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M.Sc. Thesis Proposal

The Master's Thesis Proposal is a written document explaining, in-depth, the Master's thesis envisaged by the student and their supervisor(s). The proposal must state the research question, present the hypothesis being tested, review the relevant background literature, summarize the methodology that is used, and present the research data to date. The Advisory Committee will review and evaluate the written proposal to ensure that the proposed research project meets the academic requirements of the degree sought and that it is satisfactory in both content and style. The committee will communicate its recommendations to the student and the Graduate Committee. 

The proposal should be 20-25 pages in length, double-spaced. This page length does not include the bibliography and figures. The proposal must include the following sections:

• Introduction and Statement of Problem
• Background Information (relevant literature leading up to your studies) 
• Rationale for the study, hypothesis, and specific aims 
• Methods for each specific aim, including the rationale for the choice of methods when alternatives exist, possible problems that may be encountered and their solutions, analysis and interpretation of data, etc. 
• Summary of results to date (specific items may be included in methods, if preferable)
• Short conclusion and statement of expected contributions to original knowledge
• Preliminary bibliography  

Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory

If the proposal is deemed unsatisfactory, the supervisor must discuss its weaknesses with the student and must incorporate changes that will ameliorate the proposal.  The student is then responsible for submitting the Thesis Proposal Form to myProgress.

Overview and Deadline

The IPN requires all M.Sc. students to do their thesis proposal within 20 months of admission into the program . Once you have drafted your thesis proposal, please review it with your supervisor first. Once you are in agreement with your supervisor about your proposal, then circulate it to your Advisory Committee to receive feedback on your draft. We strongly advise that you start circulating your draft a few months before the 20 month deadline as not to miss this milestone, which will be documented as a delay on your record in myProgress. Once the Advisory Committee unanimously confirms that the your thesis proposal is satisfactory, you must submit the signed thesis proposal form to myProgress.

Important Notes

Neurology and Neurosurgery: Presentation of a written thesis proposal by the end of the first year in the program. This document stating the hypothesis being tested, relevant literature and methodology will be orally presented to the student's Advisory Committee which will also review the written proposal and communicate its recommendations to the student and the Graduate Studies Committee.

Offered by: Neurology and Neurosurgery

• Restriction: M.Sc. students only
• This course is not scheduled for the 2024 academic year
• There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024 academic year

Department and University Information

Integrated program in neuroscience (ipn).

• The Montreal Neurological Institute
• The Douglas Mental Health University Institute
• Alan Edwards Center for Research on Pain
• Center for Research in Neuroscience
• Center for Research on Brain, Language and Music
• McGill Vision Research
• McGill Department of Biology
• McGill Department of Pharmacology
• McGill Department of Psychology
• McGill Department of Physiology
• The Brain@McGIll

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How to write a research proposal for a Master's dissertation

Unsure how to start your research proposal as part of your dissertation read below our top tips from banking and finance student, nelly, on how to structure your proposal and make sure it's a strong, formative foundation to build your dissertation..

It's understandable if the proposal part of your dissertation feels like a waste of time. Why not just get started on the dissertation itself? Isn't 'proposal' a just fancy word for a plan?

It's important to see your Master's research proposal not only as a requirement but as a way of formalising your ideas and mapping out the direction and purpose of your dissertation. A strong, carefully prepared proposal is instrumental in writing a good dissertation.

How to structure a research proposal for a Master's dissertation

First things first: what do you need to include in a research proposal? The recommended structure of your proposal is:

• Motivation: introduce your research question and give an overview of the topic, explain the importance of your research
• Theory:  draw on existing pieces of research that are relevant to your topic of choice, leading up to your question and identifying how your dissertation will explore new territory
• Data and methodology: how do you plan to answer the research question? Explain your data sources and methodology
• Expected results: finally, what will the outcome be? What do you think your data and methodology will find?

Top Tips for Writing a Dissertation Research Proposal

Choose a dissertation topic well in advance of starting to write it

Allow existing research to guide you

Make your research questions as specific as possible

When you choose a topic, it will naturally be very broad and general. For example, Market Efficiency . Under this umbrella term, there are so many questions you could explore and challenge. But, it's so important that you hone in on one very specific question, such as ' How do presidential elections affect market efficiency?'  When it comes to your Master's, the more specific and clear-cut the better.

Collate your bibliography as you go

Everyone knows it's best practice to update your bibliography as you go, but that doesn't just apply to the main bibliography document you submit with your dissertation. Get in the habit of writing down the title, author and date of the relevant article next to every note you make - you'll be grateful you did it later down the line!

Colour code your notes based on which part of the proposal they apply to

Use highlighters and sticky notes to keep track of why you thought a certain research piece was useful, and what you intended to use it for. For example, if you've underlined lots of sections of a research article when it comes to pulling your research proposal together it will take you longer to remember what piece of research applies to where.

Instead, you may want to highlight anything that could inform your methodology in blue, any quotations that will form your theory in yellow etc. This will save you time and stress later down the line.

Write your Motivation after your Theory

Your Motivation section will be that much more coherent and specific if you write it after you've done all your research. All the reading you have done for your Theory will better cement the importance of your research, as well as provide plenty of context for you to write in detail your motivation. Think about the difference between ' I'm doing this because I'm interested in it ' vs. ' I'm doing this because I'm passionate, and I've noticed a clear gap in this area of study which is detailed below in example A, B and C .'

Make sure your Data and Methodology section is to the point and succinct

Link your Expectations to existing research

Your expectations should be based on research and data, not conjecture and assumptions. It doesn't matter if the end results match up to what you expected, as long as both of these sections are informed by research and data. 

Published By Nelly on 01/09/2020 | Last Updated 23/01/2024

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MSc thesis proposal

Master’s thesis proposal checklist, master’s thesis proposal defence, sphs policy on absent committee members for master’s proposal defences, master’s thesis proposal decisions, master’s thesis final defence, sphs policy on absent committee members for msc thesis defence, decision categories for master’s thesis defences.

Once you and your supervisor agree that the written proposal is ready for presentation, there are several steps to follow:

• Contact all members of the thesis committee to determine possible dates and times for the presentation.
• Book a room for a two-hour period (or book a remote videoconference if this option is available) and inform all committee members of the date, time and room booking. The Faculty of Health receptionist can assist with room bookings. The receptionist can also advise you on which rooms are typically booked for proposal presentations. Ultimately, you are responsible for confirming that the room contains all necessary AV equipment for your presentation. If not, then you must book this equipment in advance or change rooms. Please note, IT support is not normally available for remote videoconferencing.
• Complete the MSc Thesis Proposal Notification Form (available on LEARN in the SPHS Research Grad Community Group) and submit it to the graduate coordinator a minimum of three weeks in advance of the proposal. Note: the information provided in the MSc Thesis Proposal Notification Form will be used to draft a LEARN announcement and the thesis proposal paperwork.
• Provide each member of the committee, as well as the graduate coordinator, with a copy of the proposal at least three weeks in advance of the presentation. A PDF is recommended to retain your formatting, although individual committee members may request their copy in Word format.

The graduate coordinator will provide the supervisor with the decision form and a set of guidelines for conducting the defense at least one day before the scheduled defense date. The thesis supervisor chairs the thesis proposal defence, which consists of a 20 minute presentation, followed by two rounds of questions wherein each committee member has a maximum of 15 minutes to ask questions in the first round and a maximum of 10 minutes to ask questions in the second round. Between the first and second round of questions, the student may elect to take a brief break (five minutes maximum). After the question rounds are completed, the student leaves the room or videoconference, and the thesis committee deliberates to reach a decision. Following deliberations, the supervisor will share the decision with the student and indicate the committee’s decision to the graduate research coordinator immediately. If the decision is anything other than Accepted (see below), the supervisor must submit a list of required changes, or reasons for rejections as stipulated for each category above. The supervisor must re-submit the thesis proposal form to the research graduate coordinator once all the changes have been made. The coordinator does not process the form until all changes to the thesis have been made.

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The master's thesis proposal usually outlines the rationale for the research, including a brief review of relevant background, research questions and/or objectives and plans, and a description of the proposed research design, methods, and analysis. Supervisors may have specific content they wish their students to include in the proposals. Please see the LEARN site for the document entitled MSc and PhD Thesis Proposal Guidelines for further information on how the thesis proposal should be formatted. Please note that the page limit for the proposal itself, excluding title page, abstract, work plan, and references, is a maximum of 10 to 12 full pages (single spaced, size 12 font, normal margins). Double-spacing is permitted, in which case the page limit doubles to 20 to 24 full pages. You may add appendices with additional tables, figures, or details.

Both the thesis proposal and final thesis will be defended in oral examinations. The MSc thesis committee (sometimes called the advisory committee) consists of a minimum of three faculty members and includes the student's thesis supervisor and at least one other faculty member from the School of Public Health Sciences (SPHS), which includes faculty who are joint- or cross appointed to the school). One of the three committee members may be from outside the school. A fourth committee member may also be from outside the school if the thesis topic is highly specialized and no current faculty members in SPHS have the requisite expertise.

If a committee member does not have a regular appointment with the University of Waterloo, then they will need to have an adjunct appointment with SPHS to serve on a thesis committee. To obtain adjunct status, the supervisor must provide a written request to the school director, indicating the reason for requesting status, the contributions the adjunct candidate will make to the thesis committee composition/school, and append the adjunct candidate’s CV. These documents will be reviewed by the SPHS executive committee for approval. SPHS adjunct faculty are considered as school members for the purpose of determining the composition of MSc thesis committees.

Students with two supervisors (‘co-supervisors’) will have at least four faculty members on their thesis committees because co-supervisors count as one vote in thesis deliberations.

Master’s theses previously published by SPHS graduates are available online at UW Space .

The thesis supervisor will chair the proposal presentation, questioning period and deliberations.

All committee members are expected to make every attempt to be present at the proposal presentation. ‘Being present’ for in-person defences is defined as being physically present or connecting via videoconference. The defence cannot take place unless at least two committee members, one of whom must be the supervisor or co-supervisor, are present. If one committee member (other than the supervisor) cannot attend and notice thereof is of a ‘last-minute’ nature, the defense may proceed. If this situation is known in advance, the supervisor must contact the absent member and obtain their written questions, expected responses, assessment of proposal acceptability, and suggestions for modifications. The supervisor is responsible for relaying this information during the defence. If a committee member is unable to submit questions in advance or fails to attend as planned due to unforeseen circumstances, the supervisor must obtain written feedback from the absent member prior to reaching a final decision concerning the acceptability of the proposal and permission for the student to proceed with the proposed research.

The supervisor must ensure that all committee members’ concerns (whether present at the proposal or not) are adequately addressed by the student prior to approval of the proposal and permission to proceed. As a means of documenting changes to the original proposal, particularly the methods, the candidate may be asked to develop a brief addendum that is circulated to all members of the committee (and to the graduate coordinator for the student’s file).

Note: If a committee member is unable to continue serving on a thesis committee, then the student and supervisor are responsible for finding a replacement.

• Accepted: The thesis proposal may require typographical or minor editorial corrections to be made to the satisfaction of the supervisor.
• Accepted conditionally: The thesis proposal requires more substantive changes but will be acceptable when these changes are made to the satisfaction of those members of the committee designated by the committee. The supervisor’s report will include a brief outline of the nature of the changes required, the maximum timeline of two months * , and the consequences (examination failure † ) if the changes are not made satisfactorily. The supervisor must inform the graduate coordinator when the changes are complete. The thesis proposal acceptance form will not be processed until the graduate coordinator is so notified.
• Decision deferred: The thesis proposal requires modifications of a substantial nature that make the acceptability of the thesis questionable. The supervisor’s report will contain a brief outline of the modifications expected and the date by which the changes are to be completed. The revised thesis must be resubmitted for re-examination following the process described in Master’s thesis proposal checklist above. The re-examination will follow the same procedures as for the initial submission except that the display period may be reduced or eliminated at the discretion of the associate director, graduate studies. Typically, the same committee will serve. A decision to defer is open only once for each candidate.

*The associate director may approve an extension to the two-month deadline under extenuating circumstances, at the request of the student and supervisor. Back to text

† In the case of examination failure because of not making required revisions, the student will be Required to Withdraw from the program. Back to text

If the decision is for a conditional acceptance (category 2), the designated committee members must be satisfied that the changes requested of the student have been made to their satisfaction.

If the decision is deferred (category 3), the student will go to re-examination. When a candidate is re-examined, the outcomes are limited to:

• Rejected: the candidate will be deemed to have failed to satisfy the program’s proposal exam requirement. In this case, the student shall receive written communication identifying the deficiencies in the proposal that led to this outcome.    

A student who is deemed to have failed to satisfy the proposal requirement (Rejected) may not continue in the current MSc program. The student’s will be Required to Withdraw.

The outcome of the exam is determined by the majority vote of the thesis committee. Those members of the thesis committee who are voting members shall be clearly communicated to the candidate.

Once your committee decides you are ready to proceed to defence, please follow these steps.

• Contact all members of the committee re: available dates and times.
• Book a room for at least a two-hour period for the date and time agreed to by all committee members (or book a videoconference). Notify all committee members of room and time.
• Complete the Thesis Defence Notification Form (available on LEARN in SPHS Research Grad Community Group) and return this form to the graduate coordinator or research assistant a minimum of three weeks prior to the scheduled defence.
• Provide each member of the committee as well as the graduate coordinator with a copy of the thesis at least three weeks in advance of the defence date. The graduate coordinator will announce the upcoming thesis defence and place a copy of the thesis on public display via LEARN for at least two weeks prior to the scheduled defence.

Note: notwithstanding agreement between the student and thesis committee, Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs (GSPA) strongly discourages holding thesis defences during holiday periods or close to the end of term.

The supervisor can retrieve a set of guidelines for conducting the defense from LEARN. Supervisors are to familiarize themselves with the relevant standard operating procedures prior to the defense. The thesis supervisor chairs the thesis proposal defence, which consists of a 20 minute presentation, followed by two rounds of questions. In the first round, each committee member has a maximum of 15 minutes to ask questions. In the second round, each committee member has a maximum of 10 minutes. Between the first and second round of questions, the student may elect to take a brief break (five minutes maximum). After the question rounds are completed, the student leaves the room or videoconference, and the thesis committee deliberates to reach a decision. Following deliberations, the supervisor will share the decision with the student and indicate the committee’s decision to the graduate research coordinator immediately. The c oordinator will collect the necessary signatures from the committee. If the decision is anything other than Accepted (see below), the supervisor must submit a list of required changes, or reasons for rejections as stipulated for each category above. The supervisor must re-submit a proposal decision once the necessary conditions have been met. The coordinator does not process any administrative documents until all changes to the thesis have been made.

The policy of SPHS is that no more than one committee member, and not the thesis supervisor, may be absent for the MSc thesis defence to take place. The absent member must be contacted in advance by the thesis supervisor and submit the following to the thesis supervisor and associate director, graduate studies at least 24 hours prior to the scheduled defence: a list of questions, expected responses, a final recommendation (refer to decision categories below), and a list of required revisions (if necessary). Questions from an absent committee member will be read by the supervisor (and shall be submitted via email). Note: the supervisor should email a description of the decision categories to the absent member. In contrast to the proposal defence, feedback from an absent committee member cannot be submitted after the defence has taken place. If the above stipulations cannot be met, the defence will have to be cancelled and rescheduled. If the defense is being held in person, then a committee member may attend remotely via videoconference and be considered ‘present’ for the purpose of this requirement.

If a committee member fails to attend as scheduled, allow at least 30 minutes to pass and have someone attempt to contact the individual. If 30 minutes have elapsed and no contact has been made, then the chair/supervisor should consult the associate director, graduate studies or the associate dean, graduate studies. In most cases, the defence will have to be rescheduled.

• Accepted: The thesis may require typographical or minor editorial corrections to be made to the satisfaction of the supervisor.
• Accepted conditionally: The thesis requires more substantive changes but will be acceptable when these changes are made to the satisfaction of those members of the committee designated by the committee. The supervisor’s report will include a brief outline of the nature of the changes required, the maximum timeline of two months ** , and the consequences (examination failure †† ) if the changes are not made satisfactorily. The supervisor must inform the graduate coordinator when the changes are complete. The thesis acceptance form will not be processed until the graduate coordinator is so notified.
• Decision deferred: The thesis requires modifications of a substantial nature which makes the acceptability of the thesis questionable. The supervisor’s report will contain a brief outline of the modifications expected, the date by which the changes are to be completed, and the consequences if the changes are not made satisfactorily. The re-examination will follow the same procedures as for the initial submission except that the display period may be reduced or eliminated at the discretion of the associate director, graduate studies. Typically, the same committee will serve. A decision to defer is open only once for each candidate.
• Rejected: The thesis is rejected.

**The associate director, graduate studies may approve an extension to the two-month deadline under extenuating circumstances, at the request of the student and supervisor. Back to text

†† In the case of examination failure because of not making required revisions, the student will be Required to Withdraw from the program. Back to text

The chair may retrieve a copy of the thesis defense prior to the defence. Following deliberations of the examining committee, and upon reaching a decision on the thesis (as described above), the chair will communicate the committee’s decision to the graduate coordinator. All committee members present the day of the defence will sign the examination report form electronically. If the decision is other than Accepted, the chair must also submit a list of required changes, or reasons for rejections as stipulated for each category above.

If the decision is for a conditional acceptance (category 2), the designated committee members must be satisfied that the changes requested of the student have been made to their satisfaction. The supervisor will then sign on behalf of the committee to indicate that the thesis is now considered accepted. Then the associate director, graduate studies and associate dean, graduate studies will give their approval. The student can then apply to graduate in Quest.

If the decision is deferred, the student will go to re-examination. When a candidate is re-examined, the outcomes are limited to:

• Rejected: the candidate will be deemed to have failed to satisfy the MSc thesis milestone and they will receive written communication from the supervisor identifying the deficiencies in the proposal that led to this outcome. The student’s status will change to Required to Withdraw.

The supervisor and chair must clearly communicate to the graduate research coordinator if an embargo is to be placed on a student thesis.

Thesis Proposal

Thesis proposals.

Graduate students begin the thesis process by writing a thesis proposal that describes the central elements of the thesis work.  Those elements vary depending on the type of thesis (research, artistic, or project) that the student plans to write. Students begin drafting the thesis proposal in the course Thesis Proposal Seminar . 

Below, please find detailed information about the following:

• research thesis proposal
• artistic thesis proposal
• project thesis proposal
• formatting your proposal  
• getting your proposal approved  
• submit your proposal  

Research Thesis Proposal

The proposal for a research thesis consists of five sections:

• Thesis Statement Following an optional introduction, the basic function of this section is to articulate a phenomenon that the student proposes to investigate (whether a social event, process, a literary work, an intellectual idea or something else), and the question(s), issue(s) or problem(s) related to that phenomenon that the student plans to address in the thesis. The core of the statement may take the form of a hypothesis that the student will test, of a proposition or argument that the student intends to support, or of a general problem or question the student  will explore. The section puts that basic problem statement in a larger context by explaining its historical origins (where did it come from?) and its intellectual, social, and/or artistic context (what conversation, debate, or line of inquiry does it participate in?). It also describes the sub-questions or themes that constitute the general problem. Students will cite appropriate scholarly, professional and other sources for the ideas, questions and background information contained in the section.
• Research Methods In this section, the student will identify (a) the kinds of information that needed to answer the question(s) raised in the Thesis Statement, (b) the methods the student will use to gather that information, and (c) the strategies by which the student will organize and analyze the information in such a way as to reach and support a conclusion, to construct a sound argument. If the central problem has several facets, the student may need an array of different methods for collecting and analyzing information. Students should be as precise as possible in each stage of the methods statement: Is information needed about the stylistic techniques in a novel, about changes in the poverty rates in Kenya since independence, about the ways children think about nature? Will the student pull out the metaphors in a text, find government reports on household income, interview kids about their experiences in the woods? Will the student deploy statistical forms of content analysis, correlate poverty rates with political changes, interpret themes in children’s stories? Students should reflect on the broad methodological approaches that they propose to use, and cite sources from which they derive their methods and tools. A student's central goal is to demonstrate that they know how to go about answering the question(s) that have been raised. Please note that if students intend to conduct research on living people, they will need to get the approval of the University Committee on Activities Involving Human Subjects (UCAIHS). Before they apply for that approval, students will need to take a tutorial and pass a test on the various regulations. Refer to the  UCAIHS website  for more information.
• Justification and Limitations This section of the proposal should explain the rationale for the thesis and the importance of the topic. Indicate the reasons why this study is important to conduct and whom it will benefit. Identify the limits beyond which the inquiry will not go. For instance, if a student is writing about a historical subject, the student must explain the relevance of the time period selected. Finally, describe the contribution the work will make to the field.
• Conclusion This section should summarize the nature and intention of the student's work. Conclude the discussion and mention any pertinent information which may not have been included above.
• Annotated Bibliography This section consists of a list of books and articles and artworks with accompanying annotations that explain why these readings and other sources are likely to be crucial as the work advances.

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Artistic Thesis Proposal

The artistic thesis consists of an artistic work and supporting essays, and it is important to conceive of each element as contributing to a coherent whole.  The proposal itself consists of five sections:

• Concept Statement This section includes a brief introduction that forms the framework for the entire thesis and articulates the questions around which the creative project and supporting essays revolve.
• Description of the Artistic Work and Artistic Aims This section describes the major artistic work that will comprise the submitted artistic thesis.  Students may want to refer to particular artistic influences or genres that will inform the work, or describe the aesthetic from which the creative work derives. In this section, students should also: refer to some of the artistic reasons that led to their decision to embark on this particular project; discuss the goals that will guide the development of the work; and provide concrete details about the final form and media of the work  (will it be, for example, a collection of short stories, a novel; an evening of dance an exhibition of paintings, a film, or what?).  If the artwork involves live performance, this section should state whether it will be a public or private event, where the event will be held, and any other details relevant to bringing the project to completion.

This section should provide the reader with relevant historical or critical information to place the central research question in context, and this section should also discuss the key theories, methods, and sources to be used within the research essay.  It should demonstrate that the student knows how to begin answering the question(s) they are posing.  What sorts of things will the student need to find out? What research methods will be used?  What kinds of sources will be reviewed, and how will information from them be used? Who, if anyone, will be interviewed, and what kinds of questions will the subjects be asked?  Students should also reflect, in this section, on the broad analytical approach that will structure their research and identify the school(s) of thought that will inform their investigations. 

• Justification and Limitations This section should explain the importance of the student's work in the context of their particular artistic discipline and discuss how all components of the thesis project taken together as a single project will contribute to the scholarly and artistic fields with which it engages. This section should also discuss limitations, personal and practical, relating to the project and the student’s readiness.  If the project is a film, for example, how much direct experience has the student already had in that field, and how will the student allocate the time to finish the project by the desired defense date? How much is the project likely to cost, and how does the student expect to obtain funding?  What kind of spaces will be needed for rehearsal as well as presentation of the work? 

Project Thesis Proposal

The project thesis includes two major components: (a) an activity (program, intervention, campaign, etc.) designed to address (solve, remediate, improve) a problem, issue or opportunity in the student's domain as a professional or activist; and (b) a written document that describes, rationalizes, analyzes, and assesses the activity. It is not strictly a research study, but rather an exercise in reflective practice. Therefore, the proposal takes a form different from that of the research or artistic thesis proposal. Please note, as well, that a project thesis  must  be not only designed but implemented and evaluated.

• Problem Statement This section of the proposal identifies, describes, and analyzes the problem (issue, need, opportunity) that the student will address in the project. Clearly articulate the nature of the problem: its historical, social and professional context; its dimensions and extent; its impact, and perhaps some previous efforts to address it. Present information that explains the student's understanding of the origins or causes of the problem, to set up the rationale for the choice of a strategy to solve it. At each stage, refer to appropriate scholarly and professional literatures.
• Project Plan Students should spell out their plans for addressing the problem. Students should describe the institutional setting within which the project will take place, as well as the individuals, groups, or organizations with whom they will work. What will the student (and, perhaps, others) do? What resources and strategies will be used? If the student need funds, how will they be raised and disbursed? What schedule will be followed? Be efficient, but concrete and clear in specifying the activities that will make up the project. Identify the professional and theoretical sources of the strategies for the project: What precedents and ideas are the student drawing on? Also, the student should discuss the means by which they will record and report the project activities for the members of the thesis committee. Will the student write a journal, shoot videos, keep material artifacts and documents? Students must be clear about how they intend to document the project. They may also elect to invite the members of their committee to witness the project first-hand.
• Assessment The proposal speaks to three aspects of the assessment process. In all three, students should be concrete and refer to appropriate literatures as sources of their plans. Criteria : First, students should describe and justify the criteria by which they will determine whether the project has succeeded. What are the goals and objectives? What changes does the student want to see in the participants, the organization, the larger world? Methods:  What information will be needed to determine whether the goals and objectives have been met? How will that information be collected and organized? Analysis : How will that information be utilized to describe the project’s success or failure? What sorts of lessons does the student hope to draw from the assessment?
• Justification and Limitations This section of the proposal should explain the rationale for the thesis and the importance of the topic. Indicate the reasons why this study is important to conduct and whom it will benefit. Identify the limits beyond which the inquiry will not go. Finally, describe the contribution the work will make to the field.
• Conclusion This section should summarize the nature and intention of the work. Conclude the discussion and mention any pertinent information which may not have been included above.

Format of the Proposal

All thesis proposals should conform to the following specifications:

• Title Page The title should be reasonably succinct, but descriptive enough to convey the nature of the thesis; the title page should include your full name, the date of submission, and your adviser’s name.
• Length The thesis proposal should be approximately 8 pages, excluding the annotated bibliography. Remember that this is a proposal, not the thesis itself; tell us what you propose to do and how, don’t do it.
• Annotated Bibliography This bibliography should contain brief commentaries on no fewer than 10–15 relevant source works.

The Approval Process for the Thesis Proposal

The Thesis Proposal Seminar (TPS) Students write their thesis proposals while enrolled in the Thesis Proposal Seminar (CORE-GG 2401, a 2-credit core requirement offered every spring). Throughout that semester, students work closely with their Adviser and Instructor to draft an acceptable proposal. When the proposal has received approval from both the Thesis Proposal Seminar instructor (Gallatin reviewer) and the adviser, the student is allowed to move on to their thesis research. The three steps of the approval process are outlined below.

• TPS Instructor/Reviewer Approval The Thesis Proposal Seminar instructor serves as the Gallatin reviewer of the thesis proposal. A student must receive a grade of ‘Pass’ in the Thesis Proposal Seminar for the proposal to be considered ‘reviewer approved.’ If the student’s proposal is not finished at the end of the semester, the student will receive a grade of 'Incomplete' in the course and will have until June 15th to submit the proposal before moving on to thesis research.
• Adviser Approval Students work closely with their advisers over the course of the semester to produce a proposal that the adviser can approve. Once the adviser agrees that the proposal is ready, students submit their final proposal via the online Thesis Proposal submission form . The Thesis Proposal submission form allows students to provide Gallatin with additional information about the courses, internships, independent studies, jobs, and other experiences that have prepared the student for their thesis work.
• MA Program Approval Once the M.A. Program verifies adviser approval of the proposal and the student has passed the TPS, the MA Program updates the student record to show that the Thesis Proposal requirement has been satisfied.

The deadline for submitting an adviser approved thesis proposal online is June 15.

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Your msc thesis proposal.

• Structure of the proposal

How to write the proposal

• Helpful hints

What happens next?

You are working through your course requirements and the actual thesis work is looming. Where do you start? The essential requirements for a thesis (formal departmental policy) are:

• a precise statement of objectives;
• a thorough overview and analysis of the literature;
• an objective analysis and presentation of the facts;
• a conclusion that follows logically from the analysis.
• it needs to incorporate a scientific method or approach to finding answers to questions, or incorporate scientific facts or data into the analysis and conclusions.
• the expectation is that the thesis research should be of potentially publishable quality.

The basic steps involved in this process are:

• An issue is identified.
• Other people's work on the topic is collected and evaluated.
• Data necessary to solve the problem are either collected by the student, or obtained independently.
• Data are analyzed using techniques appropriate to the data set.
• Results of the analysis are reported and are interpreted in light of the initial issue.
• Recommendations are proposed that would lead to a deeper understanding.

The Proposal

The first step toward a great thesis is a great thesis proposal. You should meet with your thesis supervisor to identify a research topic, and formulate the details of the project. The thesis proposal will help you to gain an understanding of the background of your project, develop or adapt appropriate methods, and summarize the state of your project. The goal here is to progress as far as possible with the elements listed before embarking on time-consuming (and possibly expensive) data collection and analysis. The more you can accomplish in the proposal, the further you can drive the project in the end, and hopefully the easier life will be when you are in "thesis mode" (for both you and us!)

The purpose of writing a thesis proposal is to demonstrate that:

• the thesis topic addresses a significant problem;
• an organized plan is in place for collecting or obtaining data to help solve the problem;
• methods of data analysis have been identified and are appropriate to the data set.
• the proposal exists as a contract between you and your supervisor. It sets out what needs to be done, defines the limit of the project, and gives you a clear route to achieve the goal of finishing it on time.

If you can outline these points clearly in a proposal, then you will be able to focus on a research topic and finish it in a timely fashion. A secondary purpose of the proposal is to give you experience in the art of proposal writing. Any future career in Earth or Environmental Science, whether it be in industry or academia will require these skills in some form.

We are well aware that the best laid out research plans may go awry, and that the best completed theses sometimes bear only little resemblance to the thesis planned during the proposal. Therefore, when evaluating a thesis proposal, we are not trying to assure ourselves that you have clearly described a sure-fire research project with 0% risk of failure. If there was no risk of failure, it wouldn't be research.

Instead, what we're interested in seeing is if you have a clear handle on the process and structure of research as it is practised by our discipline. If you can present a clear and reasonable thesis idea, if you can clearly relate it to other relevant literature, if you can justify its significance, if you can describe a method for investigating it, and if you can decompose it into a sequence of steps that lead toward a reasonable conclusion, then the thesis proposal is a success regardless of whether you modify or even scrap the actual idea down the line and start off in a different direction. What a successful thesis proposal demonstrates is that, regardless of the eventual idea you pursue, you know the steps involved in turning it into a thesis.

Structure of a thesis proposal

Your thesis proposal should have the following elements in this order.

Table of contents

• Introduction

Thesis statement

• Evidence of serious consideration of the literature

Approach/methods

Preliminary results and discussion

• Work plan including time table
• Implications of research

List of references

The structure is very similar to that of a thesis or a scientific paper. You will be able to use a large fraction of the material of the thesis proposal in your final thesis.

• a short, descriptive title of the proposed thesis project (should be fairly self-explanatory)
• author, institution, department, supervisor(s), and date of delivery
• the abstract is a brief summary of your thesis proposal
• its length should not exceed ~200 words
• it should present a brief introduction to the issue
• make the key statement of your thesis
• give a summary of how you want to address the issue
• refer to the principal techniques used to address the issue
• include a possible implication of your work, if successfully completed
• list all headings and subheadings with page numbers
• indent subheadings
• this section sets the context for your proposed project and must capture the reader's interest
• explain the background of your study starting from a broad picture narrowing in on your research question
• the introduction should be at a level that makes it easy to understand for readers with a general science background, for example your classmates
• in a couple of sentences, state your thesis
• this statement can take the form of a hypothesis, research question, project statement, or goal statement
• the thesis statement should capture the essence of your intended project and also help to put boundaries around it

Literature overview

• review what is known about your research topic as far as it is relevant to your thesis
• cite relevant references
• some theses will require a substantial review of the literature, which may extend to several pages. This section can usually be used directly in the thesis.
• what methods will be used?
• how will data be collected and analyzed?
• what materials will be used?
• include calculations, techniques, procedures, equipment, and calibration graphs
• detail limitations, assumptions, and range of validity
• citations should be limited to data sources and more complete descriptions of procedures
• do not include results and discussion of results here
• present any results you already have obtained
• discuss how they fit in the framework of your thesis

Work plan including timetable

• describe in detail what you plan to do until completion of your thesis project
• list the stages of your project (e.g., in a bulleted list or table format)
• indicate deadlines you have set for completing each stage of the project, including any work you have already completed
• work in possible presentations at the AGS or similar conferences
• discuss any particular challenges that need to be overcome

Implications of Research

• what new knowledge will the proposed project produce that we do not already know?
• why is it worth knowing, what are the major implications?
• cite all ideas, concepts, text, data that are not your own
• if you make a statement, back it up with your own data or a reference
• all references cited in the text must be listed, using either Canadian Journals of Science or APA format
• do not use footnotes
• list all references cited in the text in alphabetical order using the Canadian Journals of Science or APA format
• conclude your proposal with signatures from both the student and the supervisor(s), recognising that you agree on the work to be undertaken. The proposal exists as a contract between you and your supervisor(s). This does not mean that adjustments cannot be made as work proceeds, but is a benchmark you can go back to as you consider what still needs to be done.

Proceed in the following order:

• Meet with your supervisor(s) to discuss what you will be doing
• Hit the library and read about it
• Make an outline of your thesis proposal before you start writing
• Prepare figures and tables
• Figure captions
• Discussion of your data
• Inferences from your data

This order may seem backwards. However, it is difficult to write an abstract until you know your most important results. Sometimes, it is possible to write the introduction first. Most often the introduction should be written next to last.

Helpful Hints

• "A picture says a thousand words!" Figures serve to illustrate important aspects of the background material, sample data, and analysis techniques.
• A well chosen and well labeled figure can reduce text length, improve proposal clarity, and aid the reader in developing an image of the work proposed. Proposals often contain figures from other articles. These can be appropriate, but you should consider modifying them if the modifications will improve your point.
• The whole process of making a drawing is important for two reasons. First, it clarifies your thinking. If you don’t understand the process, you can’t draw it. Second, good drawings are very valuable. Other scientists will understand your paper better if you can make a drawing of your ideas.
• a picture of the scientific equipment that you are using and an explanation of how it works;
• a drawing of a cycle showing steps, feedback loops, and bifurcations: this can include chemical or mathematical equations;
• a flow chart showing the steps in a process and the possible causes and consequences.
• Incorporate graphs in the text or on separated sheets inserted in the thesis proposal

Grammar/spelling

• Poor grammar and spelling distract from the content of the proposal. The reader focuses on the grammar and spelling problems and misses keys points made in the text. Listen to your writing program when the grammar and spelling checkers identify issues.
• Read your proposal aloud - then have a friend read it aloud. If your sentences seem too long, make two or three sentences instead of one. Try to write the same way that you speak when you are explaining a concept. Most people speak more clearly than they write.
• You should have read your proposal over at least 5 times before handing it in.
• Simple wording is generally better.
• If you get comments from others that seem completely irrelevant to you, your paper is not written clearly enough.
• Never use a complex word if a simpler word will do.

How long should it be?

• There is no set length for your proposal - this is up to you and your supervisor. The main determinant here is the review of background literature. If your topic has extensive background literature, this section may well run to 10 or more pages - and will be used verbatim in your thesis. It is not essential to critique every paper ever written that is related to your project, but you must demonstrate you have consulted previous work thoroughly.
• Putting aside the background literature, we recommend the remainder of your proposal be no more than 10 pages in length.

Your thesis proposal should be reviewed by your supervisor and submitted to the graduate co-ordinator. Masters thesis proposals are then distributed to all faculty to review - this usually takes two weeks or so, and you should expect them to read it through in detail. You will likely get editorial suggestions, and possibly substantial amendments. Commonly we look at the resources required to do the work (how many analyses? who is paying?), and the timeline. Don't submit a proposal in June saying you will collect the samples in May, when we all know you didn't! Your proposal will be returned to your supervisor, who will discuss the comments received with you. If necessary you will be asked to rewrite the proposal in light of these comments, and once completed you should re-submit it to your supervisor, who then will inform the graduate coordinator that the proposal is complete. (In the event that the graduate coordinator is your supervisor, s/he will inform the head.) A copy of your revised proposal, signed by you and your supervisor will be lodged in your file. Then you get on with the thesis itself.

How To Write A Research Proposal

A Straightforward How-To Guide (With Examples)

By: Derek Jansen (MBA) | Reviewed By: Dr. Eunice Rautenbach | August 2019 (Updated April 2023)

Writing up a strong research proposal for a dissertation or thesis is much like a marriage proposal. It’s a task that calls on you to win somebody over and persuade them that what you’re planning is a great idea. An idea they’re happy to say ‘yes’ to. This means that your dissertation proposal needs to be   persuasive ,   attractive   and well-planned. In this post, I’ll show you how to write a winning dissertation proposal, from scratch.

Before you start:

– Understand exactly what a research proposal is – Ask yourself these 4 questions

The 5 essential ingredients:

• The title/topic
• The introduction chapter
• The scope/delimitations
• Preliminary literature review
• Design/ methodology
• Practical considerations and risks 

What Is A Research Proposal?

The research proposal is literally that: a written document that communicates what you propose to research, in a concise format. It’s where you put all that stuff that’s spinning around in your head down on to paper, in a logical, convincing fashion.

Convincing   is the keyword here, as your research proposal needs to convince the assessor that your research is   clearly articulated   (i.e., a clear research question) ,   worth doing   (i.e., is unique and valuable enough to justify the effort), and   doable   within the restrictions you’ll face (time limits, budget, skill limits, etc.). If your proposal does not address these three criteria, your research won’t be approved, no matter how “exciting” the research idea might be.

PS – if you’re completely new to proposal writing, we’ve got a detailed walkthrough video covering two successful research proposals here . 

How do I know I’m ready?

Before starting the writing process, you need to   ask yourself 4 important questions .  If you can’t answer them succinctly and confidently, you’re not ready – you need to go back and think more deeply about your dissertation topic .

You should be able to answer the following 4 questions before starting your dissertation or thesis research proposal:

• WHAT is my main research question? (the topic)
• WHO cares and why is this important? (the justification)
• WHAT data would I need to answer this question, and how will I analyse it? (the research design)
• HOW will I manage the completion of this research, within the given timelines? (project and risk management)

If you can’t answer these questions clearly and concisely,   you’re not yet ready   to write your research proposal – revisit our   post on choosing a topic .

If you can, that’s great – it’s time to start writing up your dissertation proposal. Next, I’ll discuss what needs to go into your research proposal, and how to structure it all into an intuitive, convincing document with a linear narrative.

The 5 Essential Ingredients

Research proposals can vary in style between institutions and disciplines, but here I’ll share with you a   handy 5-section structure   you can use. These 5 sections directly address the core questions we spoke about earlier, ensuring that you present a convincing proposal. If your institution already provides a proposal template, there will likely be substantial overlap with this, so you’ll still get value from reading on.

For each section discussed below, make sure you use headers and sub-headers (ideally, numbered headers) to help the reader navigate through your document, and to support them when they need to revisit a previous section. Don’t just present an endless wall of text, paragraph after paragraph after paragraph…

Top Tip:   Use MS Word Styles to format headings. This will allow you to be clear about whether a sub-heading is level 2, 3, or 4. Additionally, you can view your document in ‘outline view’ which will show you only your headings. This makes it much easier to check your structure, shift things around and make decisions about where a section needs to sit. You can also generate a 100% accurate table of contents using Word’s automatic functionality.

Ingredient #1 – Topic/Title Header

Your research proposal’s title should be your main research question in its simplest form, possibly with a sub-heading providing basic details on the specifics of the study. For example:

“Compliance with equality legislation in the charity sector: a study of the ‘reasonable adjustments’ made in three London care homes”

As you can see, this title provides a clear indication of what the research is about, in broad terms. It paints a high-level picture for the first-time reader, which gives them a taste of what to expect.   Always aim for a clear, concise title . Don’t feel the need to capture every detail of your research in your title – your proposal will fill in the gaps.

Need a helping hand?

Ingredient #2 – Introduction

In this section of your research proposal, you’ll expand on what you’ve communicated in the title, by providing a few paragraphs which offer more detail about your research topic. Importantly, the focus here is the   topic   – what will you research and why is that worth researching? This is not the place to discuss methodology, practicalities, etc. – you’ll do that later.

You should cover the following:

• An overview of the   broad area   you’ll be researching – introduce the reader to key concepts and language
• An explanation of the   specific (narrower) area   you’ll be focusing, and why you’ll be focusing there
• Your research   aims   and   objectives
• Your   research question (s) and sub-questions (if applicable)

Importantly, you should aim to use short sentences and plain language – don’t babble on with extensive jargon, acronyms and complex language. Assume that the reader is an intelligent layman – not a subject area specialist (even if they are). Remember that the   best writing is writing that can be easily understood   and digested. Keep it simple.

Note that some universities may want some extra bits and pieces in your introduction section. For example, personal development objectives, a structural outline, etc. Check your brief to see if there are any other details they expect in your proposal, and make sure you find a place for these.

Ingredient #3 – Scope

Next, you’ll need to specify what the scope of your research will be – this is also known as the delimitations . In other words, you need to make it clear what you will be covering and, more importantly, what you won’t be covering in your research. Simply put, this is about ring fencing your research topic so that you have a laser-sharp focus.

All too often, students feel the need to go broad and try to address as many issues as possible, in the interest of producing comprehensive research. Whilst this is admirable, it’s a mistake. By tightly refining your scope, you’ll enable yourself to   go deep   with your research, which is what you need to earn good marks. If your scope is too broad, you’re likely going to land up with superficial research (which won’t earn marks), so don’t be afraid to narrow things down.

Ingredient #4 – Literature Review

In this section of your research proposal, you need to provide a (relatively) brief discussion of the existing literature. Naturally, this will not be as comprehensive as the literature review in your actual dissertation, but it will lay the foundation for that. In fact, if you put in the effort at this stage, you’ll make your life a lot easier when it’s time to write your actual literature review chapter.

There are a few things you need to achieve in this section:

• Demonstrate that you’ve done your reading and are   familiar with the current state of the research   in your topic area.
• Show that   there’s a clear gap   for your specific research – i.e., show that your topic is sufficiently unique and will add value to the existing research.
• Show how the existing research has shaped your thinking regarding   research design . For example, you might use scales or questionnaires from previous studies.

When you write up your literature review, keep these three objectives front of mind, especially number two (revealing the gap in the literature), so that your literature review has a   clear purpose and direction . Everything you write should be contributing towards one (or more) of these objectives in some way. If it doesn’t, you need to ask yourself whether it’s truly needed.

Top Tip:  Don’t fall into the trap of just describing the main pieces of literature, for example, “A says this, B says that, C also says that…” and so on. Merely describing the literature provides no value. Instead, you need to   synthesise   it, and use it to address the three objectives above.

Ingredient #5 – Research Methodology

Now that you’ve clearly explained both your intended research topic (in the introduction) and the existing research it will draw on (in the literature review section), it’s time to get practical and explain exactly how you’ll be carrying out your own research. In other words, your research methodology.

In this section, you’ll need to   answer two critical questions :

• How   will you design your research? I.e., what research methodology will you adopt, what will your sample be, how will you collect data, etc.
• Why   have you chosen this design? I.e., why does this approach suit your specific research aims, objectives and questions?

In other words, this is not just about explaining WHAT you’ll be doing, it’s also about explaining WHY. In fact, the   justification is the most important part , because that justification is how you demonstrate a good understanding of research design (which is what assessors want to see).

Some essential design choices you need to cover in your research proposal include:

• Your intended research philosophy (e.g., positivism, interpretivism or pragmatism )
• What methodological approach you’ll be taking (e.g., qualitative , quantitative or mixed )
• The details of your sample (e.g., sample size, who they are, who they represent, etc.)
• What data you plan to collect (i.e. data about what, in what form?)
• How you plan to collect it (e.g., surveys , interviews , focus groups, etc.)
• How you plan to analyse it (e.g., regression analysis, thematic analysis , etc.)
• Ethical adherence (i.e., does this research satisfy all ethical requirements of your institution, or does it need further approval?)

This list is not exhaustive – these are just some core attributes of research design. Check with your institution what level of detail they expect. The “ research onion ” by Saunders et al (2009) provides a good summary of the various design choices you ultimately need to make – you can   read more about that here .

Don’t forget the practicalities…

In addition to the technical aspects, you will need to address the   practical   side of the project. In other words, you need to explain   what resources you’ll need   (e.g., time, money, access to equipment or software, etc.) and how you intend to secure these resources. You need to show that your project is feasible, so any “make or break” type resources need to already be secured. The success or failure of your project cannot depend on some resource which you’re not yet sure you have access to.

Another part of the practicalities discussion is   project and risk management . In other words, you need to show that you have a clear project plan to tackle your research with. Some key questions to address:

• What are the timelines for each phase of your project?
• Are the time allocations reasonable?
• What happens if something takes longer than anticipated (risk management)?
• What happens if you don’t get the response rate you expect?

A good way to demonstrate that you’ve thought this through is to include a Gantt chart and a risk register (in the appendix if word count is a problem). With these two tools, you can show that you’ve got a clear, feasible plan, and you’ve thought about and accounted for the potential risks.

Tip – Be honest about the potential difficulties – but show that you are anticipating solutions and workarounds. This is much more impressive to an assessor than an unrealistically optimistic proposal which does not anticipate any challenges whatsoever.

Final Touches: Read And Simplify

The final step is to edit and proofread your proposal – very carefully. It sounds obvious, but all too often poor editing and proofreading ruin a good proposal. Nothing is more off-putting for an assessor than a poorly edited, typo-strewn document. It sends the message that you either do not pay attention to detail, or just don’t care. Neither of these are good messages. Put the effort into editing and proofreading your proposal (or pay someone to do it for you) – it will pay dividends.

When you’re editing, watch out for ‘academese’. Many students can speak simply, passionately and clearly about their dissertation topic – but become incomprehensible the moment they turn the laptop on. You are not required to write in any kind of special, formal, complex language when you write academic work. Sure, there may be technical terms, jargon specific to your discipline, shorthand terms and so on. But, apart from those,   keep your written language very close to natural spoken language   – just as you would speak in the classroom. Imagine that you are explaining your project plans to your classmates or a family member. Remember, write for the intelligent layman, not the subject matter experts. Plain-language, concise writing is what wins hearts and minds – and marks!

Let’s Recap: Research Proposal 101

And there you have it – how to write your dissertation or thesis research proposal, from the title page to the final proof. Here’s a quick recap of the key takeaways:

• The purpose of the research proposal is to   convince   – therefore, you need to make a clear, concise argument of why your research is both worth doing and doable.
• Make sure you can ask the critical what, who, and how questions of your research   before   you put pen to paper.
• Title – provides the first taste of your research, in broad terms
• Introduction – explains what you’ll be researching in more detail
• Scope – explains the boundaries of your research
• Literature review – explains how your research fits into the existing research and why it’s unique and valuable
• Research methodology – explains and justifies how you will carry out your own research

Hopefully, this post has helped you better understand how to write up a winning research proposal. If you enjoyed it, be sure to check out the rest of the Grad Coach Blog . If your university doesn’t provide any template for your proposal, you might want to try out our free research proposal template .

Psst… there’s more!

This post is an extract from our bestselling Udemy Course, Research Proposal Bootcamp . If you want to work smart, you don't want to miss this .

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30 Comments

Thank you so much for the valuable insight that you have given, especially on the research proposal. That is what I have managed to cover. I still need to go back to the other parts as I got disturbed while still listening to Derek’s audio on you-tube. I am inspired. I will definitely continue with Grad-coach guidance on You-tube.

Thanks for the kind words :). All the best with your proposal.

First of all, thanks a lot for making such a wonderful presentation. The video was really useful and gave me a very clear insight of how a research proposal has to be written. I shall try implementing these ideas in my RP.

Once again, I thank you for this content.

I found reading your outline on writing research proposal very beneficial. I wish there was a way of submitting my draft proposal to you guys for critiquing before I submit to the institution.

Hi Bonginkosi

Thank you for the kind words. Yes, we do provide a review service. The best starting point is to have a chat with one of our coaches here: https://gradcoach.com/book/new/ .

Hello team GRADCOACH, may God bless you so much. I was totally green in research. Am so happy for your free superb tutorials and resources. Once again thank you so much Derek and his team.

You’re welcome, Erick. Good luck with your research proposal 🙂

thank you for the information. its precise and on point.

Really a remarkable piece of writing and great source of guidance for the researchers. GOD BLESS YOU for your guidance. Regards

Thanks so much for your guidance. It is easy and comprehensive the way you explain the steps for a winning research proposal.

Thank you guys so much for the rich post. I enjoyed and learn from every word in it. My problem now is how to get into your platform wherein I can always seek help on things related to my research work ? Secondly, I wish to find out if there is a way I can send my tentative proposal to you guys for examination before I take to my supervisor Once again thanks very much for the insights

Thanks for your kind words, Desire.

If you are based in a country where Grad Coach’s paid services are available, you can book a consultation by clicking the “Book” button in the top right.

Best of luck with your studies.

May God bless you team for the wonderful work you are doing,

If I have a topic, Can I submit it to you so that you can draft a proposal for me?? As I am expecting to go for masters degree in the near future.

Thanks for your comment. We definitely cannot draft a proposal for you, as that would constitute academic misconduct. The proposal needs to be your own work. We can coach you through the process, but it needs to be your own work and your own writing.

Best of luck with your research!

I found a lot of many essential concepts from your material. it is real a road map to write a research proposal. so thanks a lot. If there is any update material on your hand on MBA please forward to me.

GradCoach is a professional website that presents support and helps for MBA student like me through the useful online information on the page and with my 1-on-1 online coaching with the amazing and professional PhD Kerryen.

Thank you Kerryen so much for the support and help 🙂

I really recommend dealing with such a reliable services provider like Gradcoah and a coach like Kerryen.

Hi, Am happy for your service and effort to help students and researchers, Please, i have been given an assignment on research for strategic development, the task one is to formulate a research proposal to support the strategic development of a business area, my issue here is how to go about it, especially the topic or title and introduction. Please, i would like to know if you could help me and how much is the charge.

This content is practical, valuable, and just great!

Thank you very much!

Hi Derek, Thank you for the valuable presentation. It is very helpful especially for beginners like me. I am just starting my PhD.

This is quite instructive and research proposal made simple. Can I have a research proposal template?

Great! Thanks for rescuing me, because I had no former knowledge in this topic. But with this piece of information, I am now secured. Thank you once more.

I enjoyed listening to your video on how to write a proposal. I think I will be able to write a winning proposal with your advice. I wish you were to be my supervisor.

Dear Derek Jansen,

Thank you for your great content. I couldn’t learn these topics in MBA, but now I learned from GradCoach. Really appreciate your efforts….

From Afghanistan!

I have got very essential inputs for startup of my dissertation proposal. Well organized properly communicated with video presentation. Thank you for the presentation.

Wow, this is absolutely amazing guys. Thank you so much for the fruitful presentation, you’ve made my research much easier.

this helps me a lot. thank you all so much for impacting in us. may god richly bless you all

How I wish I’d learn about Grad Coach earlier. I’ve been stumbling around writing and rewriting! Now I have concise clear directions on how to put this thing together. Thank you!

Fantastic!! Thank You for this very concise yet comprehensive guidance.

Even if I am poor in English I would like to thank you very much.

Thank you very much, this is very insightful.

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• Dissertation

How to Write a Dissertation Proposal | A Step-by-Step Guide

Published on 14 February 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on 11 November 2022.

A dissertation proposal describes the research you want to do: what it’s about, how you’ll conduct it, and why it’s worthwhile. You will probably have to write a proposal before starting your dissertation as an undergraduate or postgraduate student.

A dissertation proposal should generally include:

• An introduction to your topic and aims
• A literature review  of the current state of knowledge
• An outline of your proposed methodology
• A discussion of the possible implications of the research
• A bibliography  of relevant sources

Dissertation proposals vary a lot in terms of length and structure, so make sure to follow any guidelines given to you by your institution, and check with your supervisor when you’re unsure.

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Table of contents

Step 1: coming up with an idea, step 2: presenting your idea in the introduction, step 3: exploring related research in the literature review, step 4: describing your methodology, step 5: outlining the potential implications of your research, step 6: creating a reference list or bibliography.

Before writing your proposal, it’s important to come up with a strong idea for your dissertation.

Find an area of your field that interests you and do some preliminary reading in that area. What are the key concerns of other researchers? What do they suggest as areas for further research, and what strikes you personally as an interesting gap in the field?

Once you have an idea, consider how to narrow it down and the best way to frame it. Don’t be too ambitious or too vague – a dissertation topic needs to be specific enough to be feasible. Move from a broad field of interest to a specific niche:

• Russian literature 19th century Russian literature The novels of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky
• Social media Mental health effects of social media Influence of social media on young adults suffering from anxiety

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Like most academic texts, a dissertation proposal begins with an introduction . This is where you introduce the topic of your research, provide some background, and most importantly, present your aim , objectives and research question(s) .

Try to dive straight into your chosen topic: What’s at stake in your research? Why is it interesting? Don’t spend too long on generalisations or grand statements:

• Social media is the most important technological trend of the 21st century. It has changed the world and influences our lives every day.
• Psychologists generally agree that the ubiquity of social media in the lives of young adults today has a profound impact on their mental health. However, the exact nature of this impact needs further investigation.

Once your area of research is clear, you can present more background and context. What does the reader need to know to understand your proposed questions? What’s the current state of research on this topic, and what will your dissertation contribute to the field?

If you’re including a literature review, you don’t need to go into too much detail at this point, but give the reader a general sense of the debates that you’re intervening in.

This leads you into the most important part of the introduction: your aim, objectives and research question(s) . These should be clearly identifiable and stand out from the text – for example, you could present them using bullet points or bold font.

Make sure that your research questions are specific and workable – something you can reasonably answer within the scope of your dissertation. Avoid being too broad or having too many different questions. Remember that your goal in a dissertation proposal is to convince the reader that your research is valuable and feasible:

• Does social media harm mental health?
• What is the impact of daily social media use on 18– to 25–year–olds suffering from general anxiety disorder?

Now that your topic is clear, it’s time to explore existing research covering similar ideas. This is important because it shows you what is missing from other research in the field and ensures that you’re not asking a question someone else has already answered.

You’ve probably already done some preliminary reading, but now that your topic is more clearly defined, you need to thoroughly analyse and evaluate the most relevant sources in your literature review .

Here you should summarise the findings of other researchers and comment on gaps and problems in their studies. There may be a lot of research to cover, so make effective use of paraphrasing to write concisely:

• Smith and Prakash state that ‘our results indicate a 25% decrease in the incidence of mechanical failure after the new formula was applied’.
• Smith and Prakash’s formula reduced mechanical failures by 25%.

The point is to identify findings and theories that will influence your own research, but also to highlight gaps and limitations in previous research which your dissertation can address:

• Subsequent research has failed to replicate this result, however, suggesting a flaw in Smith and Prakash’s methods. It is likely that the failure resulted from…

Next, you’ll describe your proposed methodology : the specific things you hope to do, the structure of your research and the methods that you will use to gather and analyse data.

You should get quite specific in this section – you need to convince your supervisor that you’ve thought through your approach to the research and can realistically carry it out. This section will look quite different, and vary in length, depending on your field of study.

You may be engaged in more empirical research, focusing on data collection and discovering new information, or more theoretical research, attempting to develop a new conceptual model or add nuance to an existing one.

Dissertation research often involves both, but the content of your methodology section will vary according to how important each approach is to your dissertation.

Empirical research

Empirical research involves collecting new data and analysing it in order to answer your research questions. It can be quantitative (focused on numbers), qualitative (focused on words and meanings), or a combination of both.

With empirical research, it’s important to describe in detail how you plan to collect your data:

• Will you use surveys ? A lab experiment ? Interviews?
• What variables will you measure?
• How will you select a representative sample ?
• If other people will participate in your research, what measures will you take to ensure they are treated ethically?
• What tools (conceptual and physical) will you use, and why?

It’s appropriate to cite other research here. When you need to justify your choice of a particular research method or tool, for example, you can cite a text describing the advantages and appropriate usage of that method.

Don’t overdo this, though; you don’t need to reiterate the whole theoretical literature, just what’s relevant to the choices you have made.

Moreover, your research will necessarily involve analysing the data after you have collected it. Though you don’t know yet what the data will look like, it’s important to know what you’re looking for and indicate what methods (e.g. statistical tests , thematic analysis ) you will use.

Theoretical research

You can also do theoretical research that doesn’t involve original data collection. In this case, your methodology section will focus more on the theory you plan to work with in your dissertation: relevant conceptual models and the approach you intend to take.

For example, a literary analysis dissertation rarely involves collecting new data, but it’s still necessary to explain the theoretical approach that will be taken to the text(s) under discussion, as well as which parts of the text(s) you will focus on:

• This dissertation will utilise Foucault’s theory of panopticism to explore the theme of surveillance in Orwell’s 1984 and Kafka’s The Trial…

Here, you may refer to the same theorists you have already discussed in the literature review. In this case, the emphasis is placed on how you plan to use their contributions in your own research.

You’ll usually conclude your dissertation proposal with a section discussing what you expect your research to achieve.

You obviously can’t be too sure: you don’t know yet what your results and conclusions will be. Instead, you should describe the projected implications and contribution to knowledge of your dissertation.

First, consider the potential implications of your research. Will you:

• Develop or test a theory?
• Provide new information to governments or businesses?
• Challenge a commonly held belief?
• Suggest an improvement to a specific process?

Describe the intended result of your research and the theoretical or practical impact it will have:

Finally, it’s sensible to conclude by briefly restating the contribution to knowledge you hope to make: the specific question(s) you hope to answer and the gap the answer(s) will fill in existing knowledge:

Like any academic text, it’s important that your dissertation proposal effectively references all the sources you have used. You need to include a properly formatted reference list or bibliography at the end of your proposal.

Different institutions recommend different styles of referencing – commonly used styles include Harvard , Vancouver , APA , or MHRA . If your department does not have specific requirements, choose a style and apply it consistently.

A reference list includes only the sources that you cited in your proposal. A bibliography is slightly different: it can include every source you consulted in preparing the proposal, even if you didn’t mention it in the text. In the case of a dissertation proposal, a bibliography may also list relevant sources that you haven’t yet read, but that you intend to use during the research itself.

Check with your supervisor what type of bibliography or reference list you should include.

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• Graduate School

How to Write a Master's Thesis Proposal

How to write a master’s thesis proposal is one of the most-asked questions by graduate students. A master's thesis proposal involves a copious amount of data collection, particular presentation ethics, and most importantly, it will become the roadmap to your full thesis. Remember, you must convince your committee that your idea is strong and unique, and that you have done enough legwork to begin with the first few drafts of your final thesis. Your proposal should serve as a foundational blueprint on which you will later build your entire project. To have the perfect thesis proposal, you need to have original ideas, solid information, and proper presentation. While it is a good idea to take assistance from thesis writing services , you still need to personally understand the elements that contribute to a master’s thesis proposal worthy of approval. In this blog, we will discuss the process of writing your master’s thesis proposal and give you tips for making your proposal strong. Stay tuned!

>> Want us to help you get accepted? Schedule a free strategy call here . <<

Article Contents 8 min read

How to decide the goals for your master's thesis.

If you are pursuing a master’s or a PhD , you will be undertaking a major research paper or a thesis. Thus, writing a thesis proposal becomes inevitable. Your major objective for pursuing a master’s degree is to improve your knowledge in your field of study. When you start your degree, you delve deeper into different concepts in your discipline and try to search for answers to all kinds of questions. If you come across a question that no one can answer, you can select that question as your research thesis topic.

A master's thesis proposal will have multiple sections depending on your decided layout. These sections will continuously support your argument and try to convince the reader of your core argument. The structure will also help you arrange the various parts of the paper to have a greater impact on the readers. A paper should always begin with you giving a brief summary of the topic and how you have come across it. The introduction is particularly important because it will give the readers a brief idea about the topic of discussion and win their interest in the matter.

After the summary has been given, slowly you need to progress into the body of the thesis proposal which would explain your argument, research methodology, literary texts that have a relation to the topic, and the conclusion of your study. It would be similar to an essay or a literary review consisting of 3 or 4 parts. The bibliography will be placed at the end of the paper so that people can cross-check your sources.

Let's take a look at the sections most master's thesis proposals should cover. Please note that each university has its own guidelines for how to structure and what to include in a master’s thesis proposal. The outline we provide below is general, so please make sure to follow the exact guidelines provided by your school:

Restate your primary argument and give us a glimpse of what you will include in the main master\u2019s thesis. Leave the reader wanting more. Your research proposal should talk about what research chapters you are trying to undertake in your final thesis. You can also mention the proposed time in which you will complete these chapters.  ","label":"Conclusion and proposed chapters","title":"Conclusion and proposed chapters"}]" code="tab1" template="BlogArticle">

A thesis proposal needs to be convincing enough to get approval. If the information is not enough to satisfy the evaluation committee, it would require revision. Hence, you need to select and follow the right methodology to make your argument convincing. When a research proposal is presented, the reader will determine the validity of your argument by judging the strength of your evidence and conclusions. Therefore, even writige:ng a proposal will require extensive research on your part. You should start writing your thesis proposal by working through the following steps.

Interested in a summary of the points covered below? Check out this infographic:

Exploring your topic in detail

You need to delve deeper into your chosen topic to see if your idea is original. In the process of this exploration, you will find tons of materials that will be supportive of your argument. When choosing your research topic and the problem you want to explore, you should always consider your primary research interest (yes, the one which you had mentioned in your research interest statement during grad school applications) for a better master’s thesis. You have a high probability of performing better in an area that you have always liked as compared to any other research area or topic.

Reviewing the literature

You have to include all the sources from where you have formed your argument and mention them in the thesis proposal. If you neglect to mention important source texts, the reader may consider it to be plagiarism. Furthermore, you want to keep track of all your research because it will be easier to provide references if you know the exact source of each piece of information.

Finding opposing arguments for your study

You should also mention any texts that would counter your argument and try to disprove their claims in the thesis. Make sure to use evidence if you try to disprove the counterarguments you face.

Emphasizing the importance of your research

At the end of the thesis proposal, you need to convince the reader why your proposal is important to your chosen field of study, which would ultimately help you in getting your topic approved. Thus, it is essential to outline the importance of your research thoroughly.

Drafting your proposal

After doing proper research, you should go ahead and draft your proposal. Remember you will not get it right in just one draft, it will take at least 50 attempts to come up with a satisfactory proposal. You should proofread your draft several times and even have a fellow student review it for you before sending it further to your research supervisor.

Getting your proposal evaluated by your supervisor

After you have written sufficient drafts, you need to get your proposal evaluated by your research supervisor. This is necessary to meet the graduate research requirements. It will ensure the clarity and correctness of your proposal. For your supervisor to evaluate your proposal, you should complete the research methodology part along with sufficient proposed work.

Since your supervisor will play a crucial role in your master's research thesis, you must choose a supervisor who can be your ultimate guide in writing your master's thesis. They will be your partner and support system during your study and will help you in eliminating obstacles to achieving your goal.

Choosing the ideal supervisor is a pretty daunting task. Here’s how you can go about the process:

You should approach your professor with an open mind and discuss the potential goals of your research. You should hear what they think and then if you both mutually agree, you can choose them as your supervisor for your master\u2019s thesis. "}]">

Length of a Master’s Thesis Proposal

The length of a master’s thesis proposal differs from university to university and depends on the discipline of research as well. Usually, you have to include all the above-mentioned sections, and the length is around 8 pages and can go up to 12-15 pages for subjects such as the liberal arts. Universities might also define the number of words in the guidelines for your master’s thesis proposal and you have to adhere to that word limit.

Are you debating between pursuing a Masters or a PhD? This video has details that can help you decide which is best for you:

How to Format a Research Thesis Proposal Correctly?

Now that you know how to write a thesis proposal, you must make it presentable. Although your school might give your specific instructions, you can keep in mind some of the general advice:

• You can use some basic font like Times New Roman and keep the font size to 10 or 12 points.
• The left margin should be 1.5 inches and all other margins should be 1 inch each.
• You should follow double-spacing for your content.
• The first line of paragraphs should be indented 0.5 inches and the paragraphs should be left or center aligned.

Tips to Write a Strong Master's Thesis Proposal

When you are writing your master’s thesis proposal, you should keep these tips in mind to write an excellent master’s thesis proposal with all the correct elements to get approval from the evaluating committee:

Select your research objectives wisely

You should be clear on what you wish to learn from your research. Your learning objectives should stem from your research interests. If you are unsure, refer to your grad school career goals statement to review what you wanted out of grad school in the first place. Then, choose your objectives around it.

Write a clear title

The title of your research proposal should be concise and written in a language that can be understood easily by others. The title should be able to give the reader an idea of your intended research and should be interesting.

Jot down your thoughts, arguments, and evidence

You should always start with a rough outline of your arguments because you will not miss any point in this way. Brainstorm what you want to include in the proposal and then expand those points to complete your proposal. You can decide the major headings with the help of the guidelines provided to you.

Focus on the feasibility and importance

You should consider whether your research is feasible with the available resources. Additionally, your proposal should clearly convey the significance of your research in your field.

Use simple language

Since the evaluation committee can have researchers from different subject areas, it is best to write your proposal in a simple language that is understandable by all.

Stick to the guidelines

Your university will be providing the guidelines for writing your research proposal. You should adhere to those guidelines strictly since your proposal will be primarily evaluated on the basis of those.

Have an impactful opening section

It is a no-brainer that the opening statement of your proposal should be powerful enough to grasp the attention of the readers and get them interested in your research topic. You should be able to convey your interest and enthusiasm in the introductory section.

Peer review prior to submission

Apart from working with your research supervisor, it is essential that you ask some classmates and friends to review your proposal. The comments and suggestions that they give will be valuable in helping you to make the language of your proposal clearer.

You have worked hard to get into grad school and even harder on searching your research topic. Thus, you must be careful while building your thesis proposal so that you have maximum chances of acceptance.

If you're curious how your graduate school education will differ from your undergraduate education, take a look at this video so you know what to expect:

Writing the perfect research proposal might be challenging, but keeping to the basics might make your task easier. In a nutshell, you need to be thorough in your study question. You should conduct sufficient research to gather all relevant materials required to support your argument. After collecting all data, make sure to present it systematically to give a clearer understanding and convince the evaluators to approve your proposal. Lastly, remember to submit your proposal well within the deadline set by your university. Your performance at grad school is essential, especially if you need a graduate degree to gain admission to med school and your thesis contributes to that performance. Thus, start with a suitable research problem, draft a strong proposal, and then begin with your thesis after your proposal is approved.

In your master’s thesis proposal, you should include your research topic and the problem statement being addressed in your research, along with a proposed solution. The proposal should explain the importance and limitations of your research.

The length of a master’s thesis proposal is outlined by the university in the instructions for preparing your master’s thesis proposal.

The time taken to write a master’s thesis proposal depends upon the study which you are undertaking and your discipline of research. It will take a minimum time of three months. The ideal time can be around six months. 

You should begin your master’s thesis proposal by writing an introduction to your research topic. You should state your topic clearly and provide some background. Keep notes and rough drafts of your proposal so you can always refer to them when you write the first real draft.

The basic sections that your master’s thesis proposal should cover are the problem statement, research methodology, proposed activities, importance, and the limitations of your research.

A master’s thesis proposal which clearly defines the problem in a straightforward and explains the research methodology in simple words is considered a good thesis proposal.

You can use any classic font for your master’s thesis proposal such as Times New Roman. If you are recommended a specific font in the proposal guidelines by your institution, it would be advisable to stick to that.

The ideal font size for your master’s thesis proposal will be 10 or 12 points.

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Master's Thesis Proposal Tips

By Jodie Nicotra, Department of English and Amy Ross, U of I Writing Center

Writing an overview of your project is designed not only to formally announce your intentions as far as your Master’s thesis goes, but also to help you become more fluent in and informed about the topic for your project. 7-8 double-spaced pages should probably be enough.

Broken into fully developed sections, each with a heading, this overview should include: 

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Thesis Examples

Latex Example (shortened M.Sc. with urthesis.sty)  (ZIP)

Latex Example (complete M.Sc. with no .sty)  (ZIP)

How to Write a M.Sc. Thesis

The following guide to writing an M.Sc. thesis was prepared by Howard Hamilton and Brien Maguire, based on previous guides by Alan Mackworth (University of British Columbia) and Nick Cercone (Simon Fraser University), with their permission.

Quick Guide to the M.Sc. Thesis

An acceptable M.Sc. thesis in Computer Science should attempt to satisfy one or more of the following criteria:

• Original research results are explained clearly and concisely.
• The thesis explains a novel exploratory implementation or a novel empirical study whose results will be of interest to the Computer Science community in general and to a portion of the Computer Science community in particular, e.g., Artificial Intelligence, Computational Complexity, etc.
• Novel implementation techniques are outlined, generalized, and explained.
• Theoretical results are obtained, explained, proven, and (worst, best, average) case analysis is performed where applicable.
• The implementation of a practical piece of nontrivial software whose availability could have some impact on the Computer Science community. Examples are a distributed file system for a mobile computing environment and a program featuring the application of artificial intelligence knowledge representation and planning techniques to intelligent computer assisted learning software.

Writing an acceptable thesis can be a painful and arduous task, especially if you have not written much before. A good methodology to follow, immediately upon completion of the required courses, is to keep a paper or electronic research notebook and commit to writing research oriented notes in it every day. From time to time, organize or reorganize your notes under headings that capture important categories of your thoughts. This journal of your research activities can serve as a very rough draft of your thesis by the time you complete your research. From these notes to a first M.Sc. thesis draft is a much less painful experience than to start a draft from scratch many months after your initial investigations. To help structure an M.Sc. thesis, the following guide may help.

One Formula for an M.Sc. Thesis for Computer Science

Chapter 1 Introduction: This chapter contains a discussion of the general area of research which you plan to explore in the thesis. It should contain a summary of the work you propose to carry out and the motivations you can cite for performing this work. Describe the general problem that you are working towards solving and the specific problem that you attempt to solve in the thesis. For example, the general problem may be finding an algorithm to help an artificial agent discover a path in a novel environment, and the specific problem may be evaluating the relative effectiveness and efficiency of five particular named approaches to finding the shortest path in a graph where each node is connected to at most four neighbours, with no knowledge of the graph except that obtained by exploration. This chapter should also explain the motivations for solving each of the general problem and your specific problem. The chapter should end with a guide to the reader on the composition and contents of the rest of the thesis, chapter by chapter. If there are various paths through the thesis, these should also be explained in Chapter 1.

Chapter 2 Limited Overview of the Field: This chapter contains a specialized overview of that part of a particular field in which you are doing M.Sc. thesis research, for example, paramodulation techniques for automated theorem proving or bubble figure modelling strategies for animation systems. The survey should not be an exhaustive survey but rather should impose some structure on your field of research endeavour and carve out your niche within the structure you impose. You should make generous use of illustrative examples and citations to current research.

Chapter 3 My Theory/Solution/Algorithm/Program: This chapter outlines your proposed solution to the specific problem described in Chapter 1. The solution may be an extension to, an improvement of, or even a disproof of someone else's theory / solution / method / ...).

Chapter 4 Description of Implementation or Formalism: This chapter describes your implementation or formalism. Depending on its length, it may be combined with Chapter 3. Not every thesis requires an implementation. Prototypical implementations are common and quite often acceptable although the guiding criterion is that the research problem must be clearer when you've completed your task than it was when you started!

Chapter 5 Results and Evaluation: This chapter should present the results of your thesis. You should choose criteria by which to judge your results, for example, the adequacy, coverage, efficiency, productiveness, effectiveness, elegance, user friendliness, etc., and then clearly, honestly and fairly adjudicate your results according to fair measures and report those results. You should repeat, whenever possible, these tests against competing or previous approaches (if you are clever you will win hands down in such comparisons or such comparisons will be obviated by system differences). The competing or previous approaches you compare against must have been introduced in Chapter 2 (in fact that may be the only reason they actively appear in Chapter 2) and you should include pointers back to Chapter 2. Be honest in your evaluations. If you give other approaches the benefit of the doubt every time, and develop a superior technique, your results will be all the more impressive.

Chapter 6 Conclusions: This chapter should summarize the achievements of your thesis and discuss their impact on the research questions you raised in Chapter 1. Use the distinctive phrasing "An original contribution of this thesis is" to identify your original contributions to research. If you solved the specific problem described in Chapter 1, you should explicitly say so here. If you did not, you should also make this clear. You should indicate open issues and directions for further or future work in this area with your estimates of relevance to the field, importance and amount of work required.

References Complete references for all cited works. This should not be a bibliography of everything you have read in your area.

Appendices include technical material (program listings, output, graphical plots of data, detailed tables of experimental results, detailed proofs, etc.) which would disrupt the flow of the thesis but should be made available to help explain or provide details to the curious reader.

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• How to Write a Research Proposal | Examples & Templates

How to Write a Research Proposal | Examples & Templates

Published on October 12, 2022 by Shona McCombes and Tegan George. Revised on November 21, 2023.

A research proposal describes what you will investigate, why it’s important, and how you will conduct your research.

The format of a research proposal varies between fields, but most proposals will contain at least these elements:

Introduction

Literature review.

• Research design

Reference list

While the sections may vary, the overall objective is always the same. A research proposal serves as a blueprint and guide for your research plan, helping you get organized and feel confident in the path forward you choose to take.

Table of contents

Research proposal purpose, research proposal examples, research design and methods, contribution to knowledge, research schedule, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about research proposals.

Academics often have to write research proposals to get funding for their projects. As a student, you might have to write a research proposal as part of a grad school application , or prior to starting your thesis or dissertation .

In addition to helping you figure out what your research can look like, a proposal can also serve to demonstrate why your project is worth pursuing to a funder, educational institution, or supervisor.

Research proposal length

The length of a research proposal can vary quite a bit. A bachelor’s or master’s thesis proposal can be just a few pages, while proposals for PhD dissertations or research funding are usually much longer and more detailed. Your supervisor can help you determine the best length for your work.

One trick to get started is to think of your proposal’s structure as a shorter version of your thesis or dissertation , only without the results , conclusion and discussion sections.

Download our research proposal template

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See an example

Writing a research proposal can be quite challenging, but a good starting point could be to look at some examples. We’ve included a few for you below.

• Example research proposal #1: “A Conceptual Framework for Scheduling Constraint Management”
• Example research proposal #2: “Medical Students as Mediators of Change in Tobacco Use”

Like your dissertation or thesis, the proposal will usually have a title page that includes:

• The proposed title of your project
• Your supervisor’s name
• Your institution and department

The first part of your proposal is the initial pitch for your project. Make sure it succinctly explains what you want to do and why.

Your introduction should:

• Introduce your topic
• Give necessary background and context
• Outline your  problem statement  and research questions

To guide your introduction , include information about:

• Who could have an interest in the topic (e.g., scientists, policymakers)
• How much is already known about the topic
• What is missing from this current knowledge
• What new insights your research will contribute
• Why you believe this research is worth doing

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

As you get started, it’s important to demonstrate that you’re familiar with the most important research on your topic. A strong literature review  shows your reader that your project has a solid foundation in existing knowledge or theory. It also shows that you’re not simply repeating what other people have already done or said, but rather using existing research as a jumping-off point for your own.

In this section, share exactly how your project will contribute to ongoing conversations in the field by:

• Comparing and contrasting the main theories, methods, and debates
• Examining the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches
• Explaining how will you build on, challenge, or synthesize prior scholarship

Following the literature review, restate your main  objectives . This brings the focus back to your own project. Next, your research design or methodology section will describe your overall approach, and the practical steps you will take to answer your research questions.

To finish your proposal on a strong note, explore the potential implications of your research for your field. Emphasize again what you aim to contribute and why it matters.

For example, your results might have implications for:

• Improving best practices
• Informing policymaking decisions
• Strengthening a theory or model
• Challenging popular or scientific beliefs
• Creating a basis for future research

Last but not least, your research proposal must include correct citations for every source you have used, compiled in a reference list . To create citations quickly and easily, you can use our free APA citation generator .

Some institutions or funders require a detailed timeline of the project, asking you to forecast what you will do at each stage and how long it may take. While not always required, be sure to check the requirements of your project.

Here’s an example schedule to help you get started. You can also download a template at the button below.

Download our research schedule template

If you are applying for research funding, chances are you will have to include a detailed budget. This shows your estimates of how much each part of your project will cost.

Make sure to check what type of costs the funding body will agree to cover. For each item, include:

• Cost : exactly how much money do you need?
• Justification : why is this cost necessary to complete the research?
• Source : how did you calculate the amount?

To determine your budget, think about:

• Travel costs : do you need to go somewhere to collect your data? How will you get there, and how much time will you need? What will you do there (e.g., interviews, archival research)?
• Materials : do you need access to any tools or technologies?
• Help : do you need to hire any research assistants for the project? What will they do, and how much will you pay them?

If you want to know more about the research process , methodology , research bias , or statistics , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

Methodology

• Sampling methods
• Simple random sampling
• Stratified sampling
• Cluster sampling
• Likert scales
• Reproducibility

 Statistics

• Null hypothesis
• Statistical power
• Probability distribution
• Effect size
• Poisson distribution

Research bias

• Optimism bias
• Cognitive bias
• Implicit bias
• Hawthorne effect
• Anchoring bias
• Explicit bias

Once you’ve decided on your research objectives , you need to explain them in your paper, at the end of your problem statement .

Keep your research objectives clear and concise, and use appropriate verbs to accurately convey the work that you will carry out for each one.

I will compare …

A research aim is a broad statement indicating the general purpose of your research project. It should appear in your introduction at the end of your problem statement , before your research objectives.

Research objectives are more specific than your research aim. They indicate the specific ways you’ll address the overarching aim.

A PhD, which is short for philosophiae doctor (doctor of philosophy in Latin), is the highest university degree that can be obtained. In a PhD, students spend 3–5 years writing a dissertation , which aims to make a significant, original contribution to current knowledge.

A PhD is intended to prepare students for a career as a researcher, whether that be in academia, the public sector, or the private sector.

A master’s is a 1- or 2-year graduate degree that can prepare you for a variety of careers.

All master’s involve graduate-level coursework. Some are research-intensive and intend to prepare students for further study in a PhD; these usually require their students to write a master’s thesis . Others focus on professional training for a specific career.

Critical thinking refers to the ability to evaluate information and to be aware of biases or assumptions, including your own.

Like information literacy , it involves evaluating arguments, identifying and solving problems in an objective and systematic way, and clearly communicating your ideas.

The best way to remember the difference between a research plan and a research proposal is that they have fundamentally different audiences. A research plan helps you, the researcher, organize your thoughts. On the other hand, a dissertation proposal or research proposal aims to convince others (e.g., a supervisor, a funding body, or a dissertation committee) that your research topic is relevant and worthy of being conducted.

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Guidelines MSc Thesis

General Learning outcomes In general, WU learning outcomes are categorized in four groups: research competence, thesis report, colloquium, and examination. More specifically, learning outcomes as formulated by AEW are: Research skills

• explore the problem by means of studying relevant literature
• critically reading literature
• formulate a theoretical framework
• delineate the research problem
• design a research strategy
• realistically plan all research activities
• collect empirical research data through experiments, measurements, observations, interviews or literature
• efficiently analyze (large) data sets also with models and statistics
• evaluate quantitative results with error propagation
• relate observations to your own theoretical framework
• draw conclusions
• formulate your own opinion on your research
• evaluate the research from a broader perspective

Communication skills

• discuss data and results during the course of a thesis
• discuss problems faced during the thesis
• be open for suggestions from supervisor(s) and/or other students
• accept and deal with criticism

Writing skills

• write a research report or a draft scientific paper
• structure the report or paper (does the title cover the content, are the different chapters in accordance with their importance, presence of readable summary)
• meet criteria for correct language use (choices of words, grammar, spelling)
• take care for scientific verification
• present tables, figures, maps and/or illustrations in the right way
• take care of a proper final lay-out of the report or paper

Presenting skills

• give a structured oral presentation
• schedule the content of an oral presentation
• give a presentation within a limited timeframe
• present readable graphs & tables

General set-up of a thesis The total period spent on a thesis can be divided into 3 phases: proposal writing, performing the research and thesis writing. Different activities will take place with different products for the phases (Table 2).

Proposal writing Usually you start with a general idea about the thesis and you may have had some discussion with your supervisor. A detailed project plan, however, still needs to be written. This phase lasts in general 4 to 6 weeks depending on the kind of topic, your knowledge etcetera. You will explore the background of a given research problem, critically review scientific literature, delineate your problem, formulate scientific questions and reflect on methodology. Table 3 shows most elements that should be in a research proposal. Length of proposal is 5 to 8 pages A4. Furthermore, you will present your plan orally for the chairgroup (start presentation: 5 min talk & 5 min discussion).

Performing the research

After writing the proposal, the practical work starts (field work, modelling, experiment). Data will be collected and analyzed. During this phase the supervisor will be informed regularly on the progress made. If thesis work is done abroad students have to adapt to working conditions such as institutional hierarchy, ethics, dress code etcetera that are often different from Dutch conditions.

Thesis writing

Usually 4 to 6 weeks are needed to write the final report or paper. In close co-operation with the supervisor the choice for a report or paper will be made. The report has to be written in English. When you have a first complete draft of your thesis ready (with all chapters and annexes but some smaller elements may still be missing) ask your supervisor for comments on structure and contents. The supervisor usually needs 1 week for this proof reading. After having discussed the comments with your supervisor, you have at least one chance to improve your draft. Together with your supervisor you make appointments regarding the procedure for proof reading. You have to ask the secretariat from the chair group for a thesis number, that appears on the cover of your thesis. The number of hardcopies will be determined in cooperation with the supervisor. A PDF version of the final report or paper is also required. The task of writing a thesis sometimes lures students into using other’s work, ideas, facts, texts etcetera and presenting it as their own. It is important to understand that plagiarism is considered as a very serious offence against academic norms and, hence subject to equally serious punishment. Therefore, read the Wageningen University & Research plagiarism policy in the Student Charter (2.8 Students and copyright, p. 24-25, and 5.3.3. Fraud and plagiarism, p. 56-47) and Appendices Student Charter (Article 33h, p.117)). The thesis report has the following contents:

• Preface (optional)
• Abstract (max 1 page)
• Introduction: problem definition, state-of-the-art, theory/concepts, objectives, research questions
• Material & Methods: description of how the problem was studied, which materials were used, type of statistical analyses
• Results: what where the findings?
• Discussion: Discuss your findings with those from literature, what are good/weaker points in your study
• Conclusions & Recommendations: answer your research questions and formulate recommendations
• References & Annexes

Click here ( Example Thesis report.pdf ) for an example report.

Final presentation

After the draft thesis is finished, the student has to give a colloquium. Reserve a date with your supervisor in time. Presentations at AEW are scheduled on Thursday mornings and reservations can be made at the secretariat. Twenty minutes are reserved for the oral presentation followed by 10 minutes discussion. It is strongly advised to have a test colloquium a few days before.

Final meeting

In a final meeting, your supervisor will question and discuss your thesis, its relevance, and your opinion about your own work. During this meeting the mark will be given.

The standard form Thesis evaluation Wageningen University & Research (click here for downloading) will be used. The standard rubric for the assessment will be applied by your supervisor (click here for downloading).

MSc thesis project proposals

Precision analog.

Precision Analog Group

Biomedical Devices

CMOS Image Sensors

CMOS Image Sensor Group

Industrial Electronic Instrumentation

Smart Ultrasound

Integrated Electronics for Smart Ultrasound Applications

Power Management

Power Management Group

Cognitive sensor nodes and systems

Digital / mixed-signal neuromorphic sensorimotor agents and bio-inspired hardware-algorithm co-design for machine learning accelerators.

Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS)

Devices that harness mechanical and electrical properties for sensing applications.

Merging (Ultra)-Wide bandgap Sensors with Integrated Circuits

Further information.

• List of MSc students
• MSc thesis guidelines
• MSc thesis examples
• EEMCS MSc graduation policy and timeline
• EEMCS Graduation forms

MSc thesis proposals