About myself and my background
The following pattern will help you as a plan for your story if you are asked to introduce yourself as a researcher. Complement this pattern with some extra information about your background. What motivates you in your choice of research? Where do you see yourself in a few years?
First, let me introduce myself. I am [ first name; (family) name or surname ]. To begin with I’d like to give you a brief description of my background [ your previous studies and work ].
I graduated from Siberian State University of Railway Engineering in Bridge Engineering /…... I was awarded my degree (diploma) in Civil Engineering [ Railway Engineering / Bridge Engineering / Tunnelling/ Environmental Engineering/ Economics… ] at the faculty (department) of Railway Track Construction ….
After graduation I started my full time (part-time) work as a [ student teaching assistant/instructor/laboratory assistant/programmer ] at … I was offered a position of … at the department of [ laboratory of / business firm called “…” ].
I decided to combine my work and research in … and was supported by …
I work in the (or for the) [ an organization /a research organization … ], in [ the city of Novosibirsk ].
I work on [ the area of your specialization ]. I am interested to know… The main direction of my research is [ the particular subject of your research ]. The subject of my research is …
Let me now go into some detail regarding my research guided by the subject I have mentioned.
The topic of my thesis is “ ….. ”
It is a [brief description of subject area]. It deals with exploration [investigation/analysis/development/integration] of … These problems … are widely discussed (treated) in literature.
The list of my published papers includes ….
I have [ the number of your scientific articles published in Russian and foreign scientific journals ]. Most of them are dedicated to [ the particular subject of your research ] In my paper I will try (have tried) to give a simple description /definition of …. I have analysed the …. of this …. and tried to show that there are ….
Besides my theoretical work, I [your experiments for the evidence of your working hypothesis]. The experimental part of my research will mostly consist of tests to be conducted on … I may hope that the results of my study will be of practical significance because … It may have good potential to improve (enhance/ alleviate the problem /eliminate the need for/ increase)…
My scientific advisor’s name is …. He/she is a famous scientist in our university.
From time to time, I attend scientific forums and present results of my work and exchange ideas with famous experts in [your scientific area]. When they agree with my ideas and results, I feel very happy. Also I listen to reports of foreign experts. Each conference gives me much experience.
Answer the following questions:
1. Were you a top student? Did you receive any honours or awards (academic distinctions)?
2. What is the area of your specialization? Were you admitted to any programmes during your final year at the University?
3. What undergraduate university degree have you got (gained)?
4. Did you gain an honours degree in English?
5. Did you pass your exams with honours?
6. Are you currently enrolled as a full-time (part-time) post graduate student in (at) the University? (Having passed special exams I became a full-time (part-time) post-graduate in engineering, economics, law … I was judged on my merits in an open competition and forwarded to this post graduate degree programme …).
7. Are you a first year post-graduate student?
8. Why have you chosen this post graduate degree programme? (The purpose of graduate level is to upgrade knowledge and to acquire new skills and styles of teaching).
9. What are the areas of study which you would like to pursue (to carry out, to be engaged in)?
10. What are your personal aims you hope to reach by researching (name the field of researching)? Do you get a post-graduate scholarship?
11. What is an annual tuition fee?
12. How would you characterize yourself? Please list your interests (hobbies). What are your personal aims (ambitions)? Please describe a time in your life when you were faced with a difficult or challenging situation? What did you do? How was the problem resolved?
Answer the following questions:
1. In what field of research are you involved as a part of an advanced university degree? (My present research interests are related to … And I take particular /special interest in …).
2. Have you already published any articles? Where and when did you publish them?
3. What is the purpose of your paper?
4. What are the titles of your published papers?
5. What are you going to prove in the course of your research?
6. Is there much or little material published on the subject of your investigation?
7. What do you give much attention to in your published papers?
8. What have you succeeded in showing?
9. What did you fail to show? Are there any shortcomings in your paper, do you think? What are they?
10. How many parts does your paper consist of?
11. How did you begin (finish) your paper? What do you treat in your introductory part? What do you say in conclusion?
12. What is the object of your investigation? (My investigation continued nearly three years/ I tried to find out the cause of / to solve a scientific problem …)
13. What is the subject of your research?
14. What is the subject of your master’s/doctoral thesis and what is its aim? How is the subject matter of your thesis arranged? (The subject matter of my thesis appears in its title and is arranged in the following way. … The aim of my thesis is to investigate this particular problem/to present the basic ideas of…, to analyse the character of … I am engaged in one of the aspects of the broad object of …).
15. What areas of technology does it deal with?
16. What is the structure of your thesis? Is there an introductory part in your thesis? Does your thesis contain conclusions and references? Are there any illustrations? (Will you kindly look at the table of contents? The thesis includes a short introductory chapter and is profusely illustrated with diagrams, tables and figures.)
17. How many chapters, exactly, does the thesis you are working on consist of? (It consists of three chapters and each chapter contains the recent developments and a careful account of work done in this field of science as well as the work carried out in our laboratory. The first chapter discusses the brief reference to the twentieth-century background of the problem, describes the achievements and aims of … and contains methodology. I used a special set of methods and principles when studying my subject. The second chapter contains the investigation itself and detailed account of the basic problem … It gives thorough consideration to/an accurate description of …. The third chapter presents a detailed account of the experiment and incorporates the results.).
18. Do the chapters contain any summary? (Each subsection is preceded by a brief theoretical introduction, includes the new data in the field of … and the up-to-date techniques in …, recent discoveries in …, applications of new methods. The second chapter of my thesis is devoted to the experimental technique and deals with the latest models of the apparatus).
19. What subjects are dealt with in the introduction of your thesis?
20. Which part of your thesis contains an introductory account of the theory?
21. Which section of your thesis presents a detailed account of the experimental results?
22. Which section of your thesis presents a detailed account of the method of your investigation?
23. The subject of your investigation is of great importance, isn’t it?
24. When and how were you introduced to this subject for the first time?
25. Does the thesis contain any original data?
26. What are the final pages of the thesis devoted to? (The last part of my thesis contains references to other workers in this special branch of …).
27. Could we congratulate you on obtaining some original data and results?
Speak about your research activities following the suggested plan
1. Give the title (name) and brief description of dissertation for a kandidat degree. You should state your hypothesis concisely and completely.
2. Describe your research objectives and how you plan to achieve them by conducting research.
3. Describe research work you have already conducted in this area and how it is related to research planned in future?
4. Cite published research on your topic and relevant colleagues whose research is in the same area.
5. List publications in scholarly journals/periodicals (title, publisher, city, year…)
6. Indicate any academic honours received.
7. Describe what you are doing now or plan to do to increase your English
language proficiency.
Answer the following questions:
1.Have you taken part in any research project which could contribute to technological progress of RZD Company?
2. Have you done any field experiments?
3. What results have been already analysed by you?
4. What have you already submitted to your research supervisor?
5. Has your research supervisor approved the quality of your results?
6. What has he suggested you as the next stage in your researching?
Translate into English.
Model: В главе дается подробное описание метода исследования.
The chapter presents (gives, provides) a detailed account of the method of the investigation.
1. В первой главе содержится вводное описание вопросов теории и авторитетное описание истории исследования вопроса. (The first chapter includes introductory description of theoretical evidence and profound authoritative background data.).
2. Во второй главе дается всестороннее описание основных направлений работы. (The second chapter of the thesis covers the subject in detail. The detailed description of the investigation basic trends is provided in the second chapter of the thesis).
3. В третьей главе дается тщательное описание эксперимента. (The detailed study and description of the experiment is given in the third chapter.).
4. В последней главе приводится краткое описание основных направлений работы. (The final chapter is devoted to the summary of the basic concept of me research.).
Tell about your work using these questions as a plan.
1. What did you investigate? Why?
2. What did you do?
3. What did you find out?
4. What do your results mean? So what?
5. What unanswered question or untried method in existing research does your experiment address?
6. What findings of others are you challenging or extending?
7. Why is it important?
8. What solution (or step toward a solution) do you propose?
9. What is the problem?
10. How did you study the problem?
11. What did you use?
12. How did you proceed?
13. What did you observe?
14. What do your observations mean?
15. What conclusions can you draw?
16. How do your results fit into a broader context?
17. Do the results agree, contradict, or are they exceptions to the rule?
18. Do your findings help us understand a broader topic?
19. Did the study achieve the goal (resolve the problem, answer the question, support the hypothesis) presented in the Introduction?
Модель сообщения о научной работе на английском языке:
My name is… (e.g. Ivanov Victor Ivanovich)
I am a post graduate student (doctoral student) at the department of …
I was majoring in …
My course work and major design dealt with…
I had the necessary experience in track engineering / … during the course of on-site training at ….
During my final year at university I did my graduation thesis in the area of ….
It was entitled…
It was a very interesting topic for me to investigate because…
Last year I applied for a job as a ….. at …
The topic/theme I have chosen is “ …”
My scientific advisor suggested the study of …
My interest was motivated by ….
Prof. N … advised/prompted me studying ….
I began with the study of literature on the subject including some basic works written by…
There are many papers reviewing the state of the art of…
There are many articles in scientific journals and special periodicals such as … in particular.
These problems are very relevant today are widely discussed in the works by a number of prominent scientists (scholars) such as….
In recent years the issues involving … have received considerable attention of … in..
The theory of ….. was constructed and developed by ….
The object of my research is the operation (behaviour/ processes) of ….
The immediate aim (goal/objective) is to examine the function (behaviour/dynamics) of …
A current study in our laboratory is addressing the question of ….
The focus of my research is on the relationship between …. and ….
It is very important and interesting to examine (analyze/ evaluate/ describe) the complex interaction between … and …..
This is one of the points that strongly motivate my work dedicated to….
Typically, we assume that the object (group/value/characteristic/parameter) in question is …
Another aspect of the interaction is ….
For example, if we take … then …
We may therefore assume that …
Similarly, if one takes X to be …. then …. is related to …..
One may ask the question as to the nature of ….
A very interesting question which I am actively pursuing is…..
In our joint work with…. I explore (test/ examine) …...
To this end, we study.,...
The methods and techniques we apply in this research include experiments
(observations, laboratory tests, field and pilot plant study ….)
It is therefore quite encouraging that these methods may be used to solve a number of problems in this instance and get an insight in …
Some of most recent results of the research in … make use of the …. and the theory of….
The results may be constructed into a theoretic framework that I am going to describe by systemizing the data obtained in the experiments (observations).
As to the practical output of my study, I think they will be of considerable
practical significance, because …
Some of the general issues that I studied last year include: first, … second, … and third…
I remain actively involved in several other projects.
It is becoming clear that …. plays a crucial role in the operation of ….
That makes it possible to calculate (identify/establish/develop)… with the help of …
Since … is a …., these results may be applied to solving a wide range of problems in …
Образец текста «О себе»
My name is … I was born on the 23-d of May in 1985 so I’m 27 years old. I come originally from the Ukraine but now I live in Russia. I lived in Dnepropetrovsk until I was 4 years old and then my family moved to Novosibirsk. I live in a block of flats. My address is 27/2 Severnaya Street, apartment 23. (My house number is 25 slash 2.) My mailing (postal) address is Orlov A.S. 27/2 Severnaya Str., Apt. 23, Novosibirsk, 630041 (zip code), Russia. (В почтовом адресе индекс следует после названий населенного пункта и штата, например, John Smith, 1234 Main Street, Any Town, CA 95841-4286). My mobile number is +7 913 466 71 46. I’m married (single).
I obtained my early education at secondary school in Novosibirsk. When I was a student (in high school) we had a teacher who was mainly responsible for my decision to study sciences seriously. When it was time for me to enter a higher educational establishment, and it was five years ago, I entered (was accepted in) Siberian State University of Railway Engineering and studied mechanical engineering (economics, traffic operation and management, etc) at the Railway Track Construction Faculty. I completed my undergraduate studies and graduate work with honours. So I received my degree in Railway Engineering from this University in 2007 and it never occurred to me that I would do anything else but work with … (I was stimulated by the problem of …). But I was called into military service with the RF Army. Two years later I began from scratch. I decided to pursue additional postgraduate studies at … and turned my focus to passing special exams and becoming a postgraduate at … I had to build up my knowledge of English, philosophy and science …. I chose to do my doctoral work at our University and prepare a thesis under my adviser on ….
I study non-destructive methods of railrway testing and develop a keen understanding of the metal fatigue process. My doctorate thesis prepared under the guidance of … is on …/ My thesis is carried out under adviser … in collaboration with …/ I write my dissertation under the guidance of … My adviser is an assistant professor (full professor) of … He is an outstanding teacher at both graduate and undergraduate levels. He supervises doctoral students and makes countless contributions to … He is a successful scientist and a pathfinder for others. He initiated a large new area of theoretical and experimental research … His pioneering work opened up a new field. His software contributions are critical to the success of computer-aided trial of road rails and bridge beams. He directs the university’s laboratory of … His interest in non-destructive testing extended to industrial applications, including … The RF Railrways today use acoustic emission devices based on his developments. He plays a key-role in making … His many students develop deep and life-long bounds with him because he is a caring and understanding mentor who is supportive not only during their scientific training, but also personally. His life-long interests and profoundly rigid self-discipline led to … He is knowledgeable in his science, forthright and courteous in his conversation, he is the personification of a true scholar. Numerous national honours were bestowed on him during his career. He is instrumental in further developing the technique and its application to a broad range of problems in …
I perform (conduct) research = investigate some of the original approaches to … in a promising area of research. I am engaged in experiments. I’ve been considering new approaches …. The work includes a series of studies of …, It helps to connect academic research to its ultimate use in private practice. At the moment I’m completely engaged in my research but I am not free from all other responsibilities. I teach and do some research. I joined the faculty of.. as an instructor... I produced some of the first reliable quantitative data for …and received several patents for my achievements while researching and teaching part-time at the University. Unfortunately I often get interrupted during my research, so I have to put it down and spend the rest of the day concentrating on some other work and I would say that nine-to-five science is almost impossible. I produced a number of publications and presented my ideas in refereed journals.... I succeed in personal scientific work and received several awards. I introduced the so-called three-step model to interpret the results … According to the model … the.. process occurs in three independent steps …. My ambitions are to stay on the research I’m doing and try to complete my PhD. I have research experience and I’ve been completing all of the University requirements for the PhD in … I shall (obtain my doctorate) receive my PhD on the topic of the …/ I will receive my PhD with a thesis entitled … /The thesis research for the first doctorate in …/I want to earn my PhD with honours and become an assistant professor старший преподаватель rising to the rank of.. professor. Besides I’d like to master a near-native command (adequate spoken) of English.
There is a plenty of work to be done. Whatever I do I try to do as well as I can. I’m a compulsory worker and just put maximum effort into my investigation. On the other hand I hope this work will ultimately develop into my career.
I am not so much a watcher of things, I like doing things. My usual hobbies are to do some light outdoor activities but I am not too much involved in sports though I’m an active person and an accomplished tennis player. Books and music are among my passions. If I have any spare time I like mostly listening to music and I am an avid reader of scientific and historical books. It stimulated my interests in a variety of.. topics, particularly … But very often I spend my leisure time doing the same as I do during working time. That’s hard to say which is which. So my hobby is life. I can’t imagine anyone being bored because I have many interests and do all sorts of things. I think I enjoy what I do all the time and try to find myself in the right place in the right time.
As far as family is concerned I’d like to say that we never discuss who’s the boss in it. We share responsibilities together. I like to think that I make big decisions in our family but that’s a matter of opinion. And I wish I knew the proper answers to all sorts of questions about bringing up children, making money and solving scientific problems simultaneously.
So what else would you like me to say about my background and current work?
