international relations research proposal

Designing a Research Proposal

Before conducting research, whether this is for an undergraduate project/essay,or a dissertation or thesis, it is important that you design a research proposal first. This will serve as a plan to orient you as you conduct your research and seek to answer the question(s) you have set. Every university (and programme within) will have its own guidelines for this, but the resources below give some accessible overviews on how a research proposal works in general, and then lists some examples the E-International Relations team has found useful from universities around the world.

The resources below have been curated by the E-International Relations team. You can find more resources on our methods homepage .

How to Develop a Good Research Topic by KStateLibraries (YouTube)

How To Write A Strong Research Proposal by Dr Amina Yonis (Youtube)

‘The Perfect Proposal’ by Dr. Hastings of the Texas A&M University Writing Center (YouTube)

Developing Research Questions by Monash University (website).

Doing a Literature Review

An essential part of any proposal is a review of the relevant literature already published on the topic you are researching. This shows that you understand where the existing debates are focused and (for more advanced works) can identify any gaps in the extant research that your work may address. Generally, literature falls into two broad categories: (1) Academic literature – this is books, journal articles and academic PhD theses… anything peer reviewed. (2) ‘Grey’ Literature – essentially anything not peer reviewed but useful to your research. this is a broad category that incorporates Newspaper/Magazine articles, policy or technical reports, government publications/archives, multimedia content (Podcasts, videos etc.) etc. Both academic and grey literature can be online or physical/in print and the distinction is less important than the nature and use of the materials in your literature review.

Get Lit: The Literature Review by Dr. Candace Hastings (YouTube)

Literature Review by University of Waterloo (website).

Andrew Booth, Diana Papaioannou, and Anthea Sutton, Systematic Approaches to Successful Literature Review (SAGE, 2012), pp.1–16. https://www.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upm-binaries/43465_Booth_et_al.pdf

Chris Hart, Doing a Literature Review (SAGE, 1998), pp.1–25. https://www.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upm-binaries/28728_LitReview___hart_chapter_1.pdf

Robin Kiteley and Chris Stogdon, Literature Reviews in Social Work (SAGE, 2014), pp.5–22. The Selection of a Research Approach. https://www.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upm-binaries/58106_Kiteley_&_Stogdon.pdf

John W. Creswell, Research Design Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches Fourth Edition (Sage, 2014). https://us.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upm-binaries/55588_Chapter_1_Sample_Creswell_Research_Design_4e.pdf

Examples of different university guides for research proposals

University of Nottingham https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/pgstudy/how-to-apply/research-proposal.aspx

Oxford University https://www.conted.ox.ac.uk/about/writing-your-research-proposal

King’s College London, Department of European and International Studies https://www.kcl.ac.uk/eis/postgraduate/eis-phd-research-proposal-guidelines

Guidelines for elaborating a master’s thesis or project. ISCTE Business School (Lisbon, Portugal). https://www.iscte-iul.pt/assets/files/2020/11/02/1604315461085_Guidelines_for_elaborating_a_Master_s_dissertation_or_project.pdf

Dissertation Proposal Template. Católica Lisbon School of Business and Economics. https://www.clsbe.lisboa.ucp.pt/system/files/assets/files/dissertation-proposal-template.pdf

Writing a research proposal. University of Melbourne https://students.unimelb.edu.au/academic-skills/explore-our-resources/graduate-research/writing-a-research-proposal

Types of Research Design. – University of Southern California. https://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/researchdesigns

Guidelines for the Preparation of Research Project, Dissertation and Thesis – University of Malaya. https://inpuma.um.edu.my/Guidelines_for_Preparation_of_Research_Project_Dissertation_and_Thesis.pdf

Research Proposal Guidelines. – University of Pretoria. https://www.up.ac.za/communication-management-division/article/2417100/research-proposal-guidelines

Writing a Research Proposal. – Victoria University of Wellington. https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/1341273/Writing-a-Research-Proposal.pdf

How to Prepare: Thesis Proposal. – University of Hong Kong. https://gradsch.hku.hk/f/page/476/1666/thesis-proposal.pdf

George Washington University, Dissertation Content and Style Guide. https://gsehd.gwu.edu/sites/default/files/gsehd_dissertation_content_and_style_guide.pdf.

Organizing your Social Sciences Research Paper. https://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide

Tips for Writing a Good Quality Social Science Research Paper. https://globaljournals.org/journals/human-social-science/tips-for-writing-a-good-quality-social-science-research-paper

Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Paper. https://libguides.pointloma.edu/c.php?g=944338&p=6806892

The Open University. (2021). “Postgraduate Study Skills”. The Open University. https://help.open.ac.uk/conducting-an-interview .

Types of Research Designs. University of Southern California Libraries. https://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/researchdesigns

Writing your research proposal (York St. John University). https://www.yorksj.ac.uk/study/research/apply/examples-of-research-proposals/

Further Reading on E-International Relations

• Designing and Conducting Surveys
• Research Ethics
• Introduction to Research Methods
• Quantitative Analysis Tools
• Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed Methods Approaches
• 9/11 and the War on Terror

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Preparing a proposal

Although your proposal will be assessed by subject specialists, please bear in mind that non-specialists are also involved in the admissions process and that decisions about studentship awards are likely to be taken by academics from different disciplinary backgrounds.

You should ensure, therefore, that the aims, structure and outline content of the proposed research are comprehensible to a broad academic audience.

Proposals should up to 5000 words long (at least 5 -7 double-spaced pages). You will be expected to situate your research within relevant scholarly literatures and to provide a full reference list. In particular, the proposal should include:

1. A statement of aims

These should outline the purposes of the research with reference to the general field and/or problematic you wish to examine.

2. The contribution

The contribution that the research intends to make to existing knowledge.

3. Rationale which demonstrates why the contribution is valuable

A rationale for the research which demonstrates why the intended contribution is interesting or valuable – if similar research has been done, why is a new approach necessary; if your research fills a gap in the literature, why should it be filled?

4. Discussion of the theoretical approach and/or the conceptual framework or analysis

You should indicate here what the primary structure of the research will be and what issues/concepts/ideas/policies or events will be discussed or analysed within it. If you intend to work to a hypothesis, you should state what this is.

5. Reflection on methodology

A reflection on methodology which shows how the assumptions of the research will be addressed in the analysis and why they are appropriate to it.

6. Discussion of the sources

A discussion of the sources – eg. interviews/published or unpublished data/archival or policy documents. If you intend to conduct field work you should give details. In all cases you should be as specific as you can and assess the possibility of access to relevant sources.

7. Research methods

A discussion of the research methods you will use to analyse your sources – eg. sampling, survey or interview design, data collection, discourse analysis.

8. Indication of study skills

An indication of your study skills: necessary language competence, familiarity with interview techniques/data processing etc.  

9. Chapter plan

A provisional chapter plan which shows how you intend to develop the argument of the thesis.

10. Research plan

A provisional research plan which indicates how you intend to schedule necessary research methods training/field or archival work/data design or collection.

MPhil/PhD International Relations

Introduction, preliminary readings.

Be part of one of the world's leading departments in the study of international relations, while undertaking a substantial piece of work that’s worthy of publication.

On this programme, you’ll have the opportunity to make an original contribution to the field of study. You’ll begin on the MPhil and be upgraded to PhD status at the end of your first year of registration.

The department is organised around four research clusters: International Institutions, Law and Ethics; Theory/Area/History; International Political Economy; and Statecraft and Security. You’ll belong to at least one of these clusters during your studies and attend its weekly events. You’ll also have the chance to participate in the editing of a student-run journal called Millennium: Journal of International Studies , which has a major role in the discipline.

The Department has strengths in international relations theory, security studies, international political economy, and European studies. As well as Europe, its specialist areas cover Russia, Central, Northeast and Southeast Asia, the USA, South America, the Middle East, and Africa.

Other areas of research include foreign policy analysis, nationalism, religion, historical sociology, international environmental politics, and strategic war studies. Often, our faculty will contribute to more than one of these subjects. As such, there’s interdisciplinary work across the Departments of Government and International History, as well as the many research centres at the School.

Students who successfully complete the programme often embark on an academic career. Recent doctoral graduates have also gone into careers in consultancy, education and teaching, NGOs and charities, international organisations, and roles within the public sector and government.

• The Professor Is In: The Essential Guide to Turning your PhD into a Job . Karen Kelsky (Three Rivers Press, 2015)
• How to Write a Lot: A Practical Guide to Productive Academic Writing . Paul J. Silvia (American Psychological Association, 2007)

Entry requirements

The minimum entry requirement for this programme is a high merit (65+) in a master’s degree in a subject relevant to the proposed research with high merit (65+) in the dissertation element, or equivalent. Applications which don't meet these criteria (or don't expect to do so on completion of any pending qualifications) aren't considered eligible.

Please select your country from the dropdown list below to find out the entry requirements that apply to you.

English language requirements

The English language requirement for this programme is Research . Read more about our English language requirements .

Competition for places at LSE is strong. So, even if you meet the minimum entry requirements, this does not guarantee you an offer of a place.

However, please don’t feel deterred from applying – we want to hear from all suitably qualified students. Think carefully about how you can put together the strongest possible application to help you stand out from other students.

Programme content

In addition to progressing with your research, you'll take courses in methods and research design. You may take courses in addition to those listed and should discuss this with your supervisor.

At the end of your first year, you'll need to satisfy certain requirements and if you meet these, will be retroactively upgraded to PhD status.

Methods in International Relations Research

Methodology short courses, students are required to take compulsory assessed courses to the combined value of one unit in agreement with their supervisor:, bayesian reasoning for qualitative social science: a modern approach to case study inference, qualitative methods in the study of politics, special topics in international relations, fundamentals of social science research design, qualitative research methods, case studies and comparative methods for qualitative research, doing ethnography, qualitative text and discourse analysis, introduction to quantitative analysis, applied regression analysis, multivariate analysis and measurement, survey methodology, causal inference for observational and experimental studies, quantitative text analysis, social network analysis, intermediate quantitative analysis, computer programming, applied machine learning for social science, students are required to attend one of the following international relations research cluster workshops:, international relations theory/area/history research workshop, security and statecraft research workshop, international institutions, law and ethics research workshop, international political economy research workshop, relevant optional courses provided by the library, the eden centre and the methodology department, programme regulations at lse.

For the latest list of courses, please go to the relevant School Calendar page .

A few important points you’ll need to know:

We may need to change, suspend or withdraw a course or programme of study, or change the fees due to unforeseen circumstances. We’ll always notify you as early as possible and recommend alternatives where we can.

The School is not liable for changes to published information or for changing, suspending or withdrawing a course or programme of study due to events outside our control (including a lack of demand, industrial action, fire, flooding or other damage to premises).

Places are limited on some courses and/or subject to specific entry requirements so we cannot therefore guarantee you a place.

Changes to programmes and courses may be made after you’ve accepted your offer of a place – normally due to global developments in the discipline or student feedback. We may also make changes to course content, teaching formats or assessment methods but these are always made to improve the learning experience.

For full details about the availability or content of courses and programmes, please take a look at the School’s  Calendar , or contact the relevant academic department.

Some major changes to programmes/courses are posted on our  updated graduate course and programme information page .

Why study with us

Discover more about our students and department.

Meet the department

The Department of International Relations is one of the largest of its kind in the world, home to 500 students, from 30 countries.

Founded in 1927, our department is a leading centre for teaching and research in international relations – ranked second in the UK and fourth globally in the QS World University Rankings 2023.

Many leading thinkers in the field – including Martin Wight, Hedley Bull and John Vincent – have taught in the department and pioneered new developments and thinking in the field. The department also helped found the student-run Millennium: Journal of International Studies  – one of the most prestigious international relations journals.

We have around 225 undergraduates, 220 postgraduates and 30 postgraduate research students on our programmes. Our aim is to provide a wide range of study options, covering diverse themes such as major theoretical perspectives on international relations, the study of conflict and conflict management, the work of international institutions and the major regions of the world, from Europe to the Middle East.

We’re proud of the broad international profile of our department – with students and staff from Europe, North America and further afield. As a department we’ve played a pivotal role in training diplomats and academics and we’re proud of their success in various fields.

Learn more about our programmes and research .

Department of International Relations

University of the Year 2025 and 1st in the UK

1st in london for the 13th year running, 6th in the world.

Carbon Neutral In 2021, LSE became the first Carbon Neutral verified university in the UK

Your application, when to apply.

We welcome applications for research programmes that complement the academic interests of our staff at LSE. For this reason, we recommend that you take a look at our  staff research interests  before applying.

We encourage research projects which will expand and diversify the research profile of the department.

We strongly encourage applications from high calibre students of all nationalities studying across all research areas at the School but, in particular, we are seeking to support applications from:

• UK students
• Black, Minority Ethnic (BME) students, especially from Black African / Caribbean, Pakistani and Bangladeshi heritage

Please note: Prospective candidates aren't expected to contact potential supervisors in advance of their application. Due to the high volume of enquiries, potential supervisors are unlikely to be able to provide feedback on enquiries and outline proposals. Individual academic members of staff are not able to make commitments to supervise prospective students outside of the formal application process involving selection by the Department PhD Sub-Committee.

We apply our entry criteria rigorously, so if you don't already meet or expect to meet them with any pending qualifications, you won't be eligible. We carefully consider each application on an individual basis, taking into account all the information presented on your application form, including your:

• academic achievement (including existing and pending qualifications)
• statement of academic purpose
• a research proposal of up to 4,000 words with a title and abstract (300 words max.) included at the beginning. The proposal should meet the criteria outlined on the department's MPhil/PhD webpage
• sample of written work.

See further information on supporting documents .

You may need to provide evidence of your English language proficiency. See our English language requirements .

Please note that LSE allows part-time PhD study only under limited circumstances . If you wish to study part-time, you should mention this (and the reasons for it) in your statement of academic purpose, and discuss it at interview if you're shortlisted.

The application deadline for this programme is 15 January 2025 .

This includes applications for School scholarships and externally-funded applications.

See the fees and funding section below for more details.

Fees and funding

The table of fees shows the latest tuition fees for all programmes.

You're charged a fee for your programme. Your tuition fee covers registration and examination fees payable to the School, lectures, classes and individual supervision, lectures given at other colleges under intercollegiate arrangements and, under current arrangements, membership of the Students' Union. It doesn't cover living costs or travel or fieldwork.

Home student fee (2025/26)

The fee is likely to rise over the full duration of the programme. The School charges home research students in line with fee levels recommended by the Research Councils.

Learn more about fee status classification .

Overseas student fee (2025/26)

The fee is likely to rise over the full duration of the programme in line with the assumed percentage increase in pay costs (ie, four per cent each year).

At LSE, your tuition fees, and eligibility for any financial support, will depend on whether you’re classified as a home or overseas student (known as your fee status). We assess your fee status based on guidelines provided by the Department for Education.

Further information about fee status classification .

Scholarships, bursaries and loans

Scholarships, studentships and other funding

We recognise that the  cost of living in London  may be higher than in your home town/city or country and we provide generous scholarships to help both home and overseas students.

For this programme, students can apply for  LSE PhD Studentships , and  Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funding . To be considered, you’ll need to submit your application (and any supporting documents) before the funding deadline.

Funding deadlines

Funding deadline for the LSE PhD Studentships and ESRC funding: 15 January 2025 .

In addition to our needs-based awards, we offer scholarships for students from specific regions of the world and awards for certain subjects .

External funding

Additional funding opportunities may be available through other organisations or governments. We strongly recommend you investigate these options as well.

Further information

Learn more about fees and funding , including external funding opportunities.

Learning and assessment

How you learn, how you're assessed, supervision.

You'll be assigned a lead supervisor who has the necessary expertise to oversee your research work. Lead supervisors guide you through your studies and are your main support contact during the PhD programme. You'll also be allocated a second supervisor by the end of Autumn Term to provide additional specialist input.

During your first year you'll attend and contribute to the Methods in International Relations Research seminar ( IR501 ), one of the Department Research Cluster workshops and take research methods training courses to the combined value of one unit from the recommended list courses. These are designed to strengthen your methodological skills and background knowledge of specific topics related to your research. During the second, third and fourth years you'll also attend and contribute to one of the Department Research Cluster workshops.

You'll also be assigned an adviser, a member of the International Relations faculty who will be familiar with your progress but won't necessarily be an expert in your research area. Your adviser will be involved in the review and upgrade process.

Progression and assessment

Each PhD thesis is unique, but the time frame everyone has to complete their thesis is four years.

All MPhil/PhD students at LSE are initially registered with MPhil status. Continued re-registration and upgrade are dependent on satisfactory progress being made.

Progress will be reviewed annually by a research panel made up of members of academic staff other than the supervisor. Students are normally upgraded to PhD status by the end of the first year, and no later than within 18 months of initial registration in line with Research Degrees Regulations. The Annual Progress Review may result in a decision allowing progression to the next academic session, conditional progression to the next academic session, or a recommendation of de-registration.

In order to progress to PhD registration, you must normally have met the progression requirements outlined below:

• Achieved a mark of at least 50 per cent in each of the required examined graduate-level course units in Research Methods training;
• Have made satisfactory progress in your research: this will be assessed by a face-to-face review panel involving two academic staff members and including the views of the supervisor. Review panels will be formed in consultation with the supervisor.

By the end of your first year, you'll be required to submit a statement of research including a research outline and one draft chapter of no more than 10,000 words. The proposal, which should illustrate your command of the theoretical and empirical literature related to your topic, will be a clear statement of the theoretical and methodological approach you'll take. This should demonstrate the coherence and feasibility of the proposed research and thesis. The submission will also include a timetable to completion, which should identify any periods of fieldwork necessary to your research. Panels will normally take place in weeks two to four of the Spring Term.

The material submitted will be also discussed and commented upon at IR501 lab sessions.

• Regular attendance at IR501 and the IR Research Cluster Workshop will be taken into account for progression: at least 80 percent attendance is expected.

In the unlikely event where a student is successful at passing the upgrade panel but requires a second attempt at completing the Research Methods Courses, they may be authorised to be upgraded but would be required to pass the course by the end of their second year in order to re-register.

Progress review

After the first year review panel, progress will be reviewed annually as per Regulations for Research Degrees.

In year 2, you'll be expected to submit two additional draft chapters and a timetable to completion which will be reviewed by the same panellists as in year 1. The two chapters should be substantially new work, but may include revised material from year 1. A virtual panel meeting will be scheduled in weeks two to four of the Spring Term and make recommendations on further progression based on progress made and quality of work submitted, as well as attendance at a Cluster Workshop.

Students in their third year of registration will be required to submit an annual progress report at the end of June, including a timetable to completion clearly setting out the work completed and remaining on the student’s research, as well as carry on with their commitment to a Research Cluster. These will need to be approved by the supervisor and reviewed by the Doctoral Programme Director in order to authorise re-registration.

Graduate destinations

Career support.

Students who successfully complete the programme often embark on an academic career. Recent doctoral graduates have also gone into careers in consultancy, education and teaching, NGOs and charities, international organisations and to roles within the public sector and government.

Further information on graduate destinations for this programme

Hear from some recent graduates

Victor Bojbov Head of Cooperation in the Delegation of the European Union in Azerbaijan

Giovanni Angioni Head of Government Social Research Strategy at the HM Treasury

Kiran Phull Assistant Professor in IR, Department of War studies at King’s College, London

Marnie Howlett Lecturer in Politics, Oxford

Check our recent completion page .

Median salary of our postgraduate students 15 months after graduating:

Top 5 sectors our students work in:.

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Many of the UK’s top employers give careers presentations at the School during the year and there are numerous workshops covering topics such as job hunting, managing interviews, writing a cover letter and using LinkedIn.

See LSE Careers for further details.

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• Department of Politics and International Relations

Writing a research proposal

The key feature of the PhD is that it is yours; the topic, planning, motivation, and thinking all come from you. It will be the most challenging type of academic work you have ever done, but also the most rewarding.

The Research Proposal – an outline

The research proposal constitutes the main way in which the department evaluates the potential quality of your PhD plans. The proposal should be approximately 1,500 words in length and include:

• A provisional title

Question or hypothesis

Value of the phd, existing literature, methods of work.

The title indicates the ‘headline’ character of the PhD. It should include any key concepts, empirical focus, or lines of inquiry that you aim to pursue. For example: ‘Are NGOs practising sustainable development? An investigation into NGO practice in rural Botswana’, or ‘Understanding the Preferential Turn in EU External Trade Strategy: A Constructivist International Political Economy Approach’. You can negotiate changes in the title with your supervisor should you be successful but it is important to devise a title that describes what you aspire to research – and which looks original and exciting.

You need a question or hypothesis to drive the research forward. The question/hypothesis will provide your motivation; to answer the question or prove/disprove the hypothesis. The question/hypothesis will need to be something that has not been posed before. This involves looking at something that no-one has looked at before, or it might mean taking a fresh approach to an existing topic or issue.

The aims of your research should be a short list of answers to the question - what will the PhD do? So, for example ‘this PhD will explore...’ or ‘by carrying out this research, I will contribute to debates about...’. The aims are broader than the questions/hypotheses; they give a prospective statement about the overall destination of the PhD and its potential impact.

The value of the PhD follows closely from the aims. Think about how the ways it might improve our political thinking - a new perspective or the generation of new evidence? To whom might the PhD be interesting - scholars looking at a particular issue, communities within specific institutions or certain groups of people?

A short note of key existing literature situates the PhD in existing research. Literature reviews are not simply descriptive mapping exercises at PhD level. Here you should identify a small number of key texts and say something about how these books are important for your research - whether it is to support, extend, or challenge existing work.

The resources you require can vary according to the nature of the research: access to a particular archive, specialist library, visits to field sites, the use of analytical software, access to databases, training, workshop attendance and so on. It is important to list any of these resources and give a very brief account of how they will enhance the PhD.

The methods of work is a particularly important section. This is where you can say something about how you will answer your question or prove your hypothesis. It is relatively easy to ask a new question; it is more challenging to set out how you might come up with a convincing answer! Methods do not only mean empirical methodologies such as semi-structured interviews or surveys and statistical interpretation; it also might involve a statement on the kind of theoretical framework you will employ, a certain kind of approach to history or a way to understand political ideas. Methods are, therefore, qualitative, quantitative, theoretical, empirical, positivistic, heuristic... whatever fits with your research.

The research also needs a  timetable . This should be set out over three years with clear indications of how long you will need to prepare for and carry out research (however defined) and allow time for writing up. Try to be as detailed as you can at this stage.

Each of these criteria helps the Department of Politics and International Relations selectors make a good judgement about your proposal. By following these criteria you will have your best chance of getting your proposal accepted.

Three more important points:

• Try to be concise. Do not write too much – be as specific as you can but not wordy. It is a difficult balance to strike.
• Bear in mind that the proposal is a starting point. If you are registered to read for a PhD you will be able to work the proposal through with your supervisor in more detail in the early months.
• Take a look at the department’s  staff profiles . Can you identify possible supervisors and intellectual support networks within the department? The better able the department is to support your research, the better it will be for your proposal.

Related information

How to apply

Fees and funding

More guidance on writing a research proposal

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• School of Politics and International Relations

How to draft a research proposal

Your research proposal should be no longer than 2,000 words including any references to existing research.

Your title should be concise and descriptive.

Background and rationale

This section sets up why this proposed research is needed. You can briefly summarise the key literature in this area, identifying the gaps in knowledge concerning your topic of interest. Most importantly, you must make a convincing case as to why your research would create valuable and original knowledge.

Research questions

You need to formulate your research questions clearly and concisely. You should have an answerable question that can be investigated thoroughly within the available timeframe. (You will need to judge whether these are most clearly expressed before or after the theoretical framework.) Note: it’s important to keep these questions brief and reasonable in scope to avoid appearing overambitious.

Theoretical framework

In this section you expand on the background by clarifying which theoretical approaches you will be drawing on and why. You can demonstrate your knowledge of the research problem and your understanding of the theoretical context. Give consideration to broad issues within your chosen theoretical framework where appropriate, and note how they will affect the research process. Fully acknowledge those who have laid the groundwork for your research proposal.

This section should describe the practical steps necessary for the execution and completion of your project. If appropriate, you could demonstrate your knowledge of alternative methods, and make the case that your approach is the most appropriate and most valid way to address your research questions. Explain what data (broadly-defined) you will collect; how you will collect them, and what analyses you will perform on them. Explain what research skills you have, or state how you will acquire them. Do not skimp on the methods and practical sections by writing too much one the background and theoretical context.

Practical issues

These must be considered in relation to your methods. If you are intending to undertake fieldwork, consider where this might best be undertaken and for how long. If your fieldwork involves external organisations, then can you demonstrate that they will give you access to all the resources you need. Will your proposed research require specialised training? If so, where can you obtain such training and what will it cost? Does you research involve significant running costs for materials, specialist equipment and consumables? Have you got plans for securing the necessary funds?

It is important that you map out a reasonable schedule of your work so that you can monitor your own progress and manage your project effectively. Start with your intended finishing date and work backwards. Do not underestimate the amount of time that it takes to write a polished final thesis.

Dissemination

Your PhD should produce research of publishable quality. You might briefly note the type of publishable outputs you expect to generate and where you would like them to appear. This is especially important if you wish to pursue a career as an academic in a UK university.

Bibliography

• 1,000 words for a short version of the proposal to identify a potential supervisor
• 2,000 words for the full-length proposal for your formal application