the Admissions Office!

Admission to the master degree programme requires a bachelor degree in architecture or landscape architecture from a universitary institution (3rd level institution) or a university of applied sciences and thus hold 180 credit points.

Admission restrictions due to capacity constraints and language requirements remain reserved.

Further important information is available under "Directive Admission to Master's degree programmes" and in the Download attachment (PDF, 225 KB) vertical_align_bottom to the Master Programme Regulation Landscape Architecture (currently only available in German).

Language Requirements

Candidates have to meet necessary language skills required for the master programme and must provide the relevant certificate. The necessary language skill must be acquired before being admitted to a master programme and therefore is a prerequisite for admission. The language of instruction of the Master's degree programme in Landscape Architecture is English .  

Information regarding the application process, deadlines, or the documents you have to hand in are available here:

• chevron_right Language Requirements (accepted certificates)
• chevron_right Admission prerequisites
• chevron_right Dates and Deadlines
• chevron_right Online-Application
• chevron_right Application documents and required information
• chevron_right FAQs (Admission's Office)

The portfolio is part of the application for the master's degree programme and must be submitted electronically to the admisison's office (valid as of now) within the scope of your online application . Please do not forward your portfolio on to the department of Architecture.

Motivation Letter

The motivation letter contains detailed, comprehensive reasons for wanting to study landscape architecture at ETH Zurich. The letter must be submitted electronically to the admission's office (valid as of now) within the scope of your online application. Please do not forward your motivation letter to the departement of Architecture.

Course Content Information

Course contents must be submitted electronically to the admission's office as well (valid as of now) within the scope of your online application . Please do not forward your course content on to the department of Architecture.

Any documents submitted to the Department of Architecture (portfolios, motivations letters and course content etc.) will not be evaluated.

Portfolio, Motivation Letter and Course Content (Format)

I need some advise on my application to ETH Zurich - motivation, area of interest in the Department

• Remember me Not recommended on shared computers

Forgot your password?

• Statement of Purpose, Personal History, Diversity

my first Motivation Letter

By Hyunjun Jung November 7, 2016 in Statement of Purpose, Personal History, Diversity

Recommended Posts

Hyunjun Jung

How are you doing guys !

I'm majored in Rehabilitation Engineering and currently preparing an application for ETH Zurich Computer Science.

I wrote my first motivation letter, and it seems quite longer than expected.....

  “So now, the community talks about X plus CS, or X plus computer science where X can be any domain. Biology plus computer science, physics plus computer science”. “It is actually everywhere in this fields.” Prof. Luay Nakhelh said in the class wrap up of Algorithmic Thinking 2 , one of seven courses in Coursera’s specialization Fundamentals of Computing offered by Rice University. To me, undergraduate student of Rehabilitation Engineering, Computer Science (CS) was like a magical key, which can take rehabilitation engineering to next level. That was my first impression toward Computer Science.

 In the vortex of 4 th Industrial Revolution, CS is being integral part of Biomedical engineering(BME) as it is being highly intelligent and automated. Currently, BME field is experiencing the greatest innovations by combining its knowledge with CS. I am sure rehabilitation engineering fields are also inevitable to the influence. To take them to further level, I’ve decided to pursue CS as master’s degree.

  Fortunately, I had great chance to apply my CS knowledge to rehabilitation engineering during undergraduate times. It was student project for E-Medic Global (Engineering Medical Innovation Global Competition), and my team’s project is called Bilateral Training System for Hemiparesis Rehabilitation. It is rehabilitation system which integrates various methods of hemiparesis rehabilitation into one system, designed to recommend proper method to users.

 My part was mainly on software, designing and building the system. I discussed with professor of Occupational Therapy about how upper limb movement of hemiparesis patient changes as rehabilitation progresses and which movement would be best for scoring the performance  In order to augment the knowledge. In order to augment the knowledge, I participated in Healthcare Management Symposium held by Medical School of Seoul National University, discussed with founder of Neofect Korea, a leading company of domestic rehabilitation devices. As a result of hard work, my team was selected as a finalist of the competition and also proposed the system for domestic patent. While working on the project I could understand not only how important it is to study in place that has great infrastructures and supports, but also how CS interacts with BME. It was great experience which solidifies my goal on CS.

Since then, I searched for classes that CS in my university offers to undergraduates, tried to fill academic gaps between CS and BME. Whenever I have time, I looked for online classes and learned them. Whether I was in the middle of semester or not could not interrupt my passion. I took various specialization courses and online version of CS class in prestigious school in US, including probability, linear algebra, machine learning, data structures and algorithms, software construction and so on, and still taking some major courses as if I were an assigned undergraduate in CS. (all information about online classes I accomplished and currently enrolled are linked below)

While I was searching for master’s degree, I found out that general computer science Master’s degree program in here is very unique for several reasons. Firstly, as stated in the course’s homepage, “it gives students a broad education with great freedom of choices as it allows a combination of courses from all the different Master’s tracks“. To be a successful Biomedical Engineer, learning knowledge in various fields is inevitable. CS department of ETH Zurich is one of the only a few department which offers actual track that let a student to learn and combine broad range of knowledge. Secondly, it also has great reputation in biomedical engineering, having specialized labs that research actual subjects which I really willing to pursue, such as Rehabilitation Engineering Laboratory or Mobile Health Systems. Opportunity to work with highly robust labs will give me both unforgettable academic experiences and a great change to advance my career.

If someone enjoys his/her job, he/she will never get tired. To me, all the hard works seemed like just one of entertaining things. That’s how I managed myself to be a Top Tanker in entire battalion during military service, and how I managed myself to achieve high GPA with both undergraduate project and a large number of online courses at one time. I know pursuing master’s degree can be entirely different story. But one thing for sure is that I love this field, and I am ready to enjoy the challenge. Pursuing master’s degree in here will be the most crucial challenge that I’ve had in my entire life, and I’m prepared for it. My will personality never let myself succumb to any hardship. Also, I’ll continue to upgrade myself to be better applicant till I enter the school.

I stand strongly that this course offers perfect conditions to my goal. I want to stand at frontline of 4 th Industrial Revolution of Biomedical Engineering, and I’m sure that this program in ETH Zurich will take me to the next level.

Link to comment

Share on other sites.

• 3 weeks later...

On 11/7/2016 at 10:31 AM, Hyunjun Jung said: “ Today,  the community discusses the interdisciplinary nature of computer science. As Dr. Luay Nakhelh stated in the class wrap-up of Algorithmic Thinking 2 , one of seven courses in Coursera's specialization Fundamentals of Computing , offered by Rice University, "Biology plus computer science, physics plus computer science...it is actually everywhere in these fields."     about X plus CS, or X plus computer science, where X can be any domain.   To me, an  undergraduate student in Rehabilitation Engineering, Computer Science (CS) was like a magical key, capable of taking  rehabilitation engineering to next level. That was my first impression toward Computer Science.  In the vortex of the  4 th Industrial Revolution, CS is an integral part of biomedical engineering (BME)  as it is being highly intelligent and automated (I am not clear what you are trying to communicate here) . Currently, the greatest innovations in biomedical engineering have been brought about by integrating CS into the knowledge of the field.  I am confident that the influence of CS upon  rehabilitation engineering fields is  also inevitable. To prepare myself for these advances , I have  decided to pursue a Master's in CS .   Fortunately, I had the opportunity to apply my CS knowledge to rehabilitation engineering as an undergraduate . In a student-lead project for  E-Medic Global (Engineering Medical Innovation Global Competition), I developed a  "Bilateral Training System for Hemiparesis Rehabilitation " - a  rehabilitation program which integrates various methods of hemiparesis rehabilitation into one system, designed to recommend proper method s to users.   My primary role in this project concerned software design, as I was responsible for building the system.  Through consulting with ______(professor's name), a  professor of Occupational Therapy., about how the  upper limb movement of a  hemiparesis patient changes as rehabilitation progresses, I determined  which movement would be best for scoring the performance .   In order to augment the knowledge.  In order to augment the knowledge, I participated in Healthcare Management Symposium held by Medical School of Seoul National University, discussed with founder of Neofect Korea, a leading company of domestic rehabilitation devices . As a result of our  hard work, my team was selected as a finalist in the competition. We  also proposed the system for domestic patent. Through  working on the project , I was able to learn  not only about  how important it is to study in an institution with strong  infrastructures and supports, but also about  how CS interacts with BME. This formative experience solidified my interest in  CS. Since then, I have  searched for CS  classes offered by my University to undergraduates, in an attempt to  fill the  academic gaps between CS and BME. I have also spent my spare time taking online classes. Regardless of whether I was in the middle of semester or not could not interrupt my passion , I took various online  specialization courses in  CS class at a prestigious school in US (I would name the University rather than stating that it was a prestigious school) , including probability, linear algebra, machine learning, data structures and algorithms, software construction and so on, and continue to direct my own learning through further coursework.  courses as if I were an assigned undergraduate in CS. (all information about online classes I accomplished and currently enrolled are linked below) In my search for a  master’s program , I have found the general computer science program at (University name) to be very unique, for several reasons. First , as stated on the program  homepage, (university name)  “ ... gives students a broad education with great freedom of choices as it allows a combination of courses from all the different Master’s tracks ." To be a successful Biomedical Engineer, learning knowledge in various fields is inevitable. The  CS department at  ETH Zurich is one of the only a few department s   that provides students with the concrete supports to  learn and combine broad range of knowledge. Second , the program  also has a  great reputation in biomedical engineering, having specialized labs that research actual subjects which I really willing to pursue, such as Rehabilitation Engineering Laboratory or Mobile Health Systems, which I hope to join and contribute to . The o pportunity to work with such established  labs will give me both unforgettable academic experiences and a great change to advance my career   (I would choose a different reason for your second reason) . I have always known that if someone enjoys their job, they will never tire of hard work.   For me, all hard work is a challenge that I am ready to tackle. It is with this mindset that I was named a Top Tanker in my  entire battalion during my  military service, and how I managed myself to achieve a  high undergraduate  GPA despite simultaneous enrollment in a large number of online courses at one time . I know that  pursuing a M aster’s degree can be an  entirely different story. However, I am confident in my love for this field, and I am ready to take on the challenge. Pursuing a M aster’s degree at (University name) will be the most crucial challenge that I have faced  in my entire life, but I am nonetheless prepared  for it. My will personality never let myself succumb to any hardship. Also, I’ll continue to upgrade myself to be better applicant till I enter the school. I stand strongly that this program offers the  perfect preparation for me to achieve  my goal. I want to stand at the  frontline of the  4 th Industrial Revolution of Biomedical Engineering, and I’m sure that the program at  ETH Zurich will take me to the next level.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Already have an account? Sign in here.

• Existing user? Sign In
• Online Users
• All Activity
• My Activity Streams
• Unread Content
• Content I Started
• Results Search
• Post Results
• Leaderboard
• Create New...

Important Information

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. See our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use

Sample cover letter for Internship position at ETH Zurich

Software developer.

Motivation Letter

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am a forth year student at the Faculty of Computer Science and Engineering in Skopje and I would like to express my immense interest for the internship position at Professorship of Computational Social Science at ETH Zurich. As a student I am passionate about research and technology. I am exceptionally interested in developing iOS applications and I spend most of my free time learning how to be better software engineer. Due to my keen interest in iOS programming, I have significant internship experiences working in this field. My ambition is to be professional, experienced and dynamic software developer, eager to learn new technologies.

During my 4 years of studying in my Faculty, I acquired a noteworthy knowledge in Java programming, due to the big part of subjects that require Java knowledge. With my experience as an intern, besides my advancement in iOS programming I understood how to be a team player, a critical thinker and how to boost my productivity. Also it led me to earn ability to assess a situation, seek multiple perspectives, gather more information if necessary and identify key issues that need to be addressed.

But of what use are all my skills, if I can’t advance any further? Therefore, I decided to apply for this position at this tremendous university, to help me achieve my goals and obtain more knowledge. I would be delighted if I have an opportunity to show you all my knowledge and even more. Thank you for your consideration and I look forward to hearing from you.

Navigation auf uzh.ch

Career Services at the University of Zurich

Quicklinks und sprachwechsel, main navigation, letter of motivation.

In your letter of motivation (also known as cover letter or accompanying letter) you briefly and concisely outline on one page your qualifications, motivation, and enthusiasm for the company and the position. It is important that you adapt your letter to the company and the job requirements.

Sender Contact details are best given in the form of a letterhead (same design as for the contact details on the resume)

Full address of the company, including the name of the contact person

Place and Date

Contains a keyword on the vacant job or function as well as the place and date of issue of the ad. Do not write ‘Subject’ or ‘Ref.’ Instead write the whole line in bold.

“Dear Mr. / Dear Mrs. XY”, or use their title if applicable. Only use “Dear Sir or Madam” in exceptional cases - it is better to give a quick call and ask for the name of the HR officer.

You should divide your text into three to five paragraphs:

• Paragraph: Opening sentence on why you are applying for the job. Do not spend too much time trying to think up an ingenious introductory sentence. You can start with a standard sentence and polish this up at the end.
• Paragraph: Why are you suited to this job? Describe your current work, study program, and specialist qualifications. Give special mention to the qualities that you possess that you believe apply to the position or company. You can make these statements more plausible by adding examples of your experience, e.g. team work experience in a project group, project experience in a research project, etc.
• Paragraph: Motivation, commitment, goals: Make clear that you want this position and give reasons why.
• Paragraph: Ask to be invited to an interview.

Ultimately, the recipient should know why you are applying, which requirements you fulfill, what distinguishes you from others, and why you suit the company and the job.

“Sincerely”

Ideally use blue ink.

Do not use the word ‘enclosures’. Either simply write ‘Application documents’ or write a list: Resume, Certificates, etc.

• Read the ad carefully.
• Do not send a standard letter but tailor the letter to the job ad and the company.
• Keep the cover letter short.
• Be confident and adapt to the company’s culture. Holding back is not always appropriate.
• Do not start with old-fashioned phrases like “I hereby apply...”.
• Avoid empty phrases.
• Describe yourself but don't assess yourself: Use neutral expressions (rather: “I was responsible for” than “I was successful in”).
• Translate academic performance into the company’s language.
• Have another person read the letter through.  

Weiterführende Informationen

+++ important note +++.

The letter of motivation is so named because this is where you advertise your motivation for the job. Emphasize why you want this job more than other applicants.

Find an Event for This Topic:

• uzhcareer.ch
• Sample Letter of Motivation (PDF, 60 KB)

Inspiration

For inspiration, take a look at this article by Rolf Murbach entitled “Motivation auf den Punkt gebracht” (German)

• Article (PDF, 36 KB)

• Press Enter to activate screen reader mode.

GrantsOffice - GO!

Submit eth postdoctoral fellowships.

Information about the scope of this program can be found in the respective " Funding Opportunity " section.

At the time of the submission deadline, applicants must hold a doctorate (PhD) or will complete their doctorate within the next six months. Applicants with the doctorate (PhD) must have obtained it a maximum of two years prior to the submission deadline. The decisive date is the date of the examination or defense/viva voce.

Applicants who have not yet completed their doctorate must submit a certification of the planned date of their defense signed by the advisor or department chair. The examination or defense/viva voce must have been completed by the time the fellowship is started (and no later than six months after the deadline).

Applicants who earned their PhD from ETH Zurich or the University of Zurich will not be considered.

Applicants may not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Switzerland for more than twelve months in the three years immediately before the submission deadline. Applicants may not have carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) at either ETH Zurich, EPF Lausanne, a research institute of the ETH domain ( PSI, WSL, Empa and Eawag ), or the University of Zurich for more than six months in the three years immediately before the submission deadline.

Applicants need to have at least one scientific publication in a peer-reviewed journal or have been awarded a prize for their doctoral thesis.

Applications not complying with the eligibility criteria will be rejected on formal grounds.

Applications have to be supported by an ETH Zurich professor who is willing to act as the mentor of the fellow. A professor may only submit with one candidate in each evaluation round. Assistant professors must contact the Grants Office before submitting the proposal to ensure their eligibility to act as hosts.

You have to contact the potential host professor early enough. The host has to provide an invitation letter that needs to be uploaded with the application.

Each candidate needs two external reference letters. The referees have to e-mail them directly to the Grants Office, 10 days prior to the submission deadline at the latest. The letters must include a letterhead and the signature of the reference provider.

The fellowship covers the fellow's salary (100%, based on ETH standards). As of 2024, the following rates apply:  

The total rates must be used for budgeting. They include 15.0% social security contributions to be paid by ETH Zurich.

ETH Fellows are also entitled to CHF 10,000 per year for research expenses, including travel/mobility allowances and research cost contributions. The budget allocated for travel and research costs may not be used to cover salary costs, and vice versa.

Applications must be submitted electronically in pdf format using the ETH Zurich grant application system ( eResearch ). The call is usually open in the system about one month before the deadline.

You have to use the templates provided for the project description ( Download project details (DOCX, 29 KB) vertical_align_bottom and Download accompanying information (DOCX, 28 KB) vertical_align_bottom ).

The  ETH Zurich Research Commission  is responsible for the evaluation of applications. In the first step, proposals are evaluated in writing, after which selected candidates are invited to an interview.  

The interview takes place online and lasts about 15 minutes. Please reserve all interview dates given  below  for your submission deadline until you have been assigned a specific date. Individual preferences cannot be considered.

The steps required to submit an application in the web-based ETH Zurich grant application system eResearch are outlined below.  

Please note that you can interrupt the processing of the application at any time and resume the work at a later date, provided you do so before the submission deadline. You can find instructions on how to do this at the bottom of the page.

Submitting an application: 

• Download the required Project Description templates ( Download project details (DOCX, 29 KB) vertical_align_bottom  and  Download accompanying information (DOCX, 28 KB) vertical_align_bottom )
• Fill in the Project Description templates (project details and accompanying information) and complete all other required documents. The documents must be converted into a PDF file prior to submission (no password protection).
• Click on “My Applications” in the navigation bar on the left to start a new application. (Alternatively, you can open a new application in the section “New Grant Application” on the homepage.)
• Then click on “New Application”. You will be directed to a page where all open calls are available for selection. The call is usually open in the system about one month before the deadline. Select the funding instrument and click on “Apply”. You will now be in the edit mode of the newly opened application form. Please note the reference number of the application in the upper left corner.
• Fill in all mandatory fields and upload the required attachments (marked with a red dot) by navigating from page to page using the “Next” and “Previous” buttons. Be sure you save the information you entered by clicking “Save”. As soon as all mandatory fields of a page are filled in, the icon in the sidebar on the left will turn green.
• Add the host professor on the “Participants” page. This triggers an automatic e-mail to the respective person with a request to upload the required documents. Only if both you and your host professor have uploaded all required documents and filled in all mandatory fields, the icon in the sidebar of the “Participants” page will turn green. Please note: You have to contact the potential host professor early enough prior to this step to ask if they are willing to support your application.
• Once you have completed the application form, click on “Validation Summary" on the left. The “Validation Summary” page will then list all mandatory fields that have not yet been filled in. Please note that the host professor must also have uploaded their attachments and made their entries before the submission deadline in order for the application to be successfully validated and submitted.
• Fill in the missing fields and validate again. After successful validation, exit the edit mode by clicking “Save And Close”.
• Create a PDF file of your application for your personal records. To do this, click on “View/print” in the grey “PDF the application” box on the right side of the same page.

To interrupt the processing of the application, you must:

• Exit the edit mode of the application by clicking “Save And Close” and then log out on the left side of the page.
• To continue working on an existing application, log in to the platform with your eResearch login details, go to “My Applications” on the left side of the page, and then select the respective application by clicking on the title or on the “View details” icon on the right.
• Click “Edit” on the right side of the application summary page to enter the edit mode. Now proceed to edit your application.

Submission deadlines are 1 March and 1 September at 17:00 Swiss local time each year.

If a submission deadline falls on a weekend, it will be postponed to the following Monday, 17:00 Swiss local time.

The interview dates are tied to the deadlines as indicated below and will be conducted via video call. 

Within two months after the deadline, the candidates will be informed whether they are invited to an interview. The final funding decisions are communicated about four months after the submission deadline. ETH Fellows are expected to start their fellowship at the latest eight months after the submission deadline. If they cannot adhere to this date, an approval for a later start must be requested from the Grants Office.

• Download vertical_align_bottom Guidelines  (PDF, 186 KB)
• Download vertical_align_bottom FAQ  (PDF, 215 KB)
• Download vertical_align_bottom Template project description (part 1, project details)  (DOCX, 29 KB)
• Download vertical_align_bottom Template project description (part 2, accompanying information)  (DOCX, 28 KB)
• Download vertical_align_bottom Ethics self-check  (PDF, 362 KB)

ETH Zurich Grants Office Rämistrasse 101 8092 Zurich

A new bionic leg can be controlled by the brain alone

Those using the prosthetic can walk as fast as those with intact lower limbs.

B EFORE HUGH Herr became a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology ( MIT ), he was a promising rock climber. But after being trapped in a blizzard during a climb at age 17, he lost both his legs below the knee to frostbite. Since then he has worked on creating prosthetic legs that would work and feel like the real thing. He appears to have succeeded.

In an article published on July 1st in Nature Medicine , Dr Herr and his team at MIT describe seven people with below-the-knee amputations who can now walk normally with the help of surgery and new robotic prostheses. For the first time, Dr Herr says, people have been able to walk with bionic legs—mechanical prostheses that mimic their biological counterparts—that can be fully controlled by their brains.

As the most important muscles in an intact leg come in pairs, so that one muscle can stretch while the other contracts (the hamstrings and the quadriceps are one such pair), the goal of Dr Herr’s procedure was to replicate this structure in those who had undergone amputations. The surgery therefore involved stitching together the ends of two sets of leg muscles in the remaining part of the participants’ legs. Each of these new connections forms a so-called agonist-antagonist myoneural interface, or AMI . This in effect replicates the mechanisms necessary for movement as well as the perception of the limb’s position in space. Traditional amputations, in contrast, create no such pairings.

Dr Herr’s team then gave each of the participants a battery-powered prosthesis developed in their lab, along with a small electrical controller. The prosthesis was connected to the AMI by electrodes on the skin, such that the controller could pick up the AMI muscle movements and translate them to movement in the prosthesis.

Once the robotic leg was linked to the AMI , nerve signals travelling from the brain to the muscles and back allowed the participants to have full control of their new legs. Though prosthetics controlled by nerve signals have been designed before, these were typically only controlled by the participants’ brains during certain movements, such as when the foot was off the ground, in the “swing phase” of walking. But in the latest study the participants were in charge at all times. “No previous study was able to show this level of brain control,” says Dr Herr.

Nor was any previous study able to show such spectacular results. People with the AMI -linked robotic leg increased their walking speed by 41% compared with people who used the same prosthetic but had received a below-the-knee amputation without an AMI. That gave them equivalent performance to people with intact legs. They were also able to walk up and down stairs and navigate slopes and obstacles, which meant they could adapt to different terrains between 32% and 43% faster than people who had had standard amputations.

AMI s can bring benefits even without a fancy bionic limb. Many people with amputations feel a phantom limb, a sort of ghostly remnant of their lost leg, which can be uncomfortable—Dr Herr has previously described his own experience as feeling like his feet were stuck in hard ski boots. More than 50 people have received AMI s since 2016, and at least one study reported a reduction in the pain and discomfort associated with phantom limbs. Those benefits may mean it becomes the standard way to perform amputations, says Adam Stokes from the University of Edinburgh, who was not involved with the work.

Stanisa Raspopovic from ETH Zurich, who was also not involved, adds that Dr Herr’s “promising and beautiful” approach could be the end goal for below-the-knee amputations. But it remains to be seen if it could achieve similar results for people with amputations involving knees or upper-body limbs. Nor will everyone be able to get the AMI s they need. Decades after his amputation, Dr Herr only has enough muscle mass to construct an AMI for a robotic ankle, but not a whole robotic foot. Even if he cannot get the full effect, it may still be the most sensible step. ■

Curious about the world? To enjoy our mind-expanding science coverage, sign up to  Simply Science , our weekly subscriber-only newsletter.

More from Science and technology

How the last mammoths went extinct

Small genetic mutations accumulated through inbreeding may have made them vulnerable to disease

The race to prevent satellite Armageddon

Fears of a Russian nuclear weapon in orbit are inspiring new protective tech

At least 10% of research may already be co-authored by AI

That might not be a bad thing

A deadly new strain of mpox is raising alarm

Health officials warn it could soon spread beyond the Democratic Republic of Congo

What The Economist thought about solar power

A look back through our archives: sometimes prescient, sometimes not

A flower’s female sex organs can speed up fertilisation

They can also stop it from happening

Get the Reddit app

Get help with your resume! Checkout the wiki and/or sidebar for resources and info!

undergrad ee student here. can you critique my motivation letter for ETH zurich internship?

i written a motivation letter for Eth zurich summer internship.

i had a turning point during my undergrad, which i think is very important to mention, because this will try to justify my low cumulative GPA.

i started my motivation letter with mentioning that and express more about that and the way that i got interested into the research subject that i'm applying for.

here's the motivation letter:

"To whom it may concern,

I want to start this letter by mentioning a major and transformative turning point that I had in my bachelor journey.

I initially felt disengaged from university; I couldn’t find a good reason to study well and trying hard to get high grades. So I decided to gradually transition into the industry. Then the sudden onset of the COVID-19 pandemic prompted a constructive shift in my perspective. During the lockdown period, I dedicated myself to acquiring skills for the industry.

My first exposure to AI occurred through the ChillinWars 2019 AI challenge at IUST , where I achieved remarkable results and got 3rd place . This experience sparked a deep interest in AI and Machine Learning in me, leading me to independently study these subjects from zero. I even retook some courses, such as Probability and Statistics, to strengthen my foundational knowledge.

Recognizing my passion for research, I set a goal to become a Deep Learning Researcher by the following year . In the summer before my 7th semester , I made a pivotal decision to leave the industry and refocus entirely on my studies. Subsequently, I was able to attain exceptional GPAs of 18.07 and 18.35 out of 20 in the last two semesters .

Building on this momentum, I embraced TA positions , established connections with professors and students globally, and actively engaged in research . One of these collaborations led to the writing and submission of a paper titled “Trainable Parametric Activation Functions for Implicit Neural Representation” for CVPR2024.

This turning point not only defined my commitment to academia but also served as a catalyst for rejuvenating my academic path .

In essence, I found my reason —a driving force propelling me towards continued excellence in the current semester and beyond.

ETH Zurich, being one of the world's top research institutes, stands out as an ideal institution for my aspirations. Outstanding faculty members along with state-of-the-art labs like CV Lab and AIT Lab , makes ETH Zurich a compelling choice.

I have been also inspired by the experiences of my friends who applied to this program; all of whom gained an inexpressible amount of knowledge during their time at ETH and regard their time there as a remarkable period in their professional paths.

Upon acceptance, my primary goal will be to engage in impactful research with my supervisor and gain valuable insights to address deep learning problems. Moreover, connecting with aspiring students like myself and brilliant professors there will enrich my academic journey.

I am very excited about the prospect of joining ETH Zurich and contributing to its vibrant academic community.

Thank you for your time. I hope to be one of the top candidates!

Sincerely yours,

<my name>

" Any thoughts, advice, recommendations would be appreciated =)