To be accepted as a doctoral candidate you need to write a PhD research proposal. There’s a lot of competition for PhD places out there at the moment so your PhD research proposal needs to really grab attention. It is going to be one of the most important 1500-3000 words you have written so far! Here’s what you might be asked to put in your proposal
Typical contents of a PhD research proposal
- Title page: Include a provisional title for your thesis.
- Statement of the research problem: What’s happening out there that needs (further) investigating. What kind of questions need asking? Why is this important and to whom? What gaps are there in knowledge at the moment? Is you’re a practical research problem or a theoretical one?
- Aims and objectives: Brief summary of you project. Give the aims in a few short statements, it’s too early for detail. Follow this up with some more precise objectives showing step by step how you will answer your research questions. Why is your research significant, what knowledge gaps will it be filling? For theoretical research problems, How will your research help to explain, predict, understand the phenomena of interest? How does your research suit the aims of the department you are applying to?
- Literature Review: A summary of the findings of the most relevant empirical studies
- Methodology: The main method choices – quantitative, qualitative or mixed. Ontology/ epistemology. Data collection methods.
- Research Schedule: A summary of how you see your work being spread across the 3/6 years
- Bibliography: A list of the key texts in the existing literature that will feature prominently in your work.
Ask the supervisor
Each university/ department has its own preferences and each potential supervisor also looks for different things. Drop the supervisor you are targeting an email and ask them what is required AND what their own preferences are. Don’t be frightened to ask, “Are there any things you particularly look for in a proposal?”, it shows initiative.
Make sure you write your proposal in a good standard of academic English you don’t want your English to distract from your ideas and least of all you don’t want the supervisor worrying whether your written English skills are up to the task.
Read part two of How to write a successful PhD research proposal here
