I would like to start by pointing out something. I am writing this for those who want to do an internship at universities abroad. I have sent applications to several companies for internship, however, they returned to me too late or never returned. Anyways, as I heard from others, if you don't have any connections with one of those companies, it is hard to find an internship.
Okay, folks. Let's say you have already found several supervisors at several universities that you would like to do your internship. Then, the very starting point of applying for an internship will be writing a motivational letter. There are a bunch of articles about this but I'd like to point out several things that I could not find during my search before applying to the internship abroad. Let's first start with what should be the most important properties of a motivational letter?Â
1- Personal and professional
2- Consistent
3- Shows the confidence of the writer
4- Determined
5- Concise
Above are the keys properties of the letter. What should you do? How can you use these items? Make sure you cover all the bullet points below in your letter;
As the fifth point says above, don't write too long! Supervisors do not have much time to read your letter and look at your CV. They will just look over.
Start by introducing yourself with a sentence and add one or two sentences with an explanation of your purpose of writing to them.
You can write in 3 paragraph structure as intro+body+conclusion. The intro should not pass 3 sentences.
In body paragraph, start with your goal and make it clear.
Focus on your strongest past experiences and qualities relevant to the research interest of the supervisor. Do not pass 3 sentences.
Do your research about the supervisor. Include them in your body. For instance, what he/she is doing and how it is relevant to what you are doing or what you want to do. Additionally, you can write the things they are doing and how you found them.
In conclusion, mention your main goal of writing. Show your appreciation for an opportunity.
If you are a sophomore, you can add the class you are going to take and have taken for a sentence to show the relevance.
An important note from me is mentioning that you don't have any funding expectations from the supervisor. Why? Because they don't prefer to take students for a short period of time and fund them. You are gonna take Erasmus+funding anyway.
SAMPLE MOTIVATIONAL LETTER
Dear Prof X,
     My name is XxX. I am a xx year studying environmental engineering at Xx University, I am seeking an eight-week summer internship for 20XX in xx and XX field.
     I would like to vary my career range from environmental engineering to xxx. Thus, I purpose to specialize in xx and XX for my graduate education. (Before mentioning the things about supervisor you can add couple of sentences about your qualifications and past experience). I have found out that you have extensive research in XX specifically in XX. You are also an international authority on the subject of XX. I was wondering if the department has any summer internship opportunities for the summer of 20XX. I do not need any funding for the internship. I just wanted to have the opportunity to work with you for my summer internship.
     My CV is attached to this email. As listed in my CV, I took courses like xx, xx, etc.
     This year I will take xxx.
     To conclude up; I would be appreciated if you could evaluate my CV for an appropriate summer internship opportunity.
I am looking forward to hearing from you soon.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Kind Regards,
XX