Writing research statements

How to write a research statement

By Professor Tang

I was the Director of PhD Admissions and Recruitment for several years. I’ve also reviewed NSF GRFP applications and helped our many students write application essays. Altogether, I’ve seen a lot of personal statements. Most of them are pretty bad! Sometimes they are completely high-level, with no supporting details. Sometimes, they tell detailed anecdotes without any context. Very often, they simply list facts that are already stated on the resume. None of those approaches are good! Here is my suggested template for potential applicants to PhD, REU, or other research programs.

  • Introduction
    • 1-3 sentences on high-level motivation for pursuing research (PhD or REU)
      • In technical fields, students are often motivated by energy, environment, or healthcare
      • If there is a story behind what inspires you, keep it to 2-3 sentences
    • 1-2 sentences emphasizing interest in research specifically
      • Be clear on the distinction between research (solving problems without a known answer) and application (energy/environment/health). Many students mix these up.
      • If you are applying for a REU and don’t have first-hand experience with research, explain what you do know about research and why it appeals to you
    • Transition: “My experiences at XYZ have shown that I will be successful at this goal” or something like that.
  • Each work/research experience / project: one paragraph
    • 1 sentence of facts: company/university/class project, when, how long
    • 1 sentence on the project and why it was worth doing
    • 1-3 sentence on YOUR SPECIFIC ROLE and WHAT YOU ACTUALLY DID. Examples:
      • “I was responsible for optimizing the reaction conditions. I compared the conversion and selectivity with different temperatures and pressures by taking samples every 10 minutes for two hours, then measuring the concentration of products with HPLC.”
      • “I was responsible for writing a Python script that scraped images from a database, scaled images to fixed pixel dimensions, and saved them in a format compatible with existing code.”
      • “Our project was to design a chemistry-powered boat. I learned about electrochemistry and proposed a battery chemistry that we could build in lab.”
    • 2-4 sentences telling a story in which you faced a SPECIFIC CHALLENGE and HOW YOU SOLVED IT
      • Highlight independence, creativity, and/or effort.
      • Technical challenges preferred, but interpersonal challenges also good.
      • If you made a mistake and learned from it, that’s a good story to share.
      • If  time + space permit, tell more stories.
      • Remember, this is where you explain details that your resume cannot.
  • Extracurriculars (optional): same format above but shorter
    • Highlight leadership experiences: peer tutoring, RA in dorm, outreach/service activities (AIChE, EWB, SWE), sports, any activity where you run events or manage budget
    • If you attend events but don’t run/organize them, state explicitly why this experience is relevant.
    • Emphasize your accomplishments, role and responsibilities, and include numbers (members, attendees, budget, hours/week, etc).
  • Optionally suggested for international applicants applying to US universities: 2-3 sentences describing your ability to adapt to a different cultural environment. Make sure to give an example, rather than simply stating your ability.

Other advice and common pitfalls

  • If a position wasn’t research, don’t pretend it was and definitely don’t apologize. Still tell a story about solving a problem. Additionally, explain why this non-research position motivated you to pursue research.
  • If your GPA is lower than 3.5 (US system), write about it. If you had a hard time adjusting to college, or had a bad year for a personal matter, say so. Be brief and professional. No need to spill a lot of details to make you and your audience uncomfortable, “family issues”, “health condition”, “death/illness of someone close” should do the job. Point to recent successes to demonstrate that low grades were a temporary setback.
  • Don’t waste your words talking about how cool your advisor’s project was. The audience wants to know if you’ll be a valuable employee, not if the project was any good.
  • Do not list your skills/tools/software etc without putting them in context of how you used them. The reader cannot tell from this list if you are an expert who knows how to troubleshoot, or if you have observed someone else run a sample for you, or something in between.
  • Show don’t tell – avoid “passionate”, “thrilling”, and other fluffy language.
  • Generally, don’t write about being a little kid. People want to hire competent adults, not excited children. There are exceptions to this rule, but it is unlikely that applicants with the writing chops to describe childhood need my guidance on a personal statement.

How to write a ‘diversity statement’

  • Pick one of two suggested formats:
    • If you are a first-generation college student or a member of an under-represented group:
      • Discuss specific barriers you had to overcome, and how you might imagine future systems could be made more accessible. Avoid falling into the “little kid” trope, which can make you sound immature.
      • Be polite and professional. If there was an incident in which an individual behaved badly, this is not the place to name names. “A classmate”, “a teacher” is appropriate when you don’t know who is reading your essay.
    • If you are not a member of an under-represented group, pick one or more of the following:
      • Tell a story about a specific situation in which you had to work with a diverse group, and how you dealt with the situation to be successful. Avoid falling into the “they taught me so much” trope, which can read as very condescending.
      • Tell a story about when you made a system or process more fair/even/transparent/accessible.
      • Give ideas about how you would go about making a system or process that you have experienced more fair/even/transparent/accessible.
      • Do not play up a struggle story (e.g. “my high school didn’t have as many AP classes as other high schools” or “I was unpopular in middle school”). While this kind of experience is also indeed a barrier, it is generally very difficult to tell in a way that elicits the desired response.