Can you write me a letter of recommendation?

Of course, I can write you a letter of recommendation for your study abroad, for your scholarship, etc.. You should keep in mind that your grade has only a small influence on what I am writing in such a letter. You should also keep in mind that a recommendation can be positive as well as negative. Please understand that I often know the recipients of these letters and that these recipients expect a frank assessment of strengths and weaknesses of your case.

Please understand also that a major purpose of such a letter is not to duplicate your grades but rather to convey information beyond your grades. It might also be interesting for the recipient to find answers to questions like the following: Is the applicant an organised and disciplined person who can work independently, reliably and in a structured way?

• A recommender should know you well and should be familiar with your project.

  If you have participated in one of my seminars, if you know you from supervising your master thesis, then I can make a statement about your scientific work. If your project has a focus in economic theory or behavioural economics, then I might be able to say something about your project. Otherwise your letter of recommendation is neither a recommendation for you nor for your project.

• Please provide me with an overview of the grades you have obtained at the FSU as a PDF (no Microsoft, please!). I will have a look at all your grades, not only the grades you obtained in my lectures.
• Please send me from your uni-jena.de account an email with your request. Please also provide me with a concise description and motivation of what you plan to do. The description of your project should make clear which courses you plan to take, why you have chosen exactly this University, and why it is necessary to support exactly you with this project (your files will be in PDF format, no Microsoft please!).
• To send these files, please use the FSU Cloud or the FSU Upload Service. Do not include attachments with your email.

I will then read your material and we arrange an appointment for a brief discussion of your project and your reasons to apply for this project. Please also keep in mind that the letter will always be sent by me directly to its destination. Hence, you have to ensure that I know in time the e-mail address and the surface mail address of the recipient.