Considering a UK PhD: Your Next Steps

WritingaPhDresearchproposal:A6stepgeneralguideforprospectivePhD
researchers

Introduction

Thisshortguideisaimedathelpingyoutowriteagoodresearchproposal.Itisintendedtohelpyou
tothinkaboutyourproposedPhDresearchinaclear,structuredandmeaningfulway.

Itshouldbestressedthatthefollowingisonlyageneralguideanditdoesnotguaranteeacceptance
ontoaPhDprogramme.AcceptingPhDstudentsontoaresearchprogrammedependsonmany
factors,includingthenatureofyourproposedresearch,thequalityofyourideas,yourabilityto
committoanintensiveperiodofresearchstudy,theeffectivenessofyourresearchproposalin
communicatingyourideas,thematchbetweentheproposedresearchandthepotentialsupervisor
andthecapacityoftheresearchdepartment.

Thekeymessageinthisguideisthatitisyourresearchproposalandthequalityofitwillbea
considerablefactorusedintheuniversitysdecisiontoacceptyouontoaPhDprogramme.

Inshort,thebetteryourproposal,thebetteryourchancesofbeingaccepted.

Note:Ifyouareapplyingforaspecificpredefinedresearchprojectinscience,technology,
engineering,mathematicsormedicineyoumaynotneedtosubmitaproposal.

Whyagoodresearchproposalisessentialtotheapplicationprocess

Asoutlinedabove,yourresearchproposalisanintegralpartofthePhDapplicationprocess,soitis
certainlyworthinvestingtimeandenergyintoit.Itneedstooutlinethenatureofyourproposed
PhDstudyandgivesomeindicationofhowyouwillconductyourresearch.

Rememberthataresearchproposalisaboutwhatyouwanttostudy;itimmediatelyreflectsyour
initialunderstandingof,andcommitmentto,PhDstudy.Aresearchproposalcanandshouldmakea
positiveandpowerfulfirstimpressionaboutyourpotentialtobecomeagoodresearcher.
Importantly,themainpurposeistoenabletheuniversitytoassesswhetheryouareagoodmatch
foroursupervisorsandourareasofresearchexpertise.

Therefore,inagoodresearchproposalyouwillneedtodemonstratetwomainthings:

1. thatyouarecapableofindependentcriticalthinkingandanalysis

2. thatyouarecapableofcommunicatingyourideasclearly

ApplyingforaPhDislikeapplyingforajob,youarenotapplyingforataughtprogramme.
WhenyoustartaPhDyouwillbecomeavaluedresearcherinanacademicdepartment.Through
yourresearchproposalyourcolleagueswanttoknowwhethertheycanworkwithyou,andwhether
yourideasarefocussed,interestingandrealistic.Tryandimpressthem!

Considering a UK PhD: Your Next Steps

SinceyouaregoingtobeinvestingaminimumofthreeyearsofyourlifeworkinghardonyourPhD,
afewdaysspentresearchingandwritingathoroughresearchproposalisasmallinitialinvestmentto
make.Inshort,aresearchproposalisanessentialfirststepinyourPhDjourney.Makesureyougive
ityourfullestconsiderationandeffort.

Youarenotexpectedtobetheexpert

Remember,youdonotneedtohaveaPhDtowritearesearchproposal!Yourproposalshouldbe
indicativeanditshouldoutlineyourareasofinterestandyourgeneralinsightintotheresearch
topic.Youarenotexpectedtobeanexpertandtobefamiliarwithallthespecificdetailsofyour
subject.However,youareexpectedtohaveagoodlevelofknowledgeaboutthesubjectandwhere
youmightmakeavaluablecontributiontoresearch.

6stepstoasuccessfulresearchproposal

Somepeopleseemtothinkaresearchproposalistoocomplicatedandaninconvenientpartofthe
applicationprocess.Agoodresearchproposalshouldnotbecomplicated.However,itcanbe
challengingtowriteanditisimportanttogetright.APhDischallenging,soitisgoodtraining
workingonyourresearchproposal.

Althoughthereisnoexactprescribedformatforageneralresearchproposal(acrossallsubjects),all
ofthefollowingaredeemedimportanttoconsider.Youneedtocheckyourownsubjectsparticular
conventionsandexpectations(bylookingontheappropriateExetercollegewebsite).Insummary
though,aresearchproposalshouldgenerallyincludesixmainsections,asdetailedbelow:

1) aclearworkingtitleforyourresearchproject

o whatwillyoucallyourproject?
o whatkeywordswoulddescribeyourproposal?

2) aclearstatementaboutwhatyouwanttoworkonandwhyitisimportant,interesting,
relevantandrealistic

o whatareyourmainresearchobjectives?thesecouldbearticulatedashypotheses,
propositions,researchquestions,orproblemstosolve
o whatdifferencedoyouthinkyourresearchwillmake?
o whydoesthisresearchexciteyou?
o whatresearchgapswillyoubefillingbyundertakingyourproject?
o howmightyourresearchaddvaluetothesubject?
o isyourresearchachievableinthetimeallocated?(e.g.3yearsfulltime)

3) somebackgroundknowledgeandcontextoftheareainwhichyouwishtowork,including
keyliterature,keypeople,keyresearchfindings

o howdoesyourworklinktotheworkofothersinthesameorrelatedfields?
o wouldyourworksupportorcontesttheworkofothers?
o howdoesyourworkrelatetotheexpertisewithinthedepartmentyouareapplying
to?
Considering a UK PhD: Your Next Steps

4) someconsiderationofthemethods/approachyoumightuse

o howwillyouconductyourresearch?
o willyouuseexistingtheories,newmethods/approachesordevelopnewmethods/
approaches?
o howmightyoudesignyourprojecttogetthebestresults/findings?

5) someindicationofthestrategyandtimetableforyourresearchprojectandanyresearch
challengesyoumayface

o whatwouldbethemainstagesofyourproject?
o whatwouldyoubeexpectingtodoineachyearofyourPhD?
o whatchallengesmightyouencounterandhowmightyouovercomethese?

6) alistofthekeyreferenceswhichsupportyourresearchproposal

o referencesshouldbelistedintheappropriateconventionforyoursubjectarea(e.g.
Harvard).Suchreferencesshouldbeusedthroughoutyourresearchproposalto
demonstratethatyouhavereadandunderstoodtheworkofothers.
o otherrelevantmaterialthatyouareawareof,butnotactuallyusedinwritingyour
proposal,canalsobeaddedasabibliography

Alloftheabovesixsectionsareimportant,butsection2isparticularlyimportantbecauseinany
researchproject,establishingyourmainpurposerepresentsthewholebasisforcompletingthe
researchprogramme.Therefore,thevalueofyourproposedresearchisassessedinrelationtoyour
researchaimsandobjectives.

Theappropriatelengthofaresearchproposal

Agoodresearchproposalisaslongasittakes,butaguidewouldbe10002000words.Remember
thatitismeanttobeanaccurateoverview,notathesis,soyouneedtoprovideenoughdetailforthe
readertounderstandit.Itshouldnotbetoolong,ortooshort.Aparagraphwouldnotbeenough,
and5000wordslikelytoomuch.

Theperfectresearchproposal

Inadditiontotheabove,anexcellentresearchproposalalsoneedsto:

o followanyuniversityandcollege/departmentalguidanceonwebsites.Conventionscan,
anddo,differacrosssubjectsandthereforeacrosstheUniversityofExeter.Therefore,you
mustcheckthecollege/departmentwebsiteforspecific(subject)adviceandguidance.

o berefinedandeditedanumberoftimesbeforeitissubmitted.Youmustdemonstratethat
youhavegivenyourproposalalotofindividualattentionandcare.Makesureitiswell
written,withoutanyerrors.

Considering a UK PhD: Your Next Steps

o leavethereaderwithaclearsenseofthepurposeanddirectionofyourresearchproject.
Thereadershouldnothavetoreadittwicetounderstandit.

o leavethereaderinterested,excitedandwantingtofindoutmoreaboutyourideas,and
aboutyou!

Followthe3Csrule:

Whenyouhavewrittenyourresearchproposal,askafriendtoreaditcriticallyandprovideyouwith
feedback.Also,askyourselfwhetheritfollowsthe3Csrule:

CLEAR:iswhatyouhavewrittenintelligibleandclearlyarticulated?Doesitmakesense,orisitvague
andconfusing?

CONCISE:haveyouwrittenyourproposalinasuccinctandfocussedway?

COHERENT:doesyourproposallinktogetherwellsothatittellsthereaderashortstoryaboutwhat
youwanttodo,whyyouwanttodoitandhowyouwilldoit?

Ifyoucananswerallofthese3Cquestionswithconfidence,youhaveprobablyputtogetheragood
proposal.

Lastthoughts

Rememberthatyourresearchproposalshouldleaveapositivefirstimpressionuponthereader
aboutyourfitnesstostudyaPhD.Itisyourproject,soitisimportanttodemonstrateleadershipin
thisfirststageoftheapplicationprocess.Anidealproposalshouldleavethereaderfeelinginno
doubtthatyouhavedonesomepreliminaryresearchaboutyoursubjectandthatyouare
knowledgeableandreadytotacklethechallengesofthePhD.

Giveyourproposalyourutmostattentionandtime,butalsoberealisticyouarenotexpectedto
knoweverythingatthisstage.Yourproposalcanalsobeflexible.Itisnotacontract.Alwaysask
someoneelsetoreadyourproposalbeforeyousubmitit,andtoofferyousomecriticalbut
supportivefeedback.

Finally,rememberthataresearchproposalinstantlyreflectsyourpotentialcompetenceto
undertakeaPhDeffectively.Aproposalisultimatelyaboutyourabilitytodemonstratethatyouare
capableofPhDstudy,soyoushouldputtimeandeffortintoit.