tips to write a research proposal
ips for writing a research proposal
1. Follow the directions. Read and conform to all instructions found on the council website. Make sure that your proposal fits the criteria of the competition.
2. Break down your proposal into point form before writing your first draft. Based on the total length of the proposal, decide whether you will have headings/subheadings and what they will be (e.g. Introduction, Background Material, Methodology, etc.). These headings can be selected based on the advice given in the specific award instructions. For each section, lay out in point form what you will discuss.
3. Know your target audience. Describe your research proposal in non-technical terms. Use clear, plain language and avoid jargon. It must be well-written and free of typographic and grammatical errors. Remember, at every level, the adjudication committees are multi-disciplinary and will include researchers in fields other than your own. Therefore, follow the “KIS” principle – Keep It Simple! Reviewers like it that way.
4. Make an impact in the first few sentences. Reviewers are very busy people. You must excite them about your project from the beginning and make it easy for them to understand (and thus fund) your proposal. Show how your research is innovative. It is important that you show excitement for the project in order to excite reviewers.Organize your proposal so that it is tight, well-integrated, and makes a point, focused on a central question: “I am looking at this to show . . . .” Frequently (depending on the discipline) a tight proposal is best achieved by having a clear hypothesis or research objective and structuring the research proposal in terms of an important problem to be solved or fascinating question to ask, including the ways in which you intend to approach the solution.
5. Have a clear title. It is important that the title of your project is understandable to the general public, reflects the goal of the study, and attracts interest.
1. Follow the directions. Read and conform to all instructions found on the council website. Make sure that your proposal fits the criteria of the competition.
2. Break down your proposal into point form before writing your first draft. Based on the total length of the proposal, decide whether you will have headings/subheadings and what they will be (e.g. Introduction, Background Material, Methodology, etc.). These headings can be selected based on the advice given in the specific award instructions. For each section, lay out in point form what you will discuss.
3. Know your target audience. Describe your research proposal in non-technical terms. Use clear, plain language and avoid jargon. It must be well-written and free of typographic and grammatical errors. Remember, at every level, the adjudication committees are multi-disciplinary and will include researchers in fields other than your own. Therefore, follow the “KIS” principle – Keep It Simple! Reviewers like it that way.
4. Make an impact in the first few sentences. Reviewers are very busy people. You must excite them about your project from the beginning and make it easy for them to understand (and thus fund) your proposal. Show how your research is innovative. It is important that you show excitement for the project in order to excite reviewers.Organize your proposal so that it is tight, well-integrated, and makes a point, focused on a central question: “I am looking at this to show . . . .” Frequently (depending on the discipline) a tight proposal is best achieved by having a clear hypothesis or research objective and structuring the research proposal in terms of an important problem to be solved or fascinating question to ask, including the ways in which you intend to approach the solution.
5. Have a clear title. It is important that the title of your project is understandable to the general public, reflects the goal of the study, and attracts interest.