Submitted by Mr. Ananta Raj Acharya, in Partial Fulfillment of Requirements For Admissions To The Graduate Program in Genetics

Download as doc, pdf, or txt
Download as doc, pdf, or txt
You are on page 1of 3
At a glance
Powered by AI
Ananta Raj Acharya completed his Bachelor's degree in Agricultural Sciences with a major in plant breeding and genetics from Tribhuvan University in Nepal. He is currently a biology teacher and is interested in pursuing graduate studies in genetics.

He completed his Bachelor's degree from the Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science, Tribhuvan University, Nepal with an aggregate percentage of 77.2. He has taken the TOEFL and GRE exams. He is proficient in various computer programming languages and software.

He is interested in extending his assistance to ongoing research activities on plant molecular genetics. He wants to learn modern tools and techniques of molecular genetics to introduce them in Nepal. He is also interested in comparative and computational genomics, evolutionary genomics, and biotechnological tools in crop improvement.

Statement of purpose

Submitted by Mr. Ananta Raj Acharya, in partial fulfillment of requirements for admissions to the graduate
program in genetics.

I am Ananta Raj Acharya, a prospective graduate student from Nepal. I have completed Bachelor
in Agricultural Sciences with plant breeding and genetics as my major from Tribhuvan University,
Nepal. I am aspired to continue my education from this university under the department of
genetics.
Deeply ingrained fascination in scientific disciplines and a dream to pursue a career as a scientist
inspired me to choose a science school after general ten years of schooling. Initially, physics and
mathematics harnessed my interest and I felt animated solving numerical problems offered by
the instructors and the text books. However, my metaphysical craving for life sciences soon
shifted my interest to biology and I completed Intermediate in Science with biology as my major.
Thereafter, I joined Institute of Agriculture and Animal Sciences under Tribhuvan University to
pursue my undergraduate study in agricultural sciences. During freshman I took a coursework in
genetics and was much attracted by the subject. Successive two years of study helped me to
explore the practical application of genetics in plant breeding, animal breeding and other allied
disciplines. I became fascinated by a career prospect as a geneticist. Therefore, during fourth
year, I choose plant breeding and genetics as my undergraduate major to reinforce my
understanding of the subject.

Working under Prof. L. P. Subedi was most informative period of my undergraduate education.
Courses on plant breeding and biometrics were incumbent upon him and being a rice research
scientist, he emphasized on rice. We performed research on pollen flow and chromosomal
analysis of rice as a part of field and laboratory practices. Under in-vitro techniques, we practiced
micro-propagation of different monocots and dicots, somatic hybridization and cytological
studies. Biotechnology helped us to get acquainted with modern tools and techniques including
molecular markers and marker-assisted selection; gene cloning and genome sequencing; and
genetically modified organisms. Other undergraduate experiences include: hybridization of
economically important crops, field plot laying out techniques, disease scoring, pathogen
diagnosis and many other activities under varied disciplines that would hold practical significance
in the graduate study.

During my undergraduate years, I have presented and published several articles, technical
writings and proposals. I presented a review report on: “Life: A Genetical Perspective” as a part
of requirements under Technical Writing and Seminar coursework. I have also published an
article on: “The Timeline of Genetics” in plant breeding journal of Tribhuvan University. I always
believed that the science is for the society and each individual should be accessed to it. Thus,
encouraged by the sense of social responsibility, I published several articles on life and genetics
in local newspapers. Some of them include: "Why we become old?", "How much we differ from
one another?", "Why you are a girl and I am a boy?", “Why some are vulnerable to some of the
diseases?”, “What makes an organism typical to it?”, “How first organism evolved?” and “Are we
the successors of monkey?” This interest in educating people never ceased after the completion
of bachelor degree in 2004 and I am currently enrolled as a biology teacher in a secondary
school.

My future goals include establishing a career in research and academics. Institute of Agriculture
and Animal Sciences is undergoing transformation in near future and it will be upgraded to the
university level. I will be looking forward in serving to its triple function of education, research and
extension. I have dreamt of a career as a geneticist who researches in molecular genetics
including QTL mapping, MAS of heritable traits and plant-parasite interaction genetics; gives
lectures on comparative, computational and evolutionary genomics; and extends scientific
findings to the target groups. However, I require an advanced study from a renowned educational
institution to perform to my expectations. Therefore, I am interested in pursuing graduate study
with a major in genetics from this university. As far as my qualifications are concerned, I believe,
I have procured all the requirements of the graduate school and the department.

My eligibility rests on my undergraduate performance, the computer based test score of TOEFL
and GRE, skills in technical and computational operations and a brief exposure to research and
teaching activities. I completed my undergraduate study from the Institute of Agriculture and
Animal Science, Tribhuvan University, Nepal with an aggregate percentage of 77.2 and
throughout these four years of bachelor’s study, I received merit scholarship as consistent
financial aid for my performances in the academics. I have taken both the tests of TOEFL and
GRE but the official scores are not received yet. However, tentative TOEFL score ranges from
217 to 273 out of 300 and that of GRE is 1380 (790 out of 800 in Quantitative section and 590
out of 800 in Verbal section). I am proud to mention that nobody from my institution had received
such scores in both the tests. Besides being proficient in Microsoft Office, MSTAT and SPSS, I
have also attended courses in computer programming including vb.net, c, c++, JavaScript, SQL
and Vbscript. I have also made some simple software on C/ C++ related to genetics. Some of
them are base pairing of DNA and RNA; RNA transcripts of DNA template; Amino acid
translation from DNA and RNA template; and test of Mendelian ratio of hybrid crosses. I hope
that these qualifications would help me in advance study with genetics as my major.

As far as my specific research interests are concerned, I am particularly interested in extending


my assistance to the on-going research activities on plant molecular genetics. I want to be
acquainted with modern tools and techniques of molecular genetics so that these could be
introduced in Nepal. I would also like to take courses on comparative and computational
genomics; evolutionary genomics and biotechnological tools in crop improvement. I believe that
an advanced study in genetics from this educational institution would enable me to realize my
aspirations.

Finally, I am optimistic about the acceptance of my application and I hope to receive a research
assistantship to support my graduate studies. Pursuing my education through this great
institution would be a matter of great personal pleasure and glory to me. I affirm that I will abide
by the rules and regulations set by the authority and I would try my best to add to the fame and
glory of the university.

Sincerely,

Ananta Raj Acharya Date: 3rd January, 2006

You might also like