Proposal Writing GradWRITE! Initiative Writing Support Centre Student Development Services

Outline Proposals in General FormatContentLanguage Grant/Scholarship Proposals Thesis/Dissertation Proposals

Proposals in General Thesis/Dissertation and Grant/Scholarship proposal formats, lengths and content may be different, but the general purpose remains the same Some disciplines use standard Grant proposal formats for Thesis/Dissertation proposals

Formatting Shapes the content and delivery of your proposal Different for every agency / council / department Follow the guidelines

Content Research Plan Biographical Sketch Reference Letters Budget

Research Plan Abstracts Purpose, Rationale, Specific Questions Background Procedures and Methods Time Frame

Abstracts Aside from title, read by the most people Summary of your application Include all aspects of your application Use plain language

Purpose and Rationale Need a clear idea Purpose: General statement introducing topic Understanding or improving something Rationale: So what?

Questions and Hypotheses Specific questions to be answered, hypotheses to be tested, objectives to be met

Background What is known about the subject? What lines of thought led to your study? Keep it brief

Procedures and Methods How are you going to answer your questions? Be as detailed as space allows Start with a general description then give details

Include in Methods Overall research design (e.g. controlled study, observation, library research etc.) Tests, Measurements, and Procedures Types of data and analysis How will results be reported

Time Frame When and where will you accomplish these goals? May use charts and tables

The Language of Proposals Know your audience Conciseness is extra important Forceful, authoritative Signpost Language Tense is important

Authoritative Language Weak: It is hoped that this research may be used to help... Strong: This research will...

Signpost Language Examples: The objectives of this research are to... This project has three phases. (1) We will... First,.... Second,.... Last,.... Helps with clarity Bullets and numbering are helpful and important

The Tenses of Proposals Literature Review: Present For example, direct observation of foraging behaviour can be difficult and may yield biased data (Kelly 2000). Past (when integrating specific studies) DeNiro and Epstein (1981) showed that animal tissues are consistently enriched in 15N by 3 to 5 permille relative to diet.

The Tenses of Proposals Statement of Purpose: Mix of Present and Future If lactation has an additive effect on δ 15 N values, then dependent offspring will have higher δ 15 N values than neonates. Present when describing phenomena Past when describing predictions or future results

The Tenses of Proposals Methods:Future Ten lactating females will be live trapped, and milk, blood and hair samples will be collected.

Grant/Scholarship Proposals Two Purposes: Sell Your Project Sell Yourself

The Written Proposal Good writing ≠ Guaranteed Grant Bad writing = No Grant

Thesis/Dissertation Proposals CommunicationPlanContract

Communication Informs your supervisor, committee, department, funding agencies etc. about your proposed research

Plan A roadmap for you to follow throughout your degree

Contract Communicating your plan makes a contract stating that fulfilling your proposal will result in a degree

Format There is no generally accepted format for proposals Advice from supervisors, committees and departments ranges from a few suggestions to rigid guidelines In some ways, it defines the format of your thesis/dissertation

Content Similar content to grant proposals Generally, longer and more detailed than grant proposals Still, clear and concise sections are essential

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