<p>There is one university I am applying to for a PhD that has two research areas that I am very interested in and these two research topics are very different from each other. One of these areas is closely related to my previous coursework and research experience. The other area has very little relationship to anything I have done before (there are not very many universities involved in this research) but I think it is a very interesting and exciting research area. I have done a lot of reading about this other area and I have toured a lab that does this kind of research. </p>
<p>So in my statement of purpose should I mention that I am interested in both research areas even though they are very different. Or should I only talk about my interests in one topic because otherwise I may seem unfocused?</p>
<p>I think if you have space, mention both. Having two distinct research interests doesn’t sound unfocused to me. Saying you want do research in “biology” or even more specific “neuroscience”, sounds unfocused. But two specific topics, even if they are very different, doesn’t seem weird. I think in fact it is a good thing.</p>
<p>I’m applying with two research areas. They complement each other . Well, I MADE them complement by finding an intersection between the two areas. Professors were skeptical at first but once I proved it to them with my ideas, they went along with it.</p>
<p>The key is, stick to what you KNOW. And then if there’s room to show your flexbility in other areas, then say so.</p>
<p>Just try to find a relationship, how will your current research skills move into that new area?</p>
<p>Food for thought- once you get to grad school, your carefully derived plans that encompass your life’s passions and balance seemingly unrelated research projects may go out the window. You may find that there are some really cool things going on in a totally different department or group within a department. You can’t always tell these kind of things from publication records or from lab websites.</p>
<p>^ Exactly. I emailed a bunch of faculty members I am interested in working with to find out what they are doing now. A lot are doing different things that it says. Most of them are way cooler, because in general I think their research is cool… but yeah. That’s the best part of science, it is soo fluid. And in my undergrad labs, the descriptions of the research that my supervisors do is not really always that accurate. It is not false by any means, but it doesn’t give one an accurate picture of how much time is actually devoted to what.</p>