EN411 Research Project A

EN411 Research Project A

Research Proposal Submission Guide

Table of Contents

1. Introduction 3
1.1 Creating the Research Proposal 3
2. Obtaining Approval for the Proposed Research 3
3. Research in the Workplace 3
3.1 Routine Work Activities 3
3.2 Collaboration 3
4. The Research Proposal 3
5. Supervisor Roles 4
6.
7.
8.
Confidentiality
Human Ethics Approval
Surveys

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5
5
9.
9.1
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Referencing and Plagiarism
Avoiding Plagiarism
5
6
10. Example of a Research Proposal 7
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 EN411 Research Project A

Creating and Submitting Your Research

Proposal

 This document must be perused by

students who intend to study the Subject
EN411 Research Project A.
 The document must be read and acted
upon immediately at the start of
semester to ensure a timely
commencement of research activities.
 An essential action is to consult relevant
Departmental staff during the process of
forming the research proposal.
 You must the Research Proposal Form as
provided as an example within this

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document and as a separate document.
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 EN411 Research Project A

1. Introduction
Research Project A develops a student’s research skills by the undertaking of challenging
research within their Department. The approval process is designed to assist students to
enhance their agreed a topic such that it poses a research hypothesis/question, meets the
criteria for investigation and to develop the initial methodology to execute the research.

1.1 Creating the Research Proposal

Constructing the research proposal is critical. The topic should be:
 An informative and concise topic
 A research hypothesis/question;
 Be of very high interest to the student;
 Meet the relevant learning outcomes of the Subject;
 Capable of future development in depth at a Provincial and/or National or level;
 Achievable within the resources within the School and available to the student; and

2.

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 Meet the requirement of your degree at the PNGNQF Level 8.

Obtaining Approval for the Proposed Research

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Prior to commencing work on your project, you must submit your ‘EN411 Research Project
Proposal Form’, to the School of Engineering via your Department.

3. Research in the Workplace

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3.1 Routine Work Activities
Routine work activities do not meet the requirements of a research project as defined by
higher education sector. Any employer supporting a research project must verify that the
project is not significantly undertaken as routine work and that the research project is of such
a standard that it will extend and develop the student’s knowledge, skills and capabilities at
PNGNQF Level 8.

3.2 Collaboration
Collaboration is an essential part of most engineering research projects. For effective
examination of the research project report to occur the examiners must be able to ascertain
what work has been actually undertaken by who is submitting the research report. If the
report is based on team activities, then you must provide details of their individual
contribution.

4. The Research Proposal

The submission must contain the information required within the ‘Research Proposal Form’.
The intended research design and methodology is very important as it summarises the

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 EN411 Research Project A

methods to be used to collect information and analyse data. The description provided
should be sufficiently detailed and referenced to establish that the research methods are
adequate to fulfil the stated aim of the project. Any predictable problems and/or difficulties to
be encountered in the undertaking of the project should be identified.

The initial development of the methodology and the setting of a preliminary structure for the
report provide the student with an initial plan, which can be set in a time frame. While it is
difficult to estimate the times required for the different phases of a research project it is
essential to have targets so that progress can be monitored and any required adjustments
made. It is necessary to set these out in a bar/Gantt chart or list of target dates and use this
to monitor progress.

The preliminary literature search undertaken to validate the proposed research is extremely
important as it places the research in a national/international context. In any investigation it
is important to establish and undertake an initial review of the work that has been
undertaken previously in the area. The sources must be adequately and correctly recorded
and referenced.

As the research progresses you will need to access more fundamental sources of
information such as texts and current journals and articles in conferences, the media or
information from relevant research focused web sites.

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It is to be expected that the research project will evolve as you critically analysis and
synthesis the complex body of knowledge relevant to your original research topic and
hypothesis. If, however, the research evolves to become substantially different from that
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originally proposed and approved, then you must seek approval from the School when such
a change becomes evident.

Remember that it is important not to let the research project grow into a “PhD”.

5. Supervisor Roles
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The ‘Research Proposal Form’ must include the name of an appropriate staff member who
will act as your supervisor. The supervisor’s role would normally include the following:
 To hold regular discussions with you to help resolve any operational difficulties and assist
with development of knowledge and skills. It is recommended that weekly meetings are
scheduled,
 To support you in obtaining necessary information and resources and to assist to
interpret the body of knowledge within the context of the research question,
 To encourage you to produce research outcomes of high quality through critical analysis,
reflection and synthesis,
 To scan draft reports and provide constructive feedback, and
 To assist the School in the evaluation of the final research report.

6. Confidentiality

As common across the sector for publication of research reports and theses, PDF versions

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 EN411 Research Project A

of all Industry Research Reports will be normally made available via the University’s website
for public access.

In some cases, it may be necessary to preserve confidentiality of your research report and
withhold public access. In such cases, the School is prepared to assure confidentiality and a
confidential research report may be requested not to be placed on the website for an agreed
period, not exceeding 3 years. Students must indicate on their ‘EN411 Research Project
Proposal Form’ if they believe that confidentiality is required.

7. Human Ethics Approval

Ethical approval is required for all human research. Human research is defined here as
research conducted with or about people, their data, and/or their tissue. People can be
involved in research by taking part in surveys or interviews, or focus groups. If your research
involves human research, you must apply for ethics approval, and must not begin any
research activity until approval is received. You must indicate on your ‘EN411 Research
Project Proposal Form’ if you believe that confidentiality is required.

8. Surveys

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A survey can be created after ethics approval has been obtained. The default vehicle for the
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creation and distribution of surveys will be Survey Monkey. Any survey undertaken by a
student must be reviewed by the supervisor prior to distribution. A survey may only be
distributed after approval is obtained from the supervisor. A survey must not be modified
and/or distributed after approval is obtained.

9. Referencing and Plagiarism

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The Harvard System in-text referencing is required for all assessment tasks. References
within the text give the author's name and year of publication (with page number if
necessary). Note that surnames only are used and initials are added only when they are
required to distinguish between authors of the same surname.

Refer to the University of Adelaide Harvard Referencing Guide, available at:

https://www.adelaide.edu.au/writingcentre/sites/default/files/docs/harvard-referencing-
guide.pdf

Example:
It is established law that 'Exercise of an option should be strictly in accordance with its terms'
(Vermeesch, 1987 p132).

The list of references is placed at the end of the research report. It is arranged in
alphabetical order of authors' surnames and chronologically for each author (where more
than one work by an author is cited). The author's surname is placed first, followed by
initials and then immediately followed by the year of publication. If an author has published
more than one work in any one year, the entries are given additional lower-case letters
immediately after the year to distinguish them. These additional letters should also be

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 EN411 Research Project A

placed in the textual references. If an author is not identified it is customary to credit the
organisation as author and publisher.
Example of reference list:
Van Horne J, Nicol R & Wright K, 1985, Financial Management and Policy in Australia, 2nd
edition, Prentice-Hall of Australia, Sydney.
Vermeesch RB & Lindgren KE, 1987, Business Law of Australia, 5th edition, Butterworths,
Sydney.
Zargar M, Banerjee S, Bullen F. & Ayers R, 2017, An Investigation into the Use of Ultrasonic
Wave Transmission Techniques to Evaluate Air Voids in Asphalt. Global Civil Engineering
Conference (GCEC2017). Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

9.1 Avoiding Plagiarism

A definition of plagiarism provided by Collins Dictionary (n.d) is, ‘Plagiarism is the practice of
using or copying someone else's idea or work and pretending that you thought of it or
created it’. It is very important that all material gathered during your literature review and
used in the research report is correctly referenced using the Harvard Referencing System.

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Students who plagiarise will likely be committing academic misconduct. Plagiarism is dealt
with in line with University Policy and Procedures and will result in substantial reduction in
marks or exclusion.
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Collins n.d, Definition of Plagiarism, viewed 14 October 2021, Plagiarism definition and
meaning | Collins English Dictionary (collinsdictionary.com)
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 EN411 Research Project A

10. Example of a Research Proposal

The following is an example of a partially completed Form. Yours must contain much
more detail:
Student Name and Number:

Jamie Wansom # 480905

The Research Topic/Question

Topic: The Role of Truck Tyre Shape and Composition in Asphalt Rutting

Research Hypothesis: Different types of truck tyres result in different rates of asphalt rutting.

Project Background

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Anecdotal evidence from trucking companies suggest that stiff walled truck tyres are utilised with
high tyre pressures to obtain reduced fuel costs due to lower rolling resistance (insert ref 1, ref 2). It
is hypothesized that such a combination results in significantly increased rates of rutting in locations
where trucks with such tyres are at low speeds. The overall whole of life costs of pavement
maintenance and rehabilitation versus fuel savings are largely unknown (insert ref 3) and a model to
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estimate benefit to cost ratios would be of value to industry and road authorities (insert ref 4).

Project Objectives

The research project’s main objective is:

1. To show that stiff walled truck tyres, at high pressures, cause a disproportionate amount of
rutting damage compared to normal truck tyres at standard pressures.
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The supporting sub-objective is:
 Development of a finite element model to represent asphalt loaded by different truck tyres
and their contact stress distributions.

Research Methodology/Analysis

The methodology will be to utilise an international literature survey to show that truck tyres
manufactured to different shapes from different materials result in different rutting rates in climbing
lanes and at intersections. This has been shown in previous (insert ref 5, ref 6, ref 7) where
transport savings have been balanced by maintenance and rehabilitation cost outcomes.
The literature survey will be supported by finite element modeling by:
 Using representative asphalt moduli treating the asphalt as a non-linear elastic material.
Only 3 moduli for dense graded asphalt (DGA) will be investigated.
 Imposing of tyre loads by application of simulated of tyre footprint stress distributions to
the model. Only 3 stress distributions will be investigated.
Data will be analysed using normal linear regression (ref 8) with vehicle speed regimes being
maintained constant while asphalt modulus and tyre contact stress patterns are varied.

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 EN411 Research Project A

Structure of Project Report

The research report shall use the following chapter headings as an outline:
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Review of the International Literature
3. Reported Case Studies
4. Model Development
5. Numerical Analysis
6. Benefit-Cost Outcomes
7. Discussion of Results
8. Conclusions and Recommendations
9. References
10. Appendices

References

Ref 1
Ref 2
Ref 3

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Ref 4
Ref 5
Ref 6
Ref 7
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Ref 8
Gantt Chart
The research schedule copied below is the free template available from the website Gantt
project planner (office.com)
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 EN411 Research Project A

Project Planner
Select a period to highlight at right. A legend describing the charting follows. Period Highlight: 1 Plan Duration Actual Start % Complete Actual (beyond plan) % Complete (beyond pla

PLAN ACTUAL ACTUAL PERCENT

ACTIVITY PLAN START PERIODS
DURATION START DURATION COMPLETE
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

Activity 01 1 5 1 4
25%

100%
Activity 02 1 6 1 6

Activity 03 2 4 2 5
35%

Activity 04 4 8 4 6
10%

85%
Activity 05 4 2 4 8
85%
Activity 06 4 3 4 6

Activity 07 5 4 5 3
50%

Activity 08 5 2 5 5
60%

75%
Activity 09 5 2 5 6

Activity 10 6 5 6 7
100%

60%
Activity 11 6 1 5 8
0%
Activity 12 9 3 9 3
50%
Activity 13 9 6 9 7
0%
Activity 14 9 3 9 1
1%
Activity 15 9 4 8 5

Activity 16 10 5 10 3
80%

0%
Activity 17 11 2 11 5

Activity 18 12 6 12 7
0%

0%
Activity 19 12 1 12 5
0%
Activity 20 14 5 14 6
44%
Activity 21 14 8 14 2
0%
Activity 22 14 7 14 3

Activity 23 15 4 15 8
12%

5%

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Activity 24 15 5 15 3
0%
Activity 25 15 8 15 5

Activity 26 16 28 16 30
50%
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 EN411 Research Project A

Human Ethics

Does this project require Human Ethics Approval? Yes ☐ No ☒

If you have indicated “Yes” you will need to submit the "School of Engineering Form for
Application for Exemption of Human Ethics’, which is available from the School of
Engineering.
Confidentiality
Is confidentiality requested for the Research Report that will be submitted? Yes ☐ No ☒

If you have indicated “Yes” you will need to submit the ‘School of Engineering Form for
Application for Restricted Access to and/or Confidential Examination Research Project
Report’ which is available from the School of Engineering.

End of Partially Completed Form Example

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