MOST Overseas Scholarship Guide (2): Getting a Recommendation Letter from an Overseas Professor

In the previous post, How to Apply for the MOST 千里馬 Scholarship, I introduced the application process and key requirements. This post focuses on the two important letters you need to obtain during the application: the domestic recommendation letter and, most critically, the acceptance letter from an overseas professor. How do you find the right overseas institution? How do you write the inquiry email? I’ll walk through both, and include an email template to get you started.

According to the requirements, you need two separate letters:
Domestic: from your department head or doctoral supervisor
Overseas: from an overseas research institution or overseas supervisor

Here’s how to approach each.

Document (1): Domestic Recommendation Letter

The domestic letter is the more straightforward of the two. Since 千里馬 requires at least one year of enrollment, most applicants already have a doctoral supervisor by the time they apply — so you just need to ask your supervisor to write the letter.

That said, a 千里馬 stay is at minimum seven months, and it could affect your coursework, research progress, or any collaborative lab work. So when you seriously start considering applying, begin that conversation with your supervisor early.

My suggestion: start by gently sounding out your supervisor. Ask when they think would be a good time for you to go, and whether they have any recommended labs or institutions in mind. Most supervisors will be genuinely happy for their students to receive funding and go abroad — but it’s still worth asking about timing, especially if you’re part of a research team where your absence might have ripple effects. Your supervisor may also have useful guidance on where to look.

Once your supervisor agrees, let them know that a recommendation letter is required and when it needs to be submitted. A few practical things to sort out:

• How much lead time does your supervisor need? (I’d recommend giving them at least a month, with your internal deadline two weeks before the official deadline.)
• Does your supervisor want a draft to work from?
• Are there specific things you’d like them to emphasize in the letter?
• Prepare your CV and a short personal statement in advance for them to reference.

If you’re close with your supervisor and they can write the letter without a draft, great. But in most cases, it’s wise to prepare a draft yourself — supervisors are busy, and they may not know which of your strengths you most want highlighted. Having a draft ready avoids last-minute scrambling.

What should the letter include? Some things to address when drafting:

• The purpose of the letter
• The relationship between the writer and the applicant
• The applicant’s research performance, interests, and concrete achievements
• The applicant’s personal qualities
• Why the applicant is a strong fit for this opportunity

If you’re not sure how to structure it, a quick search for “recommendation letter template” will give you plenty of models, or feel free to ask in the comments.

One last reminder: once your supervisor finishes the letter, follow up before the deadline to confirm submission and let them know how to submit it.

Document (2): Overseas Acceptance Letter

Despite being called a “recommendation letter,” this document is really more of an acceptance letter — the overseas professor simply needs to agree to host you and sign a consent form.

But how do you find an overseas professor in the first place? This is where most people get stuck. Q_Q

This is where networking really matters. If you’ve interacted with overseas scholars at domestic or international conferences and stayed in touch, that’s a natural starting point. Another avenue is asking your department faculty to make introductions (this is often the most effective route). You can also identify labs doing research you’re interested in and reach out cold.

Whichever path you take, you’ll need to send an email. The email should clearly cover:

• Who you are
• What the MOST funding is
• Your research area and why you’d be a good fit for their lab; what you hope to gain
• The application deadline, and a note that if you don’t hear back by a certain date you’ll reach out to other labs
• If awarded, when you’d arrive

Here’s the email I sent at the time, adapted from examples shared by senior labmates. It’s not perfect, but it got the point across:

Dear Prof. _____,

I am [Name] from [University and Program]. [Brief warm opener.]

Recently, National Science Council (NSC) Taiwan is offering a sponsorship to PhD candidates to do research abroad, 7–12 months in duration. Students who are selected will receive a living stipend from the government to continue their research in foreign academic institutes.

My PhD thesis focuses on _____. [Why am I a good fit for your lab?] As a result, I was wondering whether it is possible to let me join the ______ as a visiting student?

The deadline for this NSC application is ____, and the results will be announced before ____. Awarded students need to report from _____, no later than ____. Please advise me if any further information is preferred.

Best wishes,

Iju Hsu

Before sending, proofread carefully for typos and grammar errors, follow basic email etiquette, and consider attaching the MOST program description (English version) for the professor’s reference.

Then comes the hard part: waiting.

If the professor doesn’t respond or politely declines, don’t get discouraged — move on to the next lab right away.

If they respond positively and agree to host you, don’t hesitate: ask them to write the acceptance letter.

The format for the acceptance letter is on page 2 of the MOST program description (English version), with all the important notes clearly spelled out. Just forward that document to the professor and they’ll know exactly what to do.

Good luck! In the next post, we’ll cover the pre-departure preparations: Pre-Departure Preparations — NTU to Kyoto University.

Thanks for reading :D

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