SUBJECT: enquiry Dear Dr. &NAME , I am a visiting postdoctoral Mathematics researcher at the &NAME institute for Mathematics in &NAME , &NAME . I would like to apologize for sending you unsolicited e-mail . If I had not felt myself in desperate need of your guidance I would not have ventured to do so . At the moment my topic of research is mainly in Pure Mathematics . Specifically , the subject of my Ph. &NAME has been in Algebraic Topology . I received my Ph. &NAME degree at &NAME University in &NUM . I am now a little more than &NUM years beyond my Ph. &NAME and , increasingly , I feel that I do not really want to continue in Pure mathematics . In fact I would very much like to move into the area of language processing . This subject seems to encompass all &NUM of my interests : languages , logic and computers . In particular , I am interested in modeling the human language acquisition process via computer programming and mathematical analysis . I believe my mathematical background will enable me to quickly acquire the necessary computational background . This leaves me to concentrate on the formal study of linguistics . In this light , I thought a good fist step would be to take the &NAME &NAME . course in &NAME &NAME offered in your department and perhaps continue onto a second research degree . However , I am told that I can not be awarded a second higher degree from &NAME because of the Ph. &NAME I have already obtained . ( is this true ? ) I am writing to you in the hopes that you might have suggestions or advice on possible opportunities for me to do research in your department , interact with the people in your department and attend the courses offered in relation to the &NAME &NAME . degree I have mentioned above . I would be grateful for your help . Yours faithfully , &NAME &NAME 