Template of Recommendation Letters (LOR)
Important Note:
The reader should understand that Recommendation Letters specifically related to you by your previous professor, it is not some copy-paste letter, as it contains your degree/thesis/cgpa details also. These sample LOR are just for giving you idea about what should be in a good recommendation letter. Now if you will copy-paste these samples, it would be a great disaster.
LOR Template 1
Search and Screen Committee
Department of Bacteriology
University of Cambridge
Boston, MA 01237
Dear Members of the Search Committee,
It is my pleasure to recommend Dr. Stephen Hoffmann for the position of Assistant Professor in your department. Stephen completed his Ph.D. in my lab and is one of the most outstanding researchers to emerge from my lab. I recommend him to you highly.
In my lab Dr. Hoffmann cloned and characterized the gliD gene from Cytophaga Johnsonian. He made the intriguing discovery that the GliD protein is required for gliding behavior in Cytophaga and its human homolog is associated with a highly metastatic form of breast cancer. This observation suggests that there may be common features in bacterial gliding motility and mobility of human tumor cells. Dr. Hoffmann initiated a highly productive collaboration with Professor David Whitely that led to the crystallization and high-resolution structure of the GliD protein. Dr. Hoffmann brought that work to fruition in a PNAS paper, on which he is the senior author. In addition to the PNAS paper, Dr. Hoffmann published three other papers from his thesis, which attest to his hard work, biological insight, and outstanding writing skills. Dr. Hoffmann proved himself an outstanding researcher and valued colleague.
Dr. Hoffmann continued to produce original research as a postdoc in Jim Wooley’s lab working on Bacillus subtilis development. Once again, Dr. Hoffmann discovered a gene that is found in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes, this time in a search for sporulation genes in B. subtilis. He identified a new sporulation gene, designated spoW, which has a mammalian homolog that appears to be associated with lymphocyte differentiation and maturation. Although that work is not yet published, it has a bright future. The project was technically challenging, but Dr. Hoffmann has surmounted all of the obstacles and a genetic and biochemical analysis of the spoW allele and its product will be ready for publication soon. Given Dr. Hoffmann’s past record in publishing research, I have no doubt that this work will be published in a top-tier journal.
Dr. Hoffmann proved himself to be a capable mentor and teacher. He has supervised three undergraduate researchers. He is clearly able to transmit his passion and talent for research to young scientists. Similarly, his classroom teaching was met with rave reviews. Dr. Hoffmann is one of my few colleagues to whom I will entrust my class when I travel. Dr. Hoffmann was also a terrific citizen and a leader in my lab. He handled responsibility well, was resourceful, and took initiative to maintain equipment and ensure that safety standards were met. He took on many of the responsibilities of a faculty member and excelled in everything he did.
In short, I give Stephen my highest recommendation. He is one of my finest colleagues—an outstanding researcher and talented teacher. He has demonstrated an uncanny ability to unmask genes that play parallel roles in bacteria and mammals, and I expect him to be one of the leading researchers in his field. He would be a good catch for any department and I urge you to consider his candidacy seriously.
Sincerely,
Theodore Corvallis
Distinguished University Professor
LOR Template 2
Search and Screen Committee
Department of Bacteriology
University of Cambridge
Boston, MA 01237
Dear Members of the Search Committee,
It is my pleasure to recommend Dr. Susan Hoffmann for the position of Assistant Professor in your department. Susan was my graduate student and ranks among my very best students. I recommend her to you highly. As a student, Susan cloned and characterized the gliD gene from Cytophaga Johnsonian. She made the intriguing discovery that the GliD protein is required for gliding behavior in Cytophaga and its human homologue is associated with a highly metastatic form of breast cancer. This observation suggests that there may be features in common between bacterial gliding motility and mobility of human tumor cells. A highly productive collaboration with Professor David Whitely led to the crystallization and high resolution structure of the GliD protein. That work was published in a PNAS paper, on which Susan is a coauthor. In addition to the PNAS paper, Susan published three other papers from her thesis, which attest to her hard work, biological insight, and outstanding writing skills. Her high productivity as a graduate student is particularly remarkable because she had two children while in graduate school and her husband is a resident in emergency room medicine.
Susan continued her record of excellent work as a postdoctoral student in Jim Wooley’s lab working on Bacillus subtilis development. Once again, Susan discovered a gene that is found in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes, this time in a search for sporulation genes in B. subtilis. She identified a new sporulation gene, designated spoW, which has a mammalian homologue that appears to be associated with lymphocyte differentiation and maturation. Susan has been slow to publish this work and therefore has no publications from her three-year postdoctoral study. No doubt her family responsibilities have contributed to this delay.
Susan proved herself an able mentor and a sterling classroom teacher. She has three undergraduate researchers who have all coauthored publications, which is indicative of the excellent mentorship they received from Susan. Similarly, her classroom teaching was met with rave reviews. Of all of my students, I felt the most comfortable asking Susan to cover my classes for me when I was out of town because I knew she would do a great job. Susan was also a cooperative and reliable lab citizen. She handled responsibility well and conscientiously followed through on all that was asked of her to maintain equipment and ensure that safety standards were met.
In short, I give Susan my highest recommendation. She is one of the best students I have seen and is a talented teacher and mentor. She has an uncanny ability to unmask genes that play parallel roles in bacteria and mammals, and I expect her to continue to be as productive and creative as she was as a student in my lab. She would be a good catch for any department and I urge you to consider her candidacy seriously.
Sincerely,
Theodore Corvallis
Distinguished University Professor
LOR Template 3
Dear Admission Committee,
It is a pleasure to write a letter of recommendation for Mr. NASSIM BESSAAD. I have been in close contact with him for three years, where he worked as a member of our laboratory. Through my observation, I would like to say that he is attentive, studious and articulate. He always has a positive attitude towards study.
Nassim is a hard-working student. His assignments have been neat and precise to the point. Given a task, he is able to complete it in the minimum time period. He has never given anybody an opportunity to rebuke him for anything. His research has been evaluated positively by all reviewers, focusing on stochastic processes in navigation sensors. He managed to participate in a respected conference and submitted two more papers for the journal.
Although timid and placid, his friendly and optimistic attitude, always ready to lend a helping hand towards his friends in times of difficulties makes him popular personnel. He is always attentive to whatever has been taught in the classroom or in the laboratory. He is always well prepared with his coursework.
Nassim had presented a very good final year project for a Master’s Degree about integrated navigation system design based on FOG-SINS and star tracker, presented it with Confidence and in a lucid manner. His proficiency in his subjects and English shows that he has the potential to be a good researcher.
I have a strong opinion that he has incorporated the right aptitude to do well in your Graduate Program of Studies and hence strongly recommend him for admission.
I wish him grand success in all his future endeavors.
Sincerely,
ABC
Associate Professor
Email: aaa@sss.com
contact: 88888888
Department of instrument Engineering
School of Electronics, Information and Electrical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong
LOR Template 4
Respected Professor,
I am writing this letter at the invitation of Mr. Muhammad Adnan who is a Master’s student at Shanghai Jiao Tong University Shanghai, China for the last two years. I am pleased to write this recommendation letter for his Ph.D. Study to your truly outstanding university.
Being his supervisor in Lab, in the Department of Electronic Engineering, I witness the excellent academic performance that Adnan has shown in our institution. He showed a distinguished and exemplary academic record during his whole stay in the school.
Department of Electrical Engineering at your university offers one of the best programs in that region. He will surely be an asset to your organization. He has much potential to work in your research program.
In the last two years, I have interacted with him, both inside and outside the lab, and found him to be commendable, sincere to research responsibilities, enthusiastic, and disciplined towards our lab. His self-motivation and keen desire to research are to be commended in these days’ age when, to many others, a good grade is the only matter of importance.
Overall, he is a polite and bright student. I certainly believe that he has the talent and drive to achieve success in his future scholastic endeavors. I strongly recommend him to your institution for admission to the Ph.D. program. For further questions about him, you are welcome to contact me.
Professor Name
SEIEE, Shanghai Jiao Tong University,
800 Dongchuan Road, 200240, Shanghai, China
Tel & Fax:021-3420-3788
E-mail:
LOR Template 5
Recommendation Letter from Team Lead for MS in Computer Science.
I understand that Ms. Ruchi Tengse is applying to your Masters’s Program in Computer Science. As the Lead of Project Management in ZEDO Inc, I have had numerous opportunities to interact with and observe her in the past two years. I find Ms. Tengse to be a talented software engineer. I would like to offer an evaluation of her potential for your consideration.
Ms. Tengse’s selection in ZEDO Inc was based on a written aptitude test, subsequently a technical interview. In addition to her basic aptitude, I was impressed by her proficiency in Software Engineering, which she had developed on her own inventiveness.
Ms. Tengse was of great help in software projects of ZEDO Inc, thanks to her efficiency and knowledge of Computer Science. She also made her mark in learning databases like PostgreSQL and other programming languages like Adobe Flex and PHP. Her strong concepts of Mathematics help her to develop a logical thinking in technical projects.
Based on her expertise she is involved in discussions regarding groundwork of the scope documents and finalization of design of the software project. From the feedback of clients, I can say that by asset of her technical familiarity and communication skills, she handles the tasks assigned to her
very professionally.
In her work, Ms. Ruchi Tengse has shown herself to be a very bright and diligent young software engineer, one who is able to take hold of new concepts very speedily. Her performance is brilliant in all the assignments designated to her. Her most remarkable quality is the dedication she shows in whatever she does.
Ms. Ruchi Tengse also acts as an effective channel of communication between her team and senior management. She has the ability to converse evidently, accurately and this has proved to be a great asset in the speedy implementation of her work.
Considering her potential, talent, and eagerness to learn, I feel that Ms. Ruchi Tengse is a vigorous candidate to pursue higher studies in computer science. I strongly support her application for admission in and also request you to consider her for financial assistance. I wish her success in her future endeavors. In case of any query or confirmation feel free to contact me any time
Muhammad
Associated Professor of Engineering,
School of Electronic, Information and Electrical Engineering.
E-mail:
Tel
LOR Template 6
To Graduate School Committee,
I have great pleasure in writing this recommendation letter in support of Mr. Adnan Mumtaz whom I know for the past two and half years as a student at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. During this period, I
was his teacher for the course “The Experimentations of Facts”. In this long association with him as a teacher, I had ample opportunity to judge his personal and professional abilities. I found him a hard-working, intelligent, serious and morally upright individual. I must say that Mr. Adnan has shown excellent interest in this course as well as in all his educational pursuits.
Furthermore, he actively participated in classroom discussions and showed himself as a self-motivated and hard-working person. He was dedicated to class assignments and projects and he submitted them on time. His software skills are very good and during class, he participated in mini-projects. Due to his interest and quick learning capability, he can understand different kinds of software skills very early, and also understand the simulations and sophisticated operational skills of testing instruments. Adnan is a person with good grasping and analyzing abilities. Due to these reasons, he can work independently and also in under pressure.
I remember he used to visit my office to discuss different problems of his thesis. During this period, he showed extraordinary intellect skills and impressed me by his logical ideas and profound expertise. I found his literature review was strong and his research direction was very clear. Moreover, due to his persistent personality and innovative ideas, he has the ability to provide logical solutions for the problems occurring in his project.
In short, Adnan is a reliable and disciplined personality. His intellectual capability, initiative, enthusiasm and solid academic background, and his persistence towards research studies make him an excellent
candidate for PhD studies. Due to his dedication and eagerness towards further studies I strongly your PhD program. I confirm that he is able to pursue a Ph.D. degree and recommend him for your Scholarship program with suitable financial aid. In your of any further information, I am available and can be contacted anytime.
Sincerely
Muhammad
Associated Professor of Engineering,
School of Electronic, Information and Electrical Engineering.
E-mail:
Tel
LOR Template 7
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN
Respected Sir/Madam,
It is with great pleasure I write this letter on behalf of Mr. Muhammad Talib Fail. He has applied for the doctoral program at your University. He is an excellent student at our university. It is truly my pleasure to write this letter of recommendation for Ph.D. studies to a truly outstanding graduate.
As an associate professor in the school of electrical Engineering at XYZ university I am witness to the performance of my graduate, Mr. Muhannmad has shown excellent performance in this institution. I can also attest to his perseverance and positive attitude. His academic performance in this school is exemplary. He showed a distinguished academic record during his whole stay in this school.
Your school offers one of the best Ph.D. programs in the region. He will surely be an asset to your organization. He has much potential that your Ph.D. program will surely enhance.
In the two years that I have interacted with him, both inside and outside the classroom. I have found him to be a polite, responsible, sincere, and all-around respectable young man. His self-motivation and keen desire to learn are to be commended in this day and age when, to many, a good grade is the only matter of importance.
It was my great pleasure to supervise him as my MS student. Overall, he is a motivated and bright student. I certainly believe that he has the talent and drive to achieve success in his future scholastic endeavors. I strongly recommend him to your institution ad in the Ph. D. program. For further questions about him, you are welcome to contact me.
Yours Sincerely.
Jiao hhhh,
Associate professor,
School of Electrical Engineering.
X.Jiaotong ‘university,
LOR Template 8
Respected Sir/Madam,
It is with great pleasure I write this letter on behalf of Mr. Muhammad Talib Faiz who has applied for the doctoral program at your University. He took a graduate-level course on “Power Electronics” with me during his master’s program at Xi ‘ a Jiaotong University. The university is one of the premier institutions in China renowned for engineering education.
I found Mr. Muhammad Talib Faiz hardworking and dedicated towards his studies. He consistently showed keen interest in the subject and used to regularly come up with innovative discussions. During the program he had shown, analytical skills, intelligence and motivation required for the rigorous program offered in Ph.D. studies. On a personal level, he is mature, soft-spoken and well disciplined.
Based on my pleasant experience with him, I feel he has the intellect and capacity to carry out his higher post-graduate studies in the field of Electrical Engineering. I recommend him in the strongest terms for admission to the Ph.D. program at your university. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me.
Yours Sincerely,
LIU J,
Ph.D., Professor of Electrical Engineering,
Dean for Undergraduate Education
ABC University,
Phone: 444444444444
Email: abcabc@ieee.org
Add.NO.28 West Road.
LOR Template 9
Respected Sir/Madam,
I am pleased to write this recommendation letter in support of XYZ. I have known him for about two years as one of my graduate students at the University of Management and Technology, Pakistan.
Ahmed’s performance as a student has always been commendable to me. Coding concepts, which form the very basis of a Computer Science program, demand deep understanding on the part of the student. He proved that he is quite keen and adept in learning and using new and abstruse concepts. He has analytical thinking and whenever given a problem, he tries to investigate it in a mature manner. He taught him three basic courses of mathematics, I find him actively participating in class discussions and illustrated his views confidently with convincing reasons. He has a friendly and pleasant disposition making him easily approachable and easy to communicate. His written work is both clear and concise. It has always been a pleasure marking his papers, in which answers are reached logically and conceptually.
Personally, I find a self-motivated and also demonstrate leadership qualities that are admired. I strongly recommend his application for China Government Scholarship and I am confident that he will prove a valuable asset to your program. I am happy to amplify on any details if you wish.
Sincerely,
XYZ
LOR Template 10
Respected Sir/Madam,
It is my immense pleasure to recommend one of my best students, ________(student’s name) for the (write name of scholarship you are applying for). As a plant physiology teacher (add the subject that your professor has taught you) and supervisor of his thesis research project; his intelligence, diligence, and honesty outweighed any other students in his class and impressed me very much. I came to know him in the fall semester of 2008 while teaching in his class. Both in class and office hours he had given me a strong impression. During the course of studies, his grades were exceptionally good. In fact, his overall results ranked first among the ——–(no. of students in your class) students that I were teaching. He secured excellent results and achieved ——— (position) in the Faculty of———(your faculty), and was awarded silver medal for this achievement.
In addition, his ability as a leader to other students and confidence in varieties of challenges had brought him praises not just from me, but also from other members of the Department as well. In his research project, “[your master or PhD project title]”, impact of [write something innovative and novel about your project] were determined for the first time in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The said research project is still being quoted frequently for academic and professional discussions, which earned him “Grade –A+”.
________(student’s name) has a very unique ability of understanding and tackling complex problems, which requires in-depth understanding of the subject & ability to analyze. He used to surprise me sometimes with his view point and perspective when it came to suggesting solutions to very multifaceted issues that came under discussion in the classroom. This student exhibits some good characteristics, such as ability to analyze complex problems, a very good learner with a charming personality. He demonstrated excellent participation not just in class activities but also in extracurricular activities.
He is determined to face higher challenges and stronger competitions internationally. I believe, if he has given an opportunity, he will progress his knowledge and practices in the proposed field of study. I would like to appreciate your most favorite considerations to him and, it would be a great pleasure for me to see him continuing his higher studies.
Professor’s name