Draft 2: Application letter for the role of Research Assistant

Job Advertisement

Research assistant for ‘Synthesis and Integration’ team

-          Passion in research

-          Major in Science or Engineering

-          Familiar with laboratory work and willing to put in maximum effort

-          Able to work in a team and think critically

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Dear Sir/Madam,

I sincerely hope that you will consider me for the position of a research assistant as part of the ‘Synthesis and Integration’ team.

I was extremely excited when your research staff, Wei Ren, approached me to apply for this position. I recently met him when he was conducting an NUS laboratory experiment for bioengineering undergraduates like me. I was very impressed when he shared with me his novel biomaterials project which involved the breaking of a disulfide bond to release a particular brand of drug from a nanoparticle to a cancer site. I would absolutely love the opportunity to be part of this research.

The field of biomaterials is one that I am keen in, and I have almost 6 months worth of experience interning at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) over 2 separate attachments during semester break. (When students were enjoying their trips during school holidays, I was enjoying my research stint!)  In addition, I am still doing research, on a part-time basis at IBN to complete my project which has the possibility of obtaining a research paper!

At the same time, my experiences holding leadership roles as the Acting Company Sergeant Major during National Service and the Project Director of Apex(a year-long voluntary mentoring programme for P6 students), I  gained valuable understanding of the role of a team player in an organization. It has made me appreciate hard work and determination and I apply this principle to my work. This has earned me recognition back in IBN, where I was nominated to receive the prestigious Young Promising Researcher Award (only 7 out of hundreds of interns are nominated!) last year. I pride myself with the ability to think critically and 'out-of-the-box' when faced with many research challenges. I would also consult the expertise of various research experts in a company to seek the best solution.

I think that my skills and experience are most suitable for the job of a research assistant, and I do look forward to do a year-long FYP project under IMRE.

You may call me at 96622007 or email me at a0073031@nus.edu.sg should you have further enquiries. Thank you for your consideration.

Yours Sincerely,

Muhd Abdurrahiem

Resolving Interpersonal Conflicts

As individuals, interpersonal conflicts is an issue that have been affecting us and would continue to affect us till the rest of our lives. Try recalling our younger days. We would argue with our siblings over new toys, disagree with our friends over the best football team and would challenge the teachers to salvage some marks for our exams. If the situation did not turn out favorably, we would then complain to our mother and sulk for the next few days. Interpersonal conflicts are very common in our everyday life. However, as time passes and as we grow older, we are less affected by interpersonal conflicts. This is because, over time and through experience, we have subconsciously gained the ability to resolve interpersonal conflicts amicably.

However, I recently had an interpersonal conflict with a fellow member of a mentoring program. This issue pertained to differing religious practices. As the head of this mentoring program, my committee and I decided to hold congregational prayers for our mentees for their upcoming examinations. This was not an obligatory prayer(like the 5 obligatory prayers that Muslims perform daily), but it was simply encouraged to perform it to ask God to bless our mentees and pray for their success in their PSLE. It was not compulsory for mentors to join but the school wanted the mentees to perform these prayers as it is thought to be part of the mentoring program that we were conducting.

Mentor X did not want to perform these prayers and did not want others to perform these prayers as she did not believe in this practice. Instead of giving feedback when the idea was initially brought up during a particular debrief session, she kept quiet. When she eventually found out that we were conducting these prayers, she still did not offer her views. If she had talked to me, I would have accommodated her views and tried to resolve it amicably. Instead, she influenced her mentees not to perform these prayers. This situation put me in a difficult position as the prayers were compulsory for the mentees.

I understand Mentor X's position. She probably felt uncomfortable voicing out her opinion, since she was the only one who had an issue with it. At the same time, she felt guilty as she viewed it as a responsibility to educate her peers. As such, she went for the next best approach; which was to educate her mentees. However, I felt that she was being rigid in this situation as this matter had been debated by various Islamic scholars in the past, and there was no simple conclusion to it. As the head of the mentoring program, what should I do?