To: Graduate Admissions Committee
It is my pleasure to write on behalf of Priyanka Bhati, who is applying to the PhD program in anos!ien!e at Aarhus "ni#ersity$ I ha#e intera!ted with priyanka in se#eral !onte%ts: as student, as tea!hing assistant, and as thesis mentee$
I first met &ane in '()), when she enrolled in my !lass$ Priyanka immediately stood out from the !rowd, e#en as a first semester freshman$ &ust a few months out of high s!hool, Priyanka demonstrated !hara!teristi!s !ommonly held by the best !ollege students$ *he was attenti#e in !lass, prepared, submitted well+ written and thoughtful assignments, and parti!ipated in meaningful ways, su!h as by debating other students$ Throughout, priyanka modeled !riti!al thinking skills$ eedless to say, Priyanka earned one of fi#e As awarded in that !lass of -. students$ *in!e her first semester in !ollege priyanka has enrolled in one of my !lass$ *he demonstrated similar !ompeten!ies, and her skills grew with ea!h semester$ /ost striking is her ability to ta!kle !hallenging material with enthusiasm and enduran!e$ I tea!h a re0uired !ourse in anoele!troni!s that, as rumor has it, most students dread$ *tudents fears of statisti!s are legendary a!ross institutions, but Priyanka wasnt fa1ed$ As usual she was prepared for !lass, !ompleted all assignments, and attended help sessions !ondu!ted by my tea!hing assistant$ /y tea!hing assistant reported that Priyanka seemed to learn !on!epts 0ui!kly, learning how to sol#e problems well before the other students$ 2hen pla!ed in+group work sessions, priyanka easily adopted a leadership role, helping her peers learn how to sol#e problems on their own$ It was these !ompeten!ies that led me to offer Priyanka a position as tea!hing assistant for my Digital ele!troni!s !lass$ As tea!hing assistant, Priyanka strengthened many of the skills I ha#e arti!ulated$ In this position Priyanka held re#iew sessions and offered out+of+!lass assistan!e to students$ *he also le!tured in !lass se#eral times during the semester$ 3er first le!ture was a bit shaky$ *he !learly knew the !on!epts but had diffi!ulty keeping pa!e with PowerPoint slides$ 2hen she abandoned the slides and worked off the bla!kboard, she impro#ed$ *he was able to answer students 0uestions and the two that she !ouldnt answered she admitted to and said shed get ba!k to them$ As a first le!ture, she was #ery good$ /ost important to a !areer in a!ademi!s, is that she impro#ed in subse0uent le!tures$ 4eadership, humility, the ability to see areas in need of impro#ement, and the willingness to do the work needed to impro#e 5 these are all !hara!teristi!s we #alue in a!ademia$
/ost important to a !areer in a!ademi!s is resear!h !ompeten!e$ As
 
I ha#e e%plained, Priyanka has an e%!ellent grasp of statisti!s and other skills !riti!al to a su!!essful !areer in resear!h, su!h as tena!ity and e%!ellent problem sol#ing and !riti!al thinking skills$ As mentor of her senior thesis, I witnessed Priyanka in her first independent resear!h efforts$ *imilar to other students, Priyanka struggled with finding an appropriate topi!$ "nlike other students, she !ondu!ted mini literature re#iews on potential topi!s and dis!ussed her ideas with a sophisti!ation that is unusual for undergraduates$ After methodi!al study, she !hose a topi! that fits her a!ademi! goals$ Priyankas pro6e!t e%amined $ 3er pro6e!t earned a 7'$.8 whi!h is 9rd highest in the !lass $