Youareaskedtoreadthepassageaboutproposalwritingandthedotheexercisesgivenbelow.</span>Writingyourproposal</span>Whetheryouarelimitedtoonepage(aspartofaUniversityapplicationformoranenquiryform)orarerequiredtoproducesomethingmoresubstantialforanexternalfunder,therulesaboutwritingagoodresearchproposalarethesame.Youwanttostandoutfromthecrowdandhavethebestchanceofbeingselected.Thisguidehighlightsthe“GoldenRules”andprovidestipsonhowtowriteagoodresearchapplication.Prospectiveresearchstudentsmayfinditusefulwhenaskedtoprovidearesearchstatementaspartoftheiruniversityapplicationoraninformalenquiryform.</span>Universityapplications</span>Securingfundingdoesnotalwaysguaranteeanofferofaplaceattheuniversityyouareapplyingto.Whetheryouareapplyingtoconductyourownresearchortoundertakeanadvertisedproject,youwillneedtoapplyforaplaceattheuniversityofyourchoicebeforeoratthesametimeasyourapplicationforfunding.Auniversityapplicationforpostgraduatestudyismostlikelytoincludearesearchproposaland/orapersonalstatement,evenifyouareapplyingforafundedprojectdefinedbytheprospectivesupervisor.</span>Goldenrulesforpostgraduateresearchproposals</span>Contents:</span>•Beclear,objective,succinctandrealisticinyourobjectives</span>•Askyourselfwhythisresearchshouldbefundedand/orwhyyouarethebestpersontoundertakethisproject</span>•Askyourselfwhythisresearchisimportantand/ortimely</span>•Stateandjustifyyourobjectivesclearly(“becauseitisinteresting”isnotenough!)</span>•Makesureyouanswerthequestions:howwilltheresearchbenefitthewidersocietyorcontributetotheresearchcommunity?</span>Style:</span>•Ifspaceallows,provideaclearprojecttitle</span>•Structureyourtext–ifallowedusesectionheadings</span>•Presenttheinformationinshortparagraphsratherthanasolidblockoftext</span>•Writeshortsentences</span>•Ifallowed,provideimages/charts/diagramstohelpbreakupthetext</span>Theprocess:</span>•Identifyprospectivesupervisorsanddiscussyourideawiththem</span>•Avoidblanketgenerale-mailstoseveralprospectivesupervisors</span>•Allowplentyoftime–arushedproposalwillshow</span>•Getfeedbackfromyourprospectivesupervisorandbepreparedtotaketheircommentsonboard</span>•Ifapplyingtoanexternalfundingagency,rememberthatthereviewermaynotbeanexpertinyourfieldofresearch</span>•Sticktotheguidelinesandrememberthedeadline</span>Whattoputinyourproposal?</span>ApplicationprocessesaredifferentforeachUniversitysomakesuretofollowtherelevantguidelinesprovidedbytheinstitutionyouareapplyingto.However,ifyouarenotgivenanyguidelinesonhowtoformatyourresearchproposal,youcouldadoptthesuggestedstructurebelow.Thisisalsorelevantifyouareapplyingforexternalfundingoraskingyouremployertosponsoryoutoundertakearesearchdegree.</span>Suggestedstructureforaresearchproposal:</span>•Titleandabstract</span>•Backgroundinformation/briefsummaryofexistingliterature</span>•Thehypothesisandtheobjectives</span>•Methodology</span>•Howtheresearchwillbecommunicatedtothewidercommunity</span>•Thesupervisoryprovisionaswellasspecialistandtransferableskillstraining</span>•Ethicalconsiderations</span>•Summaryandconclusions</span>Writingtheproposal</span>Whenwritingyourproposal,bearinmindthatindividualsreviewingyourapplicationwilloftenhavetoreadalargenumberofproposals/applications.So,well-presentedandclearlywrittenproposalsaremorelikelytostickinthereviewer’smind.Avoidlongandconvolutedtitles.Youwillgetanopportunitytogivemoredetailinyourintroduction.</span>Adoptedfrom:https://www.ed.ac.uk/files/imports/fileManager/HowToWriteProposal090415.pdf</span>Nowfinishthefollowingsentencewiththeinformationfromtheabovepassage</span>a)Whetheryouareapplyingtoconductyourownresearchortoundertakeanadvertisedproject,youwillneedto______beforeoratthesametimeasyourapplicationforfunding.</span>