Is it time to get down? All about emigration. How and where to go to study abroad for free - I study offers

Recently I decided to get a second education, but just not in Russia. Knowing about the quality education that my peers in Europe and America receive, I also wanted to follow their example. According to statistics, 10% of Russian students annually go to study and conquer the USA, Canada, Czech Republic, England, China and other countries. The issue of free education abroad is still relevant today.

In which countries can a Russian student study for free?

First of all, I decided to decide in which country it would be easier for me to live, where education would be cheaper for me.

Please note that you can study for free only in public universities... They provide free education to foreigners.

In other organizations, tuition is paid.

Many people call the training "free" in quotation marks. The reason is that you should provide for themselves , you will have to spend not only on food, but also on a library, a gym and other services educational institution... Everything is paid annual contribution ... In addition, if you yourself are not applying to the university under the funding program, then you will need transfer money to your bank account, which would be enough for accommodation and meals throughout the entire period of study .

Since I work and can provide for myself, I did not pay attention to the "free" education. Studying in Russia, we also spend on accommodation and meals. Moreover, considerable sums are spent on renting housing, and if I will live in a student dormitory then my costs will be much reduced.

So, I will list foreign countries where you can get free education and with what entrance requirements:

Note that educational institutions of the Czech Republic, Greece, Spain, China and other countries provide the opportunity to receive free education for Russian students.

But education at universities is not conducted in English, but only in the native language of this country, for example, Czech, Chinese, etc.

Despite this, they are admitted to universities without exams, after school and after completing the first year of a Russian institute.

Basic requirements for incoming foreigners

Each university and country has its own requirements, however, they are almost the same.

Foreign applicants can enter universities, taking into account the following requirements:

Documents required for study abroad

A standard package of documents includes:

Each document submitted to the commission plays an important role.

If you do not submit any document, you may be refused admission.

5 ways to study abroad for free

There are several methods for obtaining free education abroad. All forms directly associated with gratuitous aid ... It can be provided to students by an educational institution, the state, a private entrepreneur, a representative of a public fund.

I will list 5 ways of such training:

Grants or so-called social assistance to students , which is intended for educational expenses, the implementation of a professional project, training in summer schools, taking courses, etc. The grant is issued in a lump sum in the form of an incentive. You can receive it again.
Scholarship ... When receiving a scholarship, which can cover the cost of all or part of the training, a motivation letter plays a huge role. The scholarship can be awarded for achievements in the volunteer, sports, creative, academic fields, or other talents. The scholarship can be issued by the university itself, or by the Russian state.
Research scholarship ... This way of getting an education is intended for those who have graduated from the "HSE" and are planning to enroll in a master's program for further research activities. This scholarship can be issued by the state, representatives of private or public funds.
Assistant ... Designed for those who wish to enroll in doctoral studies. In addition to training, you will work as an assistant professor. His responsibilities include reading introductory courses in your specialty, participating in research projects that your department implements. Such financial support can be provided by both the state and the institution itself.
Global Education Program ... A program was developed so that a student studying at the expense of the budget of the Russian Federation abroad, after graduating from the university under the master's, postgraduate, doctoral programs, returned to Russia and worked at the enterprise for 3 years. This is a great opportunity to get a free education and have a job after graduation.

So, as you understood, get free education abroad is possible ... The main thing is to have a desire. When choosing an educational institution, I rely on entrance exams and requirements.

If you are also going to study abroad, then my advice: think over everything to the smallest detail, how you will finance your studies, how much money will be needed for accommodation, meals and other expenses, what exact documents should be sent to the university upon admission.

Translation

Now education abroad is more widespread than ever. Many specialists wishing to build a successful career in their field receive a bachelor's degree at a domestic university, and go abroad to enroll in a master's or postgraduate studies.

We offer a translation of an article by Alan Henry, in which he writes about 7 things he would like to know before entering graduate / graduate school.

We hope that Alan's advice will give you useful thoughts and help you draw the right conclusions. Go!

If you choose to pursue a graduate or postgraduate degree after graduating from college and earning a bachelor's degree, your life is changing in many ways. In absolutely all areas, even where it would seem not required, you need to behave in such a way as to be somewhat different from your competitors. Sounds familiar? Then we suggest that you familiarize yourself with some tips, which we come to understand after receiving the degree.

Higher education (hereinafter we will understand Master's / Postgraduate studies) often has a reputation as the most difficult period in a student's life. Many people decide to continue their education after long attempts to achieve career success - often large companies require a master's degree or work experience from employees. As a rule, those who want to pursue a career in the academic field enter postgraduate studies - the obtained scientific degree allows them to adequately realize themselves in the scientific field.

Here are some tips that we recognize during and after learning in high school and which we hope will help you!

Get ready for huge competition you've never faced before

What surprised me the most in high school was how fierce the competition was among my classmates and classmates. All of this was much different from the situation in college, where most were not particularly keen on individual work. In high school, on the contrary, my classmates tried to do everything to surpass the rest - both in educational and social activities.

It is not hard to see why this is so. Reputation is very important to a graduate's future career, and it takes a long time to get you in the spotlight. We can say that studying for a bachelor's degree includes obtaining a diploma and a degree. If you decide to continue your education, then you need to prove to the future employer that you can and want to be successful. A high school student should get really important and useful knowledge and master the skills of communication with people that may be useful for you in the future. Be proactive and try to stand out in a positive light so that everyone you want to work with in the future will want the same.

Of course, healthy, friendly competition is great, but when the time comes to collaborate or work together as a team, competition will be completely irrelevant. My classmates competed not only with other groups, trying to surpass them, there were serious disagreements between members of the same team when it came to choosing a group leader. Everyone wanted to be the person who would represent the work done by the whole team. When it came to routine work, for example, generalizing the data obtained as a result of research, interest, as a rule, disappeared.
To become a leader, act carefully and carefully, hone your communication skills.

Intelligence is not as important as you think

While you are in college, intelligence is highly valued. In high school and, in truth, after graduation, intelligence certainly plays a certain role, but not the key one. This is not to say that you don't have to be smart - just remember that the knowledge you acquired to achieve a certain degree is no longer enough. You may not be the smartest and most erudite, or you may be - in any case, you should be hardworking, confident and have communication skills. You will definitely meet people who are mentally inferior to you, but possess the above skills at a higher level. And you know what? They will be able to achieve more than you, and this is a shame.

When you are young, you spend a lot of time to grow wiser. In fact, a smart person who knows how to communicate with other people will be able to graduate from college and high school without much work (although physics will have to be done).
Congratulations, you're lucky. Although, at the same time, you are not at all lucky. Because while you were able to graduate from school without making any effort, others spent energy, tried, gaining useful skills that will probably be useful to them in the future: diligence, perseverance, networking.

In our society, intelligence is usually overestimated. When I tell people that I have worked in neuroscience, often the first thing I hear is, "Wow, you must be very smart." Of course, I'm not a complete fool, but I know many people who are much stupider than me, but have made great strides in neuroscience.

Of course, high intelligence will open many doors for you. But you can't get a job just with it. Diligence, punctuality, the ability to make valuable connections - these are the qualities that are needed not only for a software engineer, but also for representatives of all professions, without exception, located outside the bubble called "high school".

The conclusion, of course, is to develop these qualities in oneself as early as possible - ideally, of course, even before entering higher education, but it is never too late to start. Oftentimes, self-confidence, perseverance, hard work, and perseverance will help you achieve greater success than any other set of traits. At the very least, they will give you the opportunity to connect with people who can really be impressed by your intelligence - that's the secret.

Do whatever it takes to make good connections: that's what you're here for

You've probably heard this advice before: attend as many side events as possible: attend seminars and lectures by invited experts, attend optional classes, take part in group trips, join student communities, offer help to professors who need assistants. If you do all this, then you will achieve the main thing: meeting new people with whom you can subsequently establish valuable connections.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, you will make friends. Closer than the people you hooked up with in college. Now you are not only a much more mature person, but also a more goal-oriented person interested in a future successful career with longer-term goals. You already know enough about life not to waste time with people who drag you down and devastate you emotionally (or financially). Learn from your college mistakes and avoid them in the future - get close to the people who are truly important to you at every stage of your life.

Especially in the case of the humanities, high school is more an opportunity to meet new people than to raise the level of knowledge. Therefore, make sure that you have time to meet, communicate with different people, to establish contacts with as many people as possible. You can refer to them during your postgraduate projects and they will do the same.

Do your best: This also applies to undergraduates, but it seems to me that extracurricular activities in high school play a much more significant role than during college.

Thorin focuses on the humanities, but I can say the same for science and business education. If you plan to continue your education in high school, go to work in a laboratory and fight for authorship, or are going to go to business school to study management technology, be prepared to be constantly on the job. Try to find an approach to the people around you, cooperate with them, help them and do not hesitate to ask for help in return. Take every opportunity to meet and connect with as many people as possible.

Leave your comfort zone behind

Don't do that!

Such opportunities do not appear every day, and the later they appear, the more difficulties they cause. Try to embrace as much as possible and learn to manage your time wisely. In your future career, you may not achieve what you want (or just be left out) if you do not work in the laboratory or attend a particular conference. If you want to achieve the maximum and therefore decided to continue your education, you need to destroy your inner boundaries and start developing.

Learn from guest speakers and professors. Build contacts with them. Many teachers are happy to communicate with future masters or graduate students and stay in touch even after graduation. If you have the opportunity to travel and watch real experts in your field, don't miss this chance simply because "I'm not in the mood to go out this week." You will later regret it.

Use the “poor student” stereotype to your advantage, even if you are not.

You are probably familiar with the stereotype of the poor high school student. This is often true. However, even if you have enough to feed yourself, and you do not have to eat instant noodles and frozen vegetables, sometimes it is better not to refute this stereotype. We are not saying that you need to stop enjoying a decent standard of living and delicious food if you can afford it, but the image of a neat and humble student who is content with little will serve you well later when the loan and credit bills start coming in. ...

Even if you're lucky enough to be able to avoid loan payments, you will be much happier if you manage your funds wisely while in high school instead of racking up a huge amount of student loan and card debt simply because you led the image. life that they could not afford. For example, I worked full-time at my alma mater for several years while earning a degree, so I did not have to pay tuition fees (if you have the same opportunity, take advantage of it). However, over the years that I did not work, I managed to accumulate a certain amount of student loan debt. Many people believe that they will get a high-paying job as soon as they finish their degree and that their debts or loans will be a thing of the past. This may not always happen (more on that later), so you shouldn't place empty hopes. Distributing your money wisely will make your graduation much happier.

Store tutorials and find your realm

Graduate school is an opportunity to find a field or a specific area in which you will specialize. Unlike the bachelor's degree, in which you are given the most advanced education, in the master's and postgraduate studies you delve into some specific area and study it at a much higher level. Don't just go with the flow - take the time and choose what really interests you. Ideally, this area should be related to your future career.

Once you find your industry, establish contacts with as many people associated with it as possible. If you specialize in a specific topic, you will surely find out about where the best research on the topic is done and with whom at the university you can talk about your specialization. Talk to experts in your field - offer to work in their laboratories or help with research. Ask if you can be useful in some projects - in general, express your interest. If they teach in your course, find out if you can become their assistant or help teach, for example, bachelors (if possible).

Store your textbooks. I know that many of us, after graduation, want to get rid of books first of all. I agree with this desire only if we are talking about a bachelor's degree. Textbooks left over from master's or postgraduate studies should be kept - they are usually highly specialized and often contain important information(and sometimes the only one) on a specific topic. You may never need a mathematics textbook from your first year, but you will definitely find use for books on business that are on the same shelf as research on multinational corporations and international law.

Don't make empty expectations

After you have finally received your master's or Ph.D. degree, you should not expect that money, high position in society, etc. will fall on you at the same moment. Just the fact that you have a brand new MBA graduate diploma is not at all means that immediately after graduation, you will be hired for a high-paying job. In the case of natural sciences, just getting a degree simply means that you will have to compete with all candidates who graduate in the same year for a place in the laboratory. It will take a lot of work to get a vacant position.

Once you have established useful contacts, the importance of which we mentioned earlier, the process is greatly simplified. Your business school colleagues may be familiar with the leaders of some companies, or they may decide to start their own business. The professors you have worked with can put you in their lab or write guidelines to help you get into a job at a large institution. However, you shouldn't expect to get it all without making an effort - you have to work hard to get it. Good work.

Thorin advises:

Don't expect to be overwhelmed by what you want to achieve during your graduate or graduate studies. Most liberal arts programs aim to teach learning and thinking in the right direction. If you decide to continue your education to pursue a big project on your own, or just for the sake of a sense of self-satisfaction, you will be disappointed. Instead, you will end up with more questions about the world around you, BUT you will at least be able to better understand and explain your path in it. It seems to me that in the case of master's and graduate studies, it is much more important to choose a school, an atmosphere and a suitable program than in the case of a bachelor's degree. Your overall view of the world and how and what you think about it will often depend on the program you prefer, so choose the one that seems important and interesting to you.

Higher education includes not only education, but also work and the establishment of professional contacts. If you are going to graduate or graduate school next year, I hope you find these tips useful.

Higher education can be grueling, stressful and really difficult, or even easier than getting a bachelor's degree - it all depends on what goals you set for yourself, what you strive for, and what you want to achieve.

Good luck!

P.S. If the topic of studying abroad is interesting to you, we can recommend articles about

Many are thinking about studying abroad. First-hand postgraduate studies in Europe, a story from our friend, Zhenya. A touching story about how to go to your goals, about the difficulties and pitfalls on the way and the light of teaching. If you are determined to continue your studies anywhere in Europe, then this article will definitely come in handy for you. The whole practical part you can find by. Questions about the difficulties of entering a European university and everything that interests - about the weather and living in one of European capitals, you can ask Zhenya in the comments.

How to enter a university in Europe

Recommendations and progress
Aggregators and vacancies on university websites
List of required documents
About the resume
Bologna Appendix
Search
Interview

And if you have read this far, then you are also interested in the lyrical part, it is highlighted in italics.

Start

In a distant, rather distant year, I met an intelligent girl, which to some extent determined my future destiny. In addition to her intelligence, she had a wonderful soul, appearance and good character, not without drawbacks, but show me the perfect person ... And I would not write this article now, but probably would write a post on the forum about mortgages or a forum for young parents, if in a slightly less distant, but still far from last year, she did not have the chance opportunity to go to graduate school abroad.

Immediately after the triumphant Spanish World Cup, which we watched together, drinking Abkhaz wine, she went to gnaw on the Scandinavian granites of science. I stayed in the city of Peter to look after the apartment, feed the cat, work at night and look for ways to get to it on the same nights. Like any arrogant youth, I thought it would be easy and soon we would be reunited and discussing multimode wave propagation or something less technical and more sublime on boring northern evenings. Well, or we will not discuss it, well, you understand. I decided to look for a position at the university because I had an example in front of my eyes and because at work I began to get bored due to the lack of a flow of complex information, to which I was accustomed over the years of study.

It didn't work out on a swoop to subdue foreign professors. What discouraged me was the fact that my CV emails weren't even answered. Silence. Doubts began to creep in that the search might not be as easy as my girlfriend had. After six months of absolute silence, I realized that I needed to fix something on my resume. A smart guy. Certainly not in the document, but in my knowledge, skills and so on.

English language. TOEFL or IELTS certificate

So. First: English. It will be very helpful to have a certificate. TOEFL or IELTS. If it is not there, then this somewhat lowers the chances, but it is not a tragedy. Most professors will rate the candidate's English for interviews. Usually via skype or phone. You yourself understand that in 5-30 minutes of conversation, you can get a rough idea of the level. In non-English speaking countries, mistakes are pretty self-explanatory. That is, no one requires candidates to possess Shakespeare's vocabulary and Churchill's eloquence. Sometimes an intermediate degree in a good school is enough. But the line on the resume with the certificate will be very useful in the first dropout. And, unfortunately, in many places this criterion is very popular. Conclusion: a certificate is not required, but its presence will greatly simplify some points, alleviate difficulties and open access to some positions. I don't have it, by the way.

I went to the courses, began to rush between the house, the cat, the courses and work. It was not very easy after a sleepless night to perceive the damn language, which I do not like with all my heart, to put it mildly. But the goal was defined and obvious. I was in love, I found hundreds and hundreds of reasons to give up everything in Russia and go wherever they look. Gradually, the number of reasons grew to a huge coma, in the very center of which, like a huge pearl, was my feeling. I came up with a plot for a small video, filmed the material, but could not cope with the editing. I wrote a couple of songs, but did not show anyone how modest a person (even if he has an extraordinary talent =)). The English level started to move in the right direction.

Colleagues at work, mostly women wise by experience, said that it does not happen that way, that we will part, thereby knocking my morale for some moments. But I knew one thing for sure: they are wrong. My feelings grew stronger every day, every second. I tried to direct all this in the right direction, into energy for searches. But, unfortunately, sometimes I just went into the process of boredom and every night skype.

Translation of a diploma of a Russian university (Diploma)

But at some point in the language learning process, I noticed that my letters, written much better, were still receiving very few responses. It is worth saying that my diploma is quite far from being red. There are excellent spots with excellent grades, but only the last couple of courses and the first couple of courses can boast of stability. In the middle there was a wild failure, which simply destroyed all my hopes for a really good, even if not honored, diploma. In general, the average score is slightly higher than 4.2-4.3, probably. Somewhere within these limits. Knowing that Europeans are rather picky about grades, I began to somehow structure the areas of knowledge where my grades are better and focus my searches on them. The second document after the certificate of language proficiency is a diploma that your future leader can understand. I note that it will be useful for all those who are suffering to have in their set of documents the Bologna Diploma Supplement or, at least, a certified translation of an ordinary Russian one. But the Bologna option wins by a wide margin, since there is an explanation of the scale of our assessments, the training system, translation into a system understandable to Europeans, and there are a couple of irreplaceable lines: “can continue studying in graduate school,” for example. Well, and subjects are usually translated with high quality, and not by a translator, who in specialized terms may not be strong.

Participation in scientific projects. Work

The second step I mapped out as a way to correct a bad diploma is work. Participation in projects that can be considered close to science or to the practical part of the field in which one would like to be a graduate student. I will describe my actions: I signed up for a group that created e-courses for the corporate training system for free. I did 3 courses. One can be called a tutorial, I completely created it myself, from idea to every comma. He translated tons of foreign sources, compiled, tried to make it more accessible. The other two were done according to the materials provided. In my resume and communication, I presented this as an experience not only of collecting and analyzing information, but also a kind of experience of teaching other people. Small but a plus obtained by great work... By the way, the attitude towards me at work after such feats also changed for the better. I also ran through the websites of all local universities that are engaged in something similar and found a laboratory, wrote to its head and got a job there on a voluntary basis. I spent several hours a week - this was enough to achieve some results. These lines on the resume brought me the first answers.

Professorial amendments in work.

As a result of one correspondence, I had a debut interview, which I failed miserably. Mainly because of the English, which I completely forgot with excitement. The project was interesting, but even not getting involved in it gave me an understanding of what still needs to be improved. As a result, after several months of cooperation with the University of St. Petersburg, I even received a publication. I will not show it to anyone - this is the worst thing that I have ever done, but an article, if it is not an article of the Criminal Code in a personal file, is a significant plus. Unfortunately, it is in Russian, but at the request of one of the professors, I later translated it in abstract, just to convey the main meaning. Try to publish in English. The publication worked well, and already 10-20% of sent emails started to receive responses, which is incredible high percentage, as I understand.

Everything went on as usual. I walked systematically, slowly but persistently. We met with Her in Barça, Paris or Amsterdam, no matter where, but we saw each other. And these were good moments, with slight quarrels, but without it in any way. Then I fell in love with Barça. And she, I hope, into me. But that's not the point.

The first year of separation has come to an end. Even my colleagues admitted that they were mistaken, that we are the last people of some long-lost era. When people could love each other for years, love the soul, not the body. Just as in the nineteenth century a young prince from Petersburg and a Danish princess kept their love for years by letters, so we kept them, with a little more modern means, but at the same distances.

Cover letter

Further foreplay on e-mail did not come often enough. I'm talking about universities. An important point when submitting documents is also a motivation letter. Examples can be found on the Internet, but I adapted the letter to each place, having previously studied what the group is doing, where it publishes its results and what these results are. Of course, I did not always rewrite the letters, for positions in which I was not particularly interested, I sent a semi-standard letter explaining why I want to be a graduate student, but not why I would like to be a graduate student in this particular group. At one point of half-despair, half-stealth, I changed the cover letter in a very provocative manner. I deviated from the canons, inserted into the epigraph a quote from the Nobel laureate “Physics is like sex. We do it not for the result, but for the pleasure. " I must say right away that the translation is approximate. And then the answers came. So, gentlemen, non-standard is welcome. If something doesn't work, change it! If it works, but you want to change it, change it too)

The moment I was conceiving an electronic textbook to increase my chances of leaving, I got a kick. Or a blow that crumbled to dust the pearl in the center of the coma of reasons to leave. The main and first line in the list is missing ...

Admission to postgraduate studies in Europe is the most optimal continuation of studies for a talented young university graduate. A PhD is an excellent foundation for a successful career. And during your postgraduate studies, you can choose a field of knowledge, acquire a qualification, learn a foreign language and gain experience of life, study and work in an international environment.

Where to begin

The first thing to find out is what kind of specialists are in demand now, what knowledge is needed. You can start, no matter how trite, with job search sites. It would be useful to study the websites of specialized faculties of universities. What kind of research is being done? What's relevant now? What topics and directions are the most popular? Keep in mind that what you studied at your home university may not be relevant in a European one.

Postgraduate study at a foreign university implies research, work on research project... Therefore, it is extremely important to determine the topic and area of future research studies. Once the topic is defined, you need to find out who and in what universities and scientific centers in the world doing this. How to find out? There are two ways. The first is to go to the websites of all universities and search (for example, in Germany, university websites look like this: www.uni - *. De, where * is the name of the city. The website of the Max Planck Society may be useful - there is a list of all institutions with topics). The second is to find the latest scientific articles related to the chosen topic. Articles always indicate in which organization the authors work.

Of course, aggregators will also help (for example, scholarship-positions or an aggregator of European programs), but it's still better to find positions on university websites.

List of documents

language certificate (usually in English, but others may be needed depending on the country);
diploma and its supplement translated into English;
letters of recommendation (preferably from professors or scientific advisers from the university, but you can also from work);
motivation letter;
publications (preferably);
information about academic achievements (all won grants, scholarships, awards and certificates);
summary.

The more documents on education, work experience, projects and research you attach, the more detailed you indicate your motivation to enroll in this particular university, the more chances you will have.

Summary

Feel free to demonstrate your interest in your studies, highlight your successes and mention victories in competitions and olympiads, even if it was a thousand years ago. It's better than nothing. But everything must be true, confirmed by documents and your knowledge. Lying is totally unacceptable. Make a resume in LaTex system. This will show that you have a pretty good tool that will definitely come in handy when writing articles when you enroll. Plus, these documents look better and more professional.

Diploma Supplement

Foreign universities that switched to the system higher education according to the Bologna Agreement, they use a system of credits, that is, credits, while Russian universities have not yet introduced them. Therefore, when preparing documents for admission to a European university, you should not translate the grades and names of subjects. Foreign scientists understand the credit system more clearly, so try to translate grades into it (GPA). You can get an example of a Bologna application (better broken down into semesters) for an example.

Interview with a representative of the university

Interviews are optional for all universities. Sometimes a personal interview can be replaced by a telephone or skype interview. During a telephone interview, as a rule, several people are present - your potential scientific advisors, the person responsible for teaching foreigners in graduate school, and other interested persons.

If it was decided to see you in person, you will be sent an invitation for a visa. Quite often the interview trip is sponsored by the host. In this case, keep all receipts, travel documents - you will need to present them.

Prepare carefully for your interview. You will most likely have to give a presentation on your scientific work (for example, on the topic of a university degree or recent publications). When preparing your presentation, keep in mind that a strict black and white presentation with a large number of formulas, tables, intricate diagrams will not attract the attention of people who first come across your work. Be prepared to briefly tell about yourself, your studies, and what you like to do in your free time from work.

After the lecture, questions will be asked, for example, about skills and abilities ( foreign languages, computer skills, and so on). Consider in advance if you want to tackle one specific topic. It would be nice if you name 2-3 scientific groups with which you would like and could work.

And remember, not only you are chosen, but you must also carefully look at your potential leader, understand the system of his work with graduate students, assess whether you can get the desired results from working with such a person.

useful links

Portal dedicated to graduate students

Vacancies at the university for graduate students

Vacancies at universities

Admission to postgraduate study abroad. Part 1

Many friends, acquaintances, acquaintances of acquaintances have asked me for a long time to tell me in detail about how I got a place in graduate school, and even with a scholarship, and even in Germany ... So, finally, I got together with the thoughts to tell my history of admission.

So, last year, for the first time in my life, I visited Prague, Dresden, Karlovy Vary, and then - in Budapest and Vienna and was, frankly, in shock. It would seem that there is almost nothing to go, but what a beauty! I thought and thought, and decided that I should try for graduate school abroad: to see the world, to show myself, and of course a prestigious education! In October-November, I looked at the sites and, finding that the deadlines were not tight, and mainly admission in the spring-summer, I decided to better take care of a good master's degree, conferences and publications.

I graduated from KPI, specialty - physics. The equipment is so old, there are a lot of errors, I decided that I won't write a good work here, and I need to look for something more modern, and not write about what is irrelevant for 20 years already.

So, once I just knocked on the door to the head of the department, the director of the Physics sector of the Academy of Sciences: "Hello! I want to write a diploma in a good research institute, please tell me where to turn. I want to do nanophysics." Naturally, to this nonsense, he answered me: "This is not a question. But nanophysics of immense dimensions. Make up your mind. Until I call the director of the Research Institute of Semiconductors, he will receive you." So, already a week after this conversation, I was getting used to the laboratory of scanning probe microscopy, studying the microscope and its application in biophysics, and especially for studying implant materials.

A month later, I took part in a la international conference on the physics of metals. Then more and more conferences. And time went on. Having studied the Internet, I realized that I need to "fuss" with graduate school.

So, before entering, submitting documents, you need to immediately understand for yourself: Europe or USA? Graduate studies are fundamentally different. V USA this is 5 years, including "classes" (ie, couples at the university, or teaching assistant) + TOEFFL (there is no way to go anywhere). Documents must be submitted officially through the university website (registration, online filling out forms, possibly sending a letter by simple mail of any documents, etc.). Moreover, most often the deadline for foreigners is somewhere in February-May, if you want to start your studies on September 1. I draw your attention to the fact that almost every university requires payment in the region of $ 50-100 for the consideration of documents by a commission. This stimulates once again to think, do you need this America? Although the options for admission to graduate school are very high, because they really do not have enough staff. The scholarship ranges from $ 20,000 - $ 25,000 per year.

In Europe, postgraduate studies are work, only 50%, that is, part-time, sometimes they require teaching at the department, but not lectures, of course, but calculations, there are no pairs, but you need to write articles about the language - there is also someone else. Some demand, others do not. In Europe, in most places, it is not a university that takes a job, but a professor with his own money from a grant. It is not important for this professor what the applicant's test score is, but it is important how they understand each other.

Such professors, as a rule, read advertisements that they need students on various websites, both university and scientific portals, etc. Finding an ad is as easy as shelling pears - google to help, you just have to google something like this:

PhD physics 2010

Yes, it's important, 2010 (well, or 2011, what year you entered there), otherwise it will give out all sorts of archived messages, you will then delve into them. Naturally, it is desirable to indicate a narrower scope of their scientific interests. For example,

PhD nanoelectronics 2010, PhD scanning probe microscopy 2010

After Google has available options for sites with ads, you still need to read what potential employers require. For example, in the following declaration (http://tiptop.iop.org ) a letter of motivation is required (why do you want to work for them and a resume (Curriculum Vitae) with the contact details of two persons who could give recommendations)

PhD studentship: Ph.D. Positions in Stochastic Hydrogeology

At Institute of Geophysics, University of Lausanne, Switzerland,

Field (s): computational physics, environmental physics, fluid dynamics, geophysics, mathematics, statistical physics

Application deadline: Nov 10 (Wed), 2010

Submitted: Oct 06, 2010

Contact: Ivan Lunati

Phone: 0041 21 692 44 23

Fax: 0041 21 311 40 45

Job description: Funded by the Swiss National Science foundation, the Ensemble Project aims at developing integrated methods for ensemble stochastic aquifer modeling with emphasis on alluvial deposits. It includes 5 parallel PhD projects and offers an exceptional interdisciplinary and international environment. (Partner universities are: University of Neuchatel, University of Lausanne, Stanford University, ETH Zurich, University of Basel, University of Bern)

In this context, one PhD position (funded for 3 years, starting February 1st, 2011) is offered at the Institute of Geophysics (University of Lausanne) to investigate the effects of model simplifications on prediction uncertainty in physically complex systems.

The successful candidate is a strongly motivated individual and hold a MSc degree in physics, environmental engineering, statistics, or applied mathematics. Experiences in scientific computing, hydrological or geophysical simulations is an asset.

To apply: please send a cover letter clarifying your overall motivation together with your curriculum vitae and the names, telephone numbers, and e-mail addresses of two referees to Prof. Ivan Lunati, E-mail: [email protected], Web: http://www.unil.ch/ig/page76255_en.html

The deadline for submission of applications is November 10, 2010.

So, the ads are found, it is coming

1st stage of submission of documents - writing a letter of motivation (Cover Letter) :

What is letter of motivation? How do I compose it? Most of all, this is a coherent letter in which you need to briefly, but very coherently, logically and consistently tell about yourself, without being shy, describe all your merits. Why EXACTLY you need this place, that even if you don’t know something, you will learn. Of course, you shouldn't write about sleepless nights and renouncing parties at the same time! And, of course, you need to write the truth! Bitter, but the truth, otherwise it may be oh, how bad it later is when the professor does not help, thinking that you are already knowledgeable in this matter almost better than him ...

Let me give you my motivation letter as an example. Of course, you can work on it and work on it, but here everyone has their own writing style ...

Dear Dr. ...,

My name is Anastasiia A. In June I am graduating with Master's degree in physics from the National Technical University of Ukraine “Kiev Polytechnic Institute.”

http://microscopy.org.ua/ ). The thesis covers many theoretical and practical aspects of implant choice for patients. Atomic force microscopy can be a method for determinition of patient reaction on implants material. This is the way to prevent a rejection and destruction of implant and to prolong its term service. To research intermolecular forces I make Force-Distance (FD) analysis of curves describing interaction tip-surface in different media such as vacuum, air, and liquid.

I have a good experience in programming. I have written programs using Borland Fortran, MatLab, Origin to analyze physical phenomena and dependencies. Besides, I was working for 3 years as a part-time supervisor at the Database Department.

As I have learned from "www.tiptop.iop.org" web site that you have an open position for a PhD-study in Nanostructured magnetic materials. I am particularly interested in this topic because it is directly related to my research interest.

Sincerely yours,
...

Another important detail is not to skip from one time to another in English. For example, if you write everything in the present, consume Present Perfect instead of Past Perfect. My letter was originally like this:

Dear Dr. ...,

My name is Anastasiia A. In June I will graduate am graduating with Master's degree in physics from the National Technical University of Ukraine “Kiev Polytechnic Institute.”

The title of my Master thesis is “Material biocompatibility determinition using atomic force microscopy of intermolecular interactions”. The thesis is based on work performed at the Scanning Probe Microscopy Department of V. Lashkaryov Institute of Semiconductor Physics ( http://microscopy.org.ua/ ). The thesis will cover covers many theoretical and practical aspects of implant choice for patients. Atomic force microscopy can be a method for determinition of patient reaction on implants material. This is the way to prevent a rejection and destruction of implant and to prolong its term service. To research intermolecular forces I made make Force-Distance (FD) analysis of curves describing interaction tip-surface in different media such as vacuum, air, and liquid.

During my study, I attained a broad education in general and solid-state physics and I became acquainted with various computational methods of physics. My education includes special courses of theoretical physics such as relativistic quantum mechanics, quantum field's theory, the theory of chaos.

I have a good experience in programming. I wrote have written programs using Borland Fortran, MatLab, Origin to analyze physical phenomena and dependencies. Besides, I was working for 3 years as a part-time supervisor at the Database Department (you can't get away from Past Continious. ..).

As I learned have learned from "www.tiptop.iop.org" web site that you have an open position for a PhD-study in Nanostructured magnetic materials. I am particularly interested in this topic because it is directly related to my research interest.

I am always very quick in grasping fresh ideas and can rapidly switch over to new problems. And what is more, it is very interesting for me to learn new experimental techniques and enlarge my physical horizon at all times. Therefore, I would be very much interested to continue my research in your group.

I believe that with all my skills and experience in the field of solid state physics and nanotechnology I would make a valuable contribution to your work.

I have good communication skills and broad team-work experience.

Please, find enclosed a copy of my Curriculum Vitae.
Letters of recommendation can be obtained on request from my supervisor Dr. ... and my teacher Dr. ... as well as from Dr. ..., who know me for many years.

Looking forward for hearing from you.
Sincerely yours,
...

Do not rewrite template phrases from various sites !!! Most likely, these sites are familiar to professors. Moreover, they already receive a bunch of such "typical" letters, which they immediately send to the trash! Of all 100 or even 1000 letters sent by the professor, 2-3-4 will be of interest, and one of them should be yours !!! Therefore, you need to try hard. For only after reading the letter, the professor will want to look at the resume attached to the letter, which more accurately describes his services to the fatherland!

Resume (CV). As a rule, it is attached to a letter of motivation. Better to do it in pdf: you care about making the form more readable. Don't make your resume long! Indicate only the very best merits! But those who will "hit the hardest", let it be 2-3 conferences and work in the laboratory, the main thing is to present it in such a way as to interest a person. I think it’s not worth reminding that it is done in the form of a table, the chronology is respected. It is better to make such sections in CV:
- Personal Data;
- Education;
- Research Experience;
- Selected Reports;
- Selected Papers;
- Languages;
- Computer Skills;
- Hobbies;
- References (!!!)

In the latter, indicate the contact information of 2 (preferably 3) teachers, who will give 100% recommendations. As a last resort, you can then make your own recommendations in English and just sign them.
Example Reference:

Dr. Pavel A. Antonenko
National Technical University of Ukraine “Kiev Polytechnic Institute”
Ukraine, 03058, Kiev, Pobedy Pr., 47
Tel .: +38 044 525 08 28
Email: anton [email protected]

If necessary, I can send my CV as an example, who needs it - please contact.