The following statement of research interests is written by an applicant who got accepted to several top doctoral programs in the US. Variations of this statement of research interests got accepted at Scripps College in Claremont California. Read it to understand what a top statement of research interests should look like.

Example Statement of Research Interests

Research captivated me from my first experience in the domain during my undergraduate thesis project. My newfound fascination with this field blossomed under the aegis of my Biochemistry professor, himself a research enthusiast and a most inspirational teacher, who combined knowledge with research-based learning in a truly intriguing way that traditional teaching strategies could not equal. Therefore, despite growing up in a culture where doctors and engineers are the only scientific community members accorded social importance or respect, I embraced research as my true vocation.

Why do I want to be a researcher? I do not need a philosophical approach to deal with this question. I want to do it only due to two built-in attributes of my personality: Consistency and Commitment. Consistency and hard work outstrip ingenuity, and excellence is acquired through rigorous exercise and unwavering passion rather than God-gifted aptitude. Therefore, research demands consistency more than anything. It is here that we learn why things sometimes do not operate as we want. We reassemble our energies and our patience, return to our work, and slowly proceed toward perfection.

Becoming a dedicated researcher was challenging, especially in Brazil, where only a few institutes are committed to producing meaningful research work. Nonetheless, I have persevered, working from my undergraduate years onward with complete devotion and enthusiasm, making my projects my priority, always striving for perfection, and never allowing limited resources or the scope of the projects assigned to discourage me. Indeed, the hurdles I have faced only deepened my passion for research.

Graduate school is the next logical step in a career dedicated to scientific research. I already hold a Master/BS (Hons.) degree in Zoology from Brazil, where I stood 1st, received the highest CGPAs and gold medal for my excellent work. Indeed, I graduated top of my classes. After my Ph.D., I see myself working either simultaneously in a research institute and a university as a visiting faculty or as a research scientist cum teacher of Virology and Biochemistry so that I may pass on to future generations of scientists the passion for research with which my teachers inspired me. As a Lecturer in (Zoology, Biology, and Physics) I already have two years of teaching experience (I was selected after a rigorous written test and panel interview under the Government Higher Education Department). During this time, my faith in the benefits of mixing teaching and research work has strengthened.

However, I prefer to pursue my doctoral studies in a non-traditional academic environment, where greater emphasis is placed on active research than on acquiring theoretical information. For me, research in Biosciences is about responsibility, individuality, innovation, and the discovery of new branches of knowledge. My experience of non-traditional research environments, acquired during the research projects I have already undertaken, leads me to believe that, after several years of education at three different traditional universities, it will be a privilege to work in this uniquely research-oriented set-up.

If Scripps is my first choice, there is a solid reason behind it. Academically, I was interested in various disciplines, sometimes very distinct from one another, as I am for research. My proposed research projects range over various fields: Microbiology, Molecular biology, Enzyme Biochemistry, Genetics, and Immunology. The themes which I aim to pursue are as diverse as the hereditary transmission of diabetes and arthritis and the resultant Pleiotropy in human beings:

• How bacterial enzymes remain stable in hydrothermal springs.
• How does a lack of DNA repair machinery benefit the viruses and not humans?
• How tandem repeat-ends of chromosomes can help delay aging.
• How immunity can be enhanced.
• How most prevailing but least focused schizophrenia and stressors can be worked out.

Flexibility which I demand in research can only be supported here at Scripps; otherwise, I must compromise with the conventional set-up of a university. If I say this is the most propelling factor to choose Scripps, it is not wrong. Thus, I am a perfect fit for Scripps’ Graduate Program, with its flexibility and emphasis on genuine work.

Primarily after observing the strategies viruses employ during the “encephalitic” and “paralytic” phases of rabies, I began to look at viruses from a different perspective: they have enormous potential, and I believe that if something has potential, there is always a way to turn it to account. We must search for a meaningful channel into which it can be diverted. Now, we are standing at a very primitive stage, and we must proceed with immense care and delicacy. My idea is to focus our research on Oncolytic viruses that would be helpful for people living with cancer.

Moreover, the projects currently in progress, specifically in the labs of Dr. Francis Chisari, Dr. Karsten Sauer, and Dr. Roy Smith, are exciting. Additionally, Loss of control that leads to cancer and aging, the failure of immune cells to cope with cancerous cells, the optimization of vaccines, the characterization of proteins involved in the pathogenesis of viral diseases, and the molecular genetics of metabolic and inherited diseases are undoubtedly avenues of research to which I do most eagerly hope to contribute. To make myself the best fit for the program, I have tried my best to cover up deficiencies in statistics and mathematics, and I am still working on it. The only thing that motivated me to apply for the program was my true research spirit.