联合培养申请经(摘自小木虫)

Email 标题：Application letter for XX from Harbin Institute of Technology in P. R. China
Dear Prof. XX:
I'm XX, a 2nd year PhD candidate from Harbin Institute of Technology,Harbin, P. R. China, supervised by Prof. XX. And I ever contacted youfor the password of your papers in the last time. I'm supported by aChinese National Fund, which will support those PhD candidates in Chinato go abroad to some world class Universities of their fields. Thisprogramme will cover all living cost I need in USA. After I read a lotof papers of my research area, I understand that you are working on MAXphases and have published quite a lot of high level scientific papers.As such, you are the leading researcher in XX in the world. I find yourarea fits me well, so I write to you to see if you can give me a chanceto study in your school. My CV and published papers have been attached.
My research area is mainly about MAX phases. I have published 5 papersin the journals including J. Mater. Res. and Solid State Commun. Inaddition, 2 papers were submitted. And now I'm doing XX. I am notapplying a full time PhD programme, and this programme is a short time(12-24 months) co-education experiences more like a visit scholarprogramme. This programme is a new type of co-educate PhD programmesupported by China Scholarship Council. The study period abroad variesfrom 12 months at least to 24 months at most. I have to accomplish mydoctor degree back to my school (Harbin Institute of Technology), soI'm not supposed to acquire my doctor degree at Drexel University.
And this programme runs like this, students meet the applicationrequirements can apply this programme, and my University and researcharea is among the main supporting Universities and areas. Students mustacquire an official invitation letter from the prospectivetutor/University. Therefore, all I need is an official invitationletter from you (or your University). The date of enrollment I'mconsidering is September/October 2010. In order to make sure I cancatch up with the next year's programme, I have to prepare all theapplication stuff (including your official invitation letter) beforeJanuary, 2010. And because it will cost about 1 month to mail yourinvitation letter from USA to China, so I really hope you can respondme as soon as possible to make sure I can receive your letter beforethe winter vacation this year.
And if you can't make this decision or you have a better recommendation whose research areas fit me well, please inform me.
Really hope to hear from you as soon as possible!

Yours sincerely,

但是没想到，我的这个过程出奇的顺利：在电子子邮件发出的三天后，大牛给我回信，非常高兴的接受了我的申请，回信如下：
Dear XX,
My apologies for late response. I am delighted that you would like toget your PhD from Drexel University. Your experience with the XXcertainly makes this a perfect fit since as you noted my group is oneof the leading groups in the world in that area. As for the  invitationletter, if you would not mind, pls draft one that says all the correctthings and send it to me. This way would greatly speed up the process.Looking very much forward to having you join my group.

看到回信后，我非常高兴，就赶快给写好了邀请函草稿。用的是我同学去年申请用的邀请函，把个人信息发改了一下就发过去了，邮件如下：
Dear Prof. XX,
Very thanks for giving me the chance to study in your group! The draftof invitation letter under the requirement of China Scholarship Council(CSC) has been attached below. And the bold part of the draft could bereplaced or modified. It should be noted that the invitation lettermust be printed on the formal letter paper of Drexel University, withyour handwriting signature, and then please send it to me by expressdelivery (CSC needs the original one).
In addition, we need to formulate a research plan for the PhD jointtraining program in your group. What's your opinion about it? If youwould not mind, I will also draft one to you. If possible, I hope thatit can be mailed to me with the invitation letter as mentioned above.
Your reply is appreciated!

到这一步了，基本完成了和国外老师间的联系，昨天下午拿到了邀请函和培养计划。
我申请的经验就是对申请要有针对性，对自己本领域课题组要比较熟悉，找与自己研究方向相近的，这点就能和国内的工作联系起来，对联合培养的博士很重要。方法可以通过看文献，参加学术会议等。另外一点很重要的是本人要有前期工作量，有发表出的论文是比较好的。拿我自己来说，我发表的五篇论文是起了很大的重要。
我使用的联合培养计划框架已经上传到附件，是我同学给我的，他已经申请联合培养成功后出去了。所以，这个应该是满足留学基金委要求的。

最后把给老外发的邀请函草稿贴出来，供大家参考：

Re: Application for scholarship from the China Scholarship Council (CSC)

Dear Mr. XX
After discussing with your PhD supervisor Prof. XX, director of theCentre of Composite Materials, Harbin Institute of Technology, I ampleased to invite you, Mr. XX (DOB XX) to spend 18 months as a jointPh. D. Candidate under my supervision in Department of MaterialsScience and Engineering at Drexel University from September 1, 2010 toFebruary 29, 2012 subject to the success of your scholarshipapplication. As a joint Ph. D. Candidate, your tuition fee will bewaived. Your result of XXX meets the English requirements for a jointPh. D. Candidate.

During this 18 months period, you will be working on “XXX” as outlined in the research plan signed by Prof.XX and myself.

It gives me a pleasure to write this letter to support your application for the CSC scholarship.

Yours sincerely,
(Handwriting signature)

Dr. XX
Grosvenor and Distinguished Professor
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Drexel University
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Phone: 215 895 2338