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Top 15 Thesis Proposal Templates with Samples and Examples

Siranjeev Santhanam

Writing a thesis proposal requires a fusion of critical thinking and clear communication skills. A well-crafted thesis proposal would be able to capture the attention of the reader and make an otherwise dull and mundane topic appear interesting and exciting. 

A thesis proposal is a document that underlines the research objectives, methods, and overarching significance of a proposed research project. It is usually written within the context of academic learning, by students seeking to pursue higher degree professional qualification. A thesis proposal tends operates as an overarching plan for the research, and an efficient means to convince the supervisors in the academy of the worthiness of the research subject in question.

Are you struggling to manage time when drafting your thesis document? We’ve got you covered. Click right here to check out other blog discussing top ten thesis timeline templates with samples and examples.

To many in the academic discipline, writing a thesis proposal can appear daunting, even overwhelming. Despite this, it constitutes an essential step in the academic process and in the broader systems of learning within all fields of science. It forces a student to think critically and unbiasedly about his or her research subject, to apply stringent methodologies within the framing of the research and to develop sound research standards to achieve the end goals in sight. 

In our blog, we're going to be looking at some best thesis presentation ppt templates, made with the specific interests of the those in academic disciplines. These templates are 100% editable and customizable, giving users both structures, a starting point, and the capability to tailor the presentation to audience profile. 

Looking to dive deeper into this subject? Click right here to check out other blog on research proposal templates that can give you the tools needed to get funded. 

Let’s explore. 

Template 1 Thesis Research Paper Proposal PowerPoint Presentation Slides

Users will find this PPT Template to be of great help in organizing their thesis material along the lines of what is needed to clear any panel from a reputed college or university. After introducing the study, outline an overview, research, and question/hypothesis in the problem statement. Then, this presentation template gives the user the best format for literature review, research method overview, research constraints, and references/bibliography slides to ensure the research effort gets all its due.

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Template 2 Planning Thesis Proposal PowerPoint Presentation Slides

This PPT Template starts with an abstract that lists the purpose, design methodology, findings, and the originality value of the thesis proposal. The methods or approach slide lists the five tools used as the basics of the research, which may be surveys, questionnaires, interviews, case studies, and observations. There are slides on the implications of the research, a work plan on a timetable, and a list of references/bibliographies included.

Template 3 Sample Thesis Proposal Template Presentation Slides 

The thesis statement is a USP of this PPT Template, as is the design. The slide on preliminary results and discussions gives the researcher at least eight points to list and make his/her point. The work plan, including the table and the research implications, gives you the comprehensive license to put forward your thesis proposal.

Template 4 Abstract for Thesis Research Proposal PPT Template

The abstract is the segment of the presentation where you get to condense the main idea, methods, objectives, and expected outcomes of your research project. Utilizing this concise overview for your proposal can assist you in getting the attention you need from potential funders, supervisors or academic collaborators. Use slide to organize your research processes in a logical and coherent way. Underscore your originality, ingenuity and relevance of your research project with a download of this slide.

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Template 5 Introduction of study for thesis research paper PPT Presentation

If you’re seeking professional and effective way to communicate the foundational elements of your research proposal, this slide is for you. The introduction of study section allows you to easily summarize and hone into the specific topic and domain of the thesis while convince potential audiences of the intrinsic value and significance of the project. It can also assist you in designing a more feasible and impactful thesis paper that has been structured with the appropriate levels of focus and feedback.

Template 6 Problem statement – Overview for thesis research paper proposal Presentation

The problem statement segment of the proposal is intended to isolate and identify the specific problem or gap that your research project seeks to address. It is a critical part of the overarching proposal and can be a central tenet in establishing the feasibility of your research project, and dictating the importance of the project in general. Use this template to help you formulate a clear and focused problem statement that can facilitate your research process and help you hone into the appropriate questions.

Template 7 Research Question/Hypothesis For Thesis Research Proposal 

If you’re seeking to create a valid and sound research question for your thesis research paper proposal, this PPT Template can help facilitate the process. The ‘research question/hypothesis’ segment of the thesis research paper proposal exists to test the primary assumptions that your project seeks to probe. It is an important ingredient in the presentation, helping you in determining the right scale and scope of the project. Flesh out the right research question to direct the broader research structure and the data collection process with this template. Demonstrate your innate analytical skills while authenticating your research goals using this PPT Slide.

Template 8 Key assertions/objectives for thesis research proposal PPT Template 

Use this slide as an effective instrument in creating a sound and credible presentation, impressing your audience, and making a difference in your own research experience. This segment of the presentation is meant to underscore the central claims or goals that your research project seeks to achieve. It is also a key component in the broader research proposal that can give you the tools to customize the scope and limitations of the project.

Template 9 Thesis Statement of Planning Thesis Proposal PPT

A strong thesis statement can help you in summarizing the central features of the research project, organizing the process around the most vital aspects. It is a crucial element of the proposal and can help to grant clarity and focus to the process, while also proving the originality and significance. Download this slide now and acquire the means to make powerful and persuasive arguments that help to take your overall thesis approach to the next level.

Template 10 Methods or Approach Planning Thesis Proposal 

This slide on methods or approach can help you consolidate your research design, while also presenting the data collection techniques and the expected outcomes of the project to your audiences. Incorporate this your overall research proposal to prove your expertise with a demonstration of the systematic and rigorous procedures that help to direct the research. 

Template 11 Preliminary discussions and results PPT Thesis Proposal  

The segment of the presentation titled, preliminary discussions and results, can help you in showcasing the essential findings and the broader implications of the project. Integrate this slide into your thesis procedures to create a better understanding of your own research merits and to underscore the value that your thesis holds within the credible field of study. The slide can be a useful asset for any research domain that rests on systematic and rigorous analytical processes. Download this slide and communicate your challenges, solutions, and present your findings to finetune the remainder of the project.

Template 12 Work plan with timetable PPT Thesis Proposal

If you’re struggling to create a more efficient and structured work process, then we’ve got just the template you need. The work table has been segmented into two major sections, titled, activities and month, and comes with some pre-designed highlights that you can use such as the development of research tools, data collection, data entry and analysis, validation of equipment, training of enumerators and more.

Template 13 Implication of research Thesis Proposal PPT 

The Implication of Research section in your thesis proposal, helps you project the significance and the impact of the project at hand, thereby creating the right conditions to get the relevant stakeholders on your side for the project. Tailor this slide to your own needs and create the right message to employ the mechanics of your academy, broadcasting the vision and the intrinsic value of your research.

Template 14 Timeline Thesis Proposal Template Sample 

Use this template to streamline your research activities and engage with the working process, thereby creating a more robust and intensive thesis proposal. The timeline comes with visual cues that separate the years. The graph can be further customized to your own convenience, giving you the liberty to add or subtract content from it as you see fit.

Template 15 30-60-90 Day Plan Timeline Thesis Proposal Template Sample

This slide allows you to add manageable milestones tied to the research thesis, allowing you to optimize your work output and productivity. Use this slide to bring on a more focused and result-driven work procedure, achieving and exceeding the set targets and calibrating the right mechanisms to bring your thesis the credit that it needs. 

BE SURE-FOOTED, BE PREPARED

Our templates have been designed to create a unique user experience within corporate and non-corporate environments, pairing strong visuals with pre-designed well-researched content. With these above templates, you are given the option of picking and choosing the material you deem appropriate and leaving out that which you don’t. Download our templates and apply them to the academic fray when drafting a thesis document. 

Get ahead of the statistical hurdles that come along with research with the help of our pre-designed templates. Click here to check out other blog discussing top 10 statistical analysis research proposal templates now.

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Trapped in dissertation revisions?

How to create a dissertation proposal defense powerpoint (+example), published by steve tippins on june 21, 2022 june 21, 2022.

Last Updated on: 22nd May 2024, 04:14 am

As part of the dissertation process, you will need to create a dissertation proposal defense PowerPoint to present a summary of the plan for your study. You will need to show how important your study is and how it is useful. 

When creating the PowerPoint, keep in mind that you need to make sure all of your audience can understand all aspects of your study.  The exact content for the defense PowerPoint varies by college, discipline and department, so it is important that you discuss with your committee chair about the requirements. However, we will give some general guidelines that apply to most institutions.

The defense typically takes 20‐30 minutes. You should keep the timeframe in mind as you consider the information you will have in your presentation. 

Except for aspects of your presentation, such as the research question(s) or hypothesis(es), do not just read the slides. Instead, explain or expand on what is on the slides. To ensure you keep within the timeframe, practice narrating your PowerPoint presentation. 

Although the APA manual does not provide guidelines for creating a PowerPoint presentation, you will need to follow some of the APA style guidelines within your PowerPoint. 

For example, provide in-text citations for quotes, paraphrases, images, graphs, and other information that should be cited. Also, you will need to provide a list of pertinent references. 

The following are other format requirements for the slides :

• Create 17-20 slides.
• Do not provide a lot of information. Be concise and write a few sentences (approximately 1-7 on each slide). 
• Because your slides will contain only a small amount of information, any extra information that you want to touch on should be put in the notes section of the PowerPoint. 
• Write the information in your slides for visual appeal and optimum communication, using a legible font size. 
• You can use graphics and images to enhance and reinforce the information. However, ensure that they do not distract from your information.
• You can use bullet points but keep them to a minimum of 3-4 for each listing.

Example Dissertation Proposal Defense PowerPoint Template

The dissertation proposal will consist of three chapters, which you will be providing information on in the presentation. Although the contents and order of the contents may vary, there are some basic parts of the proposal that are usually required.  

The following is a breakdown of the usual contents that are included in the presentation. Each of these headings below represents the titles of each slide. The information below the headings is the type of content you will need to provide. 

Title (1 slide) : 

• Dissertation’s Title 
• Department of Program of Study/Name of University
• Chair and Committee Members

Statement of the Problem (1 slide):

• Provide the problem that your dissertation will address. 

Purpose of the Study (1 slide):

• Provide what the study will do relative to the issue(s) defined in the statement of the problem.

Significance of the Study (1 slide):

• Provide the main argument of why the solution to the problem that you propose is important. 

Research Question(s)/Hypothesis(es ) (1 slide):

• Provide the research question(s) or hypothesis(es) relevant to your field of study, written exactly as it is in your dissertation proposal.

The Literature Review (2 slides):  

• These slides should consist of a coherent, organized overview of the main literature that frames your study’s problem, and the gap in literature that your study will address. Make sure that you include the sources. 

Theoretical/Conceptual Framework (1 slide):

• This slide should consist of the theoretical/conceptual framework that will help you make sense of the phenomenon that you will investigate. 

Research Design (1 slide):

• Provide the framework for the methods of data collection and data analysis. Indicate whether the study will be quantitative or qualitative.

Sample and Population (1 slide):

• Provide the population that refers to the entire group that you will draw conclusions about, and the sample that refers to the specific group that you will collect data from.

Data Collection (1 slide):

• Provide the methods by which you will obtain the data. If the research design is quantitative, provide methods such as correlation and regression, mean, mode and median or others. If the design is qualitative, provide methods such as, interviews, questionnaires with open-ended questions, focus groups, observation, game or role-playing, case studies, or others.

Data Analysis (1-2 slides):

• This slide should contain the process you will use to understand, gather, compile, and process the data you will obtain. 

Limitations (1 slide):

• In this slide, explain the nature of the limitations and how they will be overcome during your research. 

Delimitations (1slide):

• Provide the characteristics that describe the boundaries of your study and limit the scope, such as sample size, geographical location, population traits, or others.

References (1-2 slides):

• Only provide those sources that you referred to in the presentation. Do not provide all the sources that you have in your dissertation proposal.

Thank You/Questions (1 slide):

• Use this final slide to thank your committee and to request questions from them.

Note : For information about citing your references, refer to Chapters 9 and 10 of the APA Manual 7 th edition.

For instructions on how to create a PowerPoint, see How to Create a Powerpoint Presentation .

View this video for “ Tips and Tricks for your Proposal Defense Day Presentation ” 

You can find several templates of students’ Dissertation Proposal Defense presentations online by searching for “Dissertation Proposal Defense PowerPoint.”  You can also find one at this webpage .

Steve Tippins

Steve Tippins, PhD, has thrived in academia for over thirty years. He continues to love teaching in addition to coaching recent PhD graduates as well as students writing their dissertations. Learn more about his dissertation coaching and career coaching services. Book a Free Consultation with Steve Tippins

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DETAILS OF THE THESIS PROPOSAL PRESENTATION

Once the Chair of the Thesis Committee concurs with the student that her or his thesis proposal is well-prepared and the student is ready to proceed with the Thesis Proposal Presentation, the student submits a copy of his or her thesis proposal to the Thesis Chair and to the Thesis Reader.

The Thesis Chair and Thesis Reader read the thesis proposal and each gives approval that the student’s proposal is of a quality that will enable the student to schedule a Thesis Proposal Presentation. Decision to approve or not to approve the scheduling of the Thesis Proposal Presentation is made by the Thesis Chair and Thesis Reader within two weeks of receiving the student’s thesis proposal.

The Thesis Proposal Presentation is a formally scheduled meeting between the student, Thesis Chair, and Thesis Reader. The purpose of this Thesis Proposal Presentation is to provide the student opportunity to verbally/visually present his or her proposed research to the Thesis Committee, and to engage in conversation about the student’s proposed thesis research.

The student, in consultation with the Thesis Chair, is responsible for scheduling the Thesis Proposal Presentation at a time that is agreed upon by the Thesis Chair, Thesis Reader, and the student. The location for this meeting is determined by the Thesis Chair.

At the Thesis Proposal Presentation, the student provides a 10-15 minute overview of his or her proposed thesis research. The student is encouraged to show a PowerPoint presentation or furnish handouts that help to clarify his or her research intent and methodology.

The student comes to the Thesis Proposal Presentation prepared to discuss and answer questions regarding the thesis research topic and thesis proposal. Other questions and issues for discussion may arise during conversation in the Thesis Proposal Presentation.

It is important for the student to recognize that a primary purpose of the Thesis Proposal Presentation is to allow the Thesis Committee, through suggestions and recommendations, opportunity to assist the student with the research by clarifying issues and providing guidance to avoid potential problems in carrying out the proposed thesis research.

The student should be aware that her or his thesis proposal may be, and proposals often are, altered in some respect through conversation that occurs in the Thesis Proposal Presentation.

Once a thesis proposal has been approved by the Thesis Committee, the student may begin work to carry out the thesis research, but only after written approval has been received from the Internal Review Board (IRB) of the Office of Research Support at The University of Texas at Austin. Students should not move forward in their thesis research until this IRB approval to do so has been received in writing. This approval may require multiple submissions and edits of the student’s IRB proposal, and may take 4-6 weeks to accomplish. Students are strongly urged to plan their research schedule accordingly.

It is recommended that the student meet with the Thesis Chair soon after successfully completing the Thesis Proposal Presentation, in order to establish a timeline for conducting his or her thesis research and writing.

If during the Thesis Proposal Presentation there is a difference of opinion amongst the Thesis Chair and Thesis Reader regarding what is expected of the student in writing his or her thesis, and/or whether or not a student has successfully completed the Thesis Proposal Presentation, the Chair of the Thesis Committee is the one to make these determinations.

In the event that a student’s thesis proposal is not approved at the conclusion of the Thesis Proposal Presentation, the Thesis Committee makes recommendations to the student for further work. These recommendations for additional work may range from asking the student to submit written responses to one or more questions asked in the Thesis Proposal Presentation, to requesting that the student schedule and carry out another Thesis Proposal Presentation.

Recommendations for further work are communicated to the student through the Thesis Chair at the conclusion of the Thesis Proposal Presentation.

If another Thesis Proposal Presentation is needed, the student may, with the approval of the Thesis Chair, schedule this Thesis Proposal Presentation following the guidelines set down for an initial Thesis Proposal Presentation.

At the conclusion of the Thesis Proposal Presentation, the Thesis Chair gives approval for a student to proceed with his or her thesis.

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How to Start and Give a Great Thesis Defense Presentation

To complete a graduate degree, you'll likely need to create a thesis defense presentation. You must complete a thesis to finish many graduate degree programs. 

A thesis is a paper where you explore a topic in depth that's related to what you’ve studied. After completing your thesis paper, you will be asked to defend it through a presentation.

You give this thesis defense in a meeting with a panel of two or more professors in your program. The panel could include other professionals related to your field.

In your thesis defense presentation, you will be asked questions about your topic. The purpose of the questions is to get you to think deeply about your work, so the questions could be open-ended.

To create a thesis defense presentation, you need to know how to make a thesis presentation and how to start your thesis defense. Keep reading to find out more about thesis defense presentations.

How to Structure Your PPT for Thesis Defense

Thesis defense presentations can vary in length. They can be 20 minutes long or two hours long. It depends on how much time is allowed for your presentation and questions.

Talk to your professor to find out how much time is set aside for your presentation. Your thesis defense presentation will be unique to your thesis. But a good presentation includes the following structure:

• Title . You need a title just as your research paper needed a title. The title slide will include the information that you’d include on your paper title. This information can include the title, your name, your school, and course name.
• Introduction . Just like most presentations, your thesis defense presentation should include an introduction slide. This slide should have the topic of your thesis and the question that your presentation answers. It should also include any objections to your research and the answer you’ll be defending in your thesis presentation.
• Literature Review . Next, create two or more slides with a review of the literature used in your research. It doesn’t need to be a complete bibliography. Although you do need to cite your sources, these slides should include your most relevant sources.
• Methodology . These slides in your thesis presentation are where you describe what method you used and an explanation of why you chose that method. If you've got some original research, include the details of that research and how you analyzed the data that you got from that research.
• Results . Some of the most important slides of your PPT for thesis defense contain the results of your research. This should include a description of the data you collected by researching and the results of your data analysis. You also should highlight what your most noteworthy finding was.
• Discussion . These slides of your PPT for thesis defense need to include your research results. Also, show how the results support your argument and how it relates to your original question.
• Conclusion . The conclusion thesis presentation slides should restate your original research questions, show the results of your research, and suggest future research and any final recommendations.
• Ending Slide . The ending slides of your thesis defense presentation are where you add an interesting fact, quote, gif, or hypothetical question. The point is to get your audience to continue to think about your topic while also grabbing their attention. You want your presentation to be memorable.

How to Make a Thesis Presentation

After you’ve seen what the structure of a thesis defense presentation is, there are some more tips that you can follow. Here are tips on how to create a thesis defense presentation:

1. Define Your Concept

After choosing which template to use, the next step is to choose the concept of your thesis defense presentation. Your concept should be relevant to your thesis. To have a fully rounded concept, try to make your presentation templates design relevant to your thesis topic.

Before working on your defense, think about the message you want to convey. This will help you choose elements such as font images and a theme that'll be cohesive.

2. Know Your Audience

Most people give their thesis defense presentation to an academic panel. This panel will look to see if you've developed a thorough understanding of your topic and thesis. They’ll also be looking to see if you've got a solid foundation for your argument.

This is why your presentation is important. You don’t want a sloppy presentation because it can give the impression of laziness and that you don’t care about your presentation. So, choose all aspects of your presentation carefully.

3. Keep Your Slides Focused   

Part of giving a good thesis presentation is to have focused slides. This means that you don’t want to have too much information on a slide. It’s best to follow the rule of one point per slide. If you've got too much on a single slide, it can be hard for the audience to follow you.

4. Structure Your Presentation

After you’ve chosen your concept, it's time to structure the content of your thesis. When structuring your information, you want to show that you understand the subject matter and that you're organized.

5. Less Is More

Each slide should have enough information that you can make your point. It’s important that your audience listens more than they read. By speaking, you show your audience that you know the topic you’re presenting on. So, when creating your slides, remember that less is more.

6. Consider Your Typography

After choosing your thesis presentation subject, consider what typography to use. Your typography should create an impact without distracting from your topic.

When considering your typography, consider your text's colors. Your text's colors should contrast with your slide's background. If the text doesn’t contrast well, it can distract the audience, causing them not to pay attention as you speak.

7. Stick to Important Data

Include data that'll strengthen your argument. Your data should also show that you’ve researched your thesis. If you can, add visuals that are relevant to your data. Visuals stimulate your brain and can increase how fast you process information. So, including relevant visuals can make your data easier to process and remember.

8. Consistency Is Key

When thinking about how to make a thesis presentation, think about consistency. For an impressive presentation, your presentation should flow well. It’s easier to have consistency when using a template because it’s already designed by a professional.

Check your finished presentation for consistency. This means making sure all your titles on slides are the same font and font size. Also, make sure that your body text is consistent throughout.

9. Explain Your Thesis

The next step in how to make a thesis presentation is to explain your thesis in great detail. The first part of this is your methodology slide . This is where you explain what method you used for your research, why you chose the topic, and how you conducted your research.

For this part of your thesis, chart and tables in your presentation are helpful in explaining data. In this section, keep your text minimal to let the chart, graphs, and data stand out. 

Next, tell the audience what the data means. Infographics are a great option to use in this section. Infographics and icons can quickly and simply show your message.

10. End Your Thesis

The last section of your thesis presentation is where you end it. Make your ending memorable to keep your audience thinking.

In your conclusion, overview your thesis topic and remind the audience of the answer that your research proved. Next, cover the important research points you want your audience to remember. A slide with icons is a great way to do this. Also, address your shortcomings in your research and how there can be improvements in future research.

Finally, use some more presentation tips by reading this helpful article:

A Top Source for Presentation Templates

Envato Elements is the best place for presentation templates. Plus, they also have more than just premium templates. They've icons, photos, fonts, and more. To gain access to these digital elements, you must pay a low monthly fee and sign up to become a member. Once you sign up , you get unlimited access and downloads to digital elements.

Explore Presentation Templates

A premium template saves you time because you're starting with a great base. Just add your information when using a template. This is a lot quicker than trying to design a presentation from scratch. If you like to customize your presentation, you still can find a good premium template that's easily customizable.

Every template is designed by a professional to look stylish and impressive. This means that your presentation will stand out among all the made-from-scratch presentations.

Use a Premium Template for Your Thesis Defense Presentation Today!

Now that you’ve been given tips on how to start a thesis presentation and what it should contain, put this information to use when creating your thesis presentation. Save time from having to create a presentation from scratch by downloading a premium template today!

PhD Dissertation Defense Slides Design: Start

• Tips for designing the slides
• Presentation checklist
• Example slides
• Additional Resources

Purpose of the Guide

This guide was created to help ph.d. students in engineering fields to design dissertation defense presentations. the guide provides 1) tips on how to effectively communicate research, and 2) full presentation examples from ph.d. graduates. the tips on designing effective slides are not restricted to dissertation defense presentations; they can be used in designing other types of presentations such as conference talks, qualification and proposal exams, and technical seminars., the tips and examples are used to help students to design effective presentation. the technical contents in all examples are subject to copyright, please do not replicate. , if you need help in designing your presentation, please contact julie chen ([email protected]) for individual consultation. .

• Example Slides Repository
• Defense slides examples Link to examples dissertation defense slides.

Useful Links

• CIT Thesis and dissertation standards
• Dissertations and Theses @ Carnegie Mellon This link opens in a new window Covers 1920-present. Full text of some dissertations may be available 1997-present. Citations and abstracts of dissertations and theses CMU graduate students have published through UMI Dissertation Publishing. In addition to citations and abstracts, the service provides free access to 24 page previews and the full text in PDF format, when available. In most cases, this will be works published in 1997 forward.
• Communicate your research data Data visualization is very important in communicating your data effectively. Check out these do's and don'ts for designing figures.

Power Point Template and other Resources

• CEE Powerpoint Slide Presentation Template 1
• CEE Powerpoint Slide Presentation Template 2

Source: CEE Department Resources https://www.cmu.edu/cee/resources/index.html

• CMU Powerpoint Slide Template

Source: CMU Marketing and Communications

https://www.cmu.edu/marcom/brand-standards/downloads/index.html

• Use of CMU logos, marks, and Unitmarks

Email me for questions and schedule an appointment

Top 7 tips for your defense presentation

1. show why your study is important, remember, your audience is your committee members, researchers in other fields, and even the general public. you want to convince all of them why you deserve a ph.d. degree. you need to talk about why your study is important to the world. in the engineering field, you also need to talk about how your study is useful. try to discuss why current practice is problematic or not good enough, what needs to be solved, and what the potential benefits will be. , see how dr. posen and dr. malings explained the importance of their studies..

• Carl Malings Defense Slides with Notes
• I. Daniel Posen Defense Slides with Notes

2. Emphasize YOUR contribution 

Having a ph.d. means that you have made some novel contributions to the grand field. this is about you and your research. you need to keep emphasizing your contributions throughout your presentation. after talking about what needs to be solved, try to focus on emphasizing the novelty of your work. what problems can be solved using your research outcomes what breakthroughs have you made to the field why are your methods and outcomes outstanding you need to incorporate answers to these questions in your presentation. , be clear what your contributions are in the introduction section; separate what was done by others and what was done by you. , 3. connect your projects into a whole piece of work, you might have been doing multiple projects that are not strongly connected. to figure out how to connect them into a whole piece, use visualizations such as flow charts to convince your audience. the two slides below are two examples. in the first slide, which was presented in the introduction section, the presenter used a flow diagram to show the connection between the three projects. in the second slide, the presenter used key figures and a unique color for each project to show the connection..

• Xiaoju Chen Defense Slides with Notes

4. Tell a good story 

The committee members do not necessarily have the same background knowledge as you. plus, there could be researchers from other fields and even the general public in the room. you want to make sure all of your audience can understand as much as possible. focus on the big picture rather than technical details; make sure you use simple language to explain your methods and results. your committee has read your dissertation before your defense, but others have not. , dr. cook and dr. velibeyoglu did a good job explaining their research to everyone. the introduction sessions in their presentations are well designed for this purpose. .

• Laren M. Cook Defense Slides with Notes
• Irem Velibeyoglu Defense with Notes

5. Transition, transition, transition

Use transition slides to connect projects , it's a long presentation with different research projects. you want to use some sort of transition to remind your audience what you have been talking about and what is next. you may use a slide that is designed for this purpose throughout your presentation. , below are two examples. these slides were presented after the introduction section. the presenters used the same slides and highlighted the items for project one to indicate that they were moving on to the first project. throughout the presentation, they used these slides and highlighted different sections to indicate how these projects fit into the whole dissertation. .

You can also use some other indications on your slides, but remember not to make your slides too busy.  Below are two examples. In the first example, the presenter used chapter numbers to indicate what he was talking about. In the second example, the presenter used a progress bar with keywords for each chapter as the indicator. 

Use transition sentences to connect slides 

Remember transition sentences are also important; use them to summarize what you have said and tell your audience what they will expect next. if you keep forgetting the transition sentence, write a note on your presentation. you can either write down a full sentence of what you want to say or some keywords., 6. be brief, put details in backup slides , you won't have time to explain all of the details. if your defense presentation is scheduled for 45 minutes, you can only spend around 10 minutes for each project - that's shorter than a normal research conference presentation focus on the big picture and leave details behind. you can put the details in your backup slides, so you might find them useful when your committee (and other members of the audience) ask questions regarding these details., 7. show your presentation to your advisor and colleagues, make sure to ask your advisor(s) for their comments. they might have a different view on what should be emphasized and what should be elaborated. , you also want to practice at least once in front of your colleagues. they can be your lab mates, people who work in your research group, and/or your friends. they do not have to be experts in your field. ask them to give you some feedback - their comments can be extremely helpful to improve your presentation. , below are some other tips and resources to design your defense presentation. .

• Tips for designing your defense presentation

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• Last Updated: Jan 9, 2024 11:18 AM
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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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Caulfield, J. (2022, November 11). How to Write a Dissertation Proposal | A Step-by-Step Guide. Scribbr. Retrieved 3 September 2024, from https://www.scribbr.co.uk/thesis-dissertation/proposal/

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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.

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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 short course, Research Proposal Bootcamp . If you want to work smart, you don't want to miss this .

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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Thesis Proposal PowerPoint Template

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Present your research with confidence using our free Thesis Proposal PowerPoint template . Featuring dynamic red and blue abstract shapes, this design exudes a sense of intellectual vigor and innovation. Ideal for academic presentations, it provides a visually engaging backdrop for your research proposal. With its striking design, it ensures your content is both impactful and memorable. Elevate your thesis proposal with this visually compelling template, where every slide is a testament to your dedication and scholarly pursuit. Stand out with a presentation that showcases the rigor and significance of your academic work.

How to Use Thesis Proposal Presentation Templates?

Creating an impressive presentation is easy with our template, available in PPTX and Google Slides formats. You’ll find plenty of helpful slide layouts to help you organize your thoughts for maximum impact. Plus, if you want to impress your audience, be sure to read some of our blog articles that offer tips and tricks to improve your presentation skills.

Finally, let your voice be heard! Reply to this post and share your thoughts on our exciting widescreen PowerPoint template. Follow us now on social media and discover exclusive stories, templates, and links. You can keep up with us today via Facebook and Pinterest .

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Writing a dissertation or thesis proposal, what is a proposal, what is the purpose of a proposal.

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The proposal, sometimes called the prospectus, is composed mainly of the Introduction, Research Questions, Literature Review, Research Significance and Methodology. It may also include a dissertation/thesis outline and a timeline for your proposed research. You will be able to reuse the proposal when you actually write the entire dissertation or thesis.

In the graduate student timeline, the proposal comes after successfully passing qualifying or comprehensive exams and before starting the research for a dissertation or thesis.

Each UNT department has slightly different proposal requirements, so be sure to check with your advisor or the department's graduate advisor before you start!

• Examples of Proposals from UTexas More than 20 completed dissertation proposals are available to read at the UT Intellectual Entrepreneurship website.
• Dissertation Proposal Guidelines This document from the Department of Communication at the University of Washington is a good example of what you might be expected to include in a proposal.

The purpose of a proposal is to convince your dissertation or thesis committee that you are ready to start your research project and to create a plan for your dissertation or thesis work. You will submit your proposal to your committee for review and then you will do your proposal defense, during which you present your plan and the committee asks questions about it. The committee wants to know if your research questions have academic merit and whether you have chosen the right methods to answer the questions.

• How to Prepare a Successful Dissertation Proposal Defense Some general tips for a proposal defense from synonym.com

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Thesis Proposal Examples

The Honors Undergraduate Thesis program requires students to submit a research proposal to the Office of Honors Research prior to advancing to the Thesis semester.

Generally, a scientific research proposal will include a brief introduction to the research topic, a literature review, and a methodology that will explain how the student plans to meet the objectives of the research. A proposal in the Arts and Humanities will generally include an introduction and a creative work (e.g. screenplays, short stories, artwork) or theoretical analysis.

Students will create a signature cover page for the thesis proposal that will list the entire committee and HUT Liaison. The Thesis proposal cover page template can be found here .

The following are examples of substantially researched, properly formatted research proposals and their respective signature pages. These examples should be used for reference only and not necessarily as templates. Students should his or her Thesis Chair and committee regarding the structure of the proposal, information that should be present, and documentation style.

What is a Thesis Proposal?

A thesis proposal is a document that outlines the thesis topic, defines the issues that the thesis will address, and explains why the topic warrants further research. It should identify a problem and provide a proposed solution to that problem.

Proposals representative of the sciences (both hard sciences and social sciences) should generally include the following:

• A brief introduction, which will define the thesis topic and explain the purpose of the thesis.
• A literature review that outlines the most relevant readings and theories which pertain to the thesis topic.
• A methodology section, which should include the research questions, hypotheses, participants, materials, and procedures.
• A bibliography or reference list. Most of the sources should be from peer reviewed articles or books. As with other academic papers, the use of internet sources should be limited.

For students conducting more theoretical or comparative analyses, the structure could also take the form of chapters that define and specify each concept, and a concluding chapter that brings all of these ideas together.

For students in the arts, a proposal and thesis may take the form of a creative project. In this instance, the proposal may include:

• A brief introduction, which includes the thesis statement, general intent of project, what the project should accomplish, and justification for considering the project a legitimate endeavor.
• A literature review, which includes any supporting literature that justifies the intention of the project.
• A method for accomplishing the project. Include any necessary background or equipment needed for the project, where the project will be conducted, and a proposed timeline for completion.
• A bibliography or reference list.

An alternative structure would be for students who are writing their own short stories, novellas, or screenplays.

Here, the thesis should include a clear mastery of the skill set by producing chapters of the novella, poetry selections, or the working/final screenplay. [/accordion-item][/accordion]

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How to prepare an excellent thesis defense

What is a thesis defense?

How long is a thesis defense, what happens at a thesis defense, your presentation, questions from the committee, 6 tips to help you prepare for your thesis defense, 1. anticipate questions and prepare for them, 2. dress for success, 3. ask for help, as needed, 4. have a backup plan, 5. prepare for the possibility that you might not know an answer, 6. de-stress before, during, and after, frequently asked questions about preparing an excellent thesis defense, related articles.

If you're about to complete, or have ever completed a graduate degree, you have most likely come across the term "thesis defense." In many countries, to finish a graduate degree, you have to write a thesis .

A thesis is a large paper, or multi-chapter work, based on a topic relating to your field of study.

Once you hand in your thesis, you will be assigned a date to defend your work. Your thesis defense meeting usually consists of you and a committee of two or more professors working in your program. It may also include other people, like professionals from other colleges or those who are working in your field.

During your thesis defense, you will be asked questions about your work. The main purpose of your thesis defense is for the committee to make sure that you actually understand your field and focus area.

The questions are usually open-ended and require the student to think critically about their work. By the time of your thesis defense, your paper has already been evaluated. The questions asked are not designed so that you actually have to aggressively "defend" your work; often, your thesis defense is more of a formality required so that you can get your degree.

• Check with your department about requirements and timing.
• Re-read your thesis.
• Anticipate questions and prepare for them.
• Create a back-up plan to deal with technology hiccups.
• Plan de-stressing activities both before, and after, your defense.

How long your oral thesis defense is depends largely on the institution and requirements of your degree. It is best to consult your department or institution about this. In general, a thesis defense may take only 20 minutes, but it may also take two hours or more. The length also depends on how much time is allocated to the presentation and questioning part.

Tip: Check with your department or institution as soon as possible to determine the approved length for a thesis defense.

First of all, be aware that a thesis defense varies from country to country. This is just a general overview, but a thesis defense can take many different formats. Some are closed, others are public defenses. Some take place with two committee members, some with more examiners.

The same goes for the length of your thesis defense, as mentioned above. The most important first step for you is to clarify with your department what the structure of your thesis defense will look like. In general, your thesis defense will include:

• your presentation of around 20-30 minutes
• questions from the committee
• questions from the audience (if the defense is public and the department allows it)

You might have to give a presentation, often with Powerpoint, Google slides, or Keynote slides. Make sure to prepare an appropriate amount of slides. A general rule is to use about 10 slides for a 20-minute presentation.

But that also depends on your specific topic and the way you present. The good news is that there will be plenty of time ahead of your thesis defense to prepare your slides and practice your presentation alone and in front of friends or family.

Tip: Practice delivering your thesis presentation in front of family, friends, or colleagues.

You can prepare your slides by using information from your thesis' first chapter (the overview of your thesis) as a framework or outline. Substantive information in your thesis should correspond with your slides.

Make sure your slides are of good quality— both in terms of the integrity of the information and the appearance. If you need more help with how to prepare your presentation slides, both the ASQ Higher Education Brief and James Hayton have good guidelines on the topic.

The committee will ask questions about your work after you finish your presentation. The questions will most likely be about the core content of your thesis, such as what you learned from the study you conducted. They may also ask you to summarize certain findings and to discuss how your work will contribute to the existing body of knowledge.

Tip: Read your entire thesis in preparation of the questions, so you have a refreshed perspective on your work.

While you are preparing, you can create a list of possible questions and try to answer them. You can foresee many of the questions you will get by simply spending some time rereading your thesis.

Here are a few tips on how to prepare for your thesis defense:

You can absolutely prepare for most of the questions you will be asked. Read through your thesis and while you're reading it, create a list of possible questions. In addition, since you will know who will be on the committee, look at the academic expertise of the committee members. In what areas would they most likely be focused?

If possible, sit at other thesis defenses with these committee members to get a feel for how they ask and what they ask. As a graduate student, you should generally be adept at anticipating test questions, so use this advantage to gather as much information as possible before your thesis defense meeting.

Your thesis defense is a formal event, often the entire department or university is invited to participate. It signals a critical rite of passage for graduate students and faculty who have supported them throughout a long and challenging process.

While most universities don't have specific rules on how to dress for that event, do regard it with dignity and respect. This one might be a no-brainer, but know that you should dress as if you were on a job interview or delivering a paper at a conference.

It might help you deal with your stress before your thesis defense to entrust someone with the smaller but important responsibilities of your defense well ahead of schedule. This trusted person could be responsible for:

• preparing the room of the day of defense
• setting up equipment for the presentation
• preparing and distributing handouts

Technology is unpredictable. Life is too. There are no guarantees that your Powerpoint presentation will work at all or look the way it is supposed to on the big screen. We've all been there. Make sure to have a plan B for these situations. Handouts can help when technology fails, and an additional clean shirt can save the day if you have a spill.

One of the scariest aspects of the defense is the possibility of being asked a question you can't answer. While you can prepare for some questions, you can never know exactly what the committee will ask.

There will always be gaps in your knowledge. But your thesis defense is not about being perfect and knowing everything, it's about how you deal with challenging situations. You are not expected to know everything.

James Hayton writes on his blog that examiners will sometimes even ask questions they don't know the answer to, out of curiosity, or because they want to see how you think. While it is ok sometimes to just say "I don't know", he advises to try something like "I don't know, but I would think [...] because of x and y, but you would need to do [...] in order to find out.” This shows that you have the ability to think as an academic.

You will be nervous. But your examiners will expect you to be nervous. Being well prepared can help minimize your stress, but do know that your examiners have seen this many times before and are willing to help, by repeating questions, for example. Dora Farkas at finishyourthesis.com notes that it’s a myth that thesis committees are out to get you.

Two common symptoms of being nervous are talking really fast and nervous laughs. Try to slow yourself down and take a deep breath. Remember what feels like hours to you are just a few seconds in real life.

• Try meditational breathing right before your defense.
• Get plenty of exercise and sleep in the weeks prior to your defense.
• Have your clothes or other items you need ready to go the night before.
• During your defense, allow yourself to process each question before answering.
• Go to dinner with friends and family, or to a fun activity like mini-golf, after your defense.

Allow yourself to process each question, respond to it, and stop talking once you have responded. While a smile can often help dissolve a difficult situation, remember that nervous laughs can be irritating for your audience.

We all make mistakes and your thesis defense will not be perfect. However, careful preparation, mindfulness, and confidence can help you feel less stressful both before, and during, your defense.

Finally, consider planning something fun that you can look forward to after your defense.

It is completely normal to be nervous. Being well prepared can help minimize your stress, but do know that your examiners have seen this many times before and are willing to help, by repeating questions for example if needed. Slow yourself down, and take a deep breath.

Your thesis defense is not about being perfect and knowing everything, it's about how you deal with challenging situations. James Hayton writes on his blog that it is ok sometimes to just say "I don't know", but he advises to try something like "I don't know, but I would think [...] because of x and y, you would need to do [...] in order to find out".

Your Powerpoint presentation can get stuck or not look the way it is supposed to do on the big screen. It can happen and your supervisors know it. In general, handouts can always save the day when technology fails.

• Dress for success.
• Ask for help setting up.
• Have a backup plan (in case technology fails you).
• Deal with your nerves.

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• Dissertation & Thesis Outline | Example & Free Templates

Dissertation & Thesis Outline | Example & Free Templates

Published on June 7, 2022 by Tegan George . Revised on November 21, 2023.

A thesis or dissertation outline is one of the most critical early steps in your writing process . It helps you to lay out and organize your ideas and can provide you with a roadmap for deciding the specifics of your dissertation topic and showcasing its relevance to your field.

Generally, an outline contains information on the different sections included in your thesis or dissertation , such as:

• Your anticipated title
• Your abstract
• Your chapters (sometimes subdivided into further topics like literature review, research methods, avenues for future research, etc.)

In the final product, you can also provide a chapter outline for your readers. This is a short paragraph at the end of your introduction to inform readers about the organizational structure of your thesis or dissertation. This chapter outline is also known as a reading guide or summary outline.

Table of contents

How to outline your thesis or dissertation, dissertation and thesis outline templates, chapter outline example, sample sentences for your chapter outline, sample verbs for variation in your chapter outline, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about thesis and dissertation outlines.

While there are some inter-institutional differences, many outlines proceed in a fairly similar fashion.

• Working Title
• “Elevator pitch” of your work (often written last).
• Introduce your area of study, sharing details about your research question, problem statement , and hypotheses . Situate your research within an existing paradigm or conceptual or theoretical framework .
• Subdivide as you see fit into main topics and sub-topics.
• Describe your research methods (e.g., your scope , population , and data collection ).
• Present your research findings and share about your data analysis methods.
• Answer the research question in a concise way.
• Interpret your findings, discuss potential limitations of your own research and speculate about future implications or related opportunities.

For a more detailed overview of chapters and other elements, be sure to check out our article on the structure of a dissertation or download our template .

To help you get started, we’ve created a full thesis or dissertation template in Word or Google Docs format. It’s easy adapt it to your own requirements.

 Download Word template    Download Google Docs template

It can be easy to fall into a pattern of overusing the same words or sentence constructions, which can make your work monotonous and repetitive for your readers. Consider utilizing some of the alternative constructions presented below.

Example 1: Passive construction

The passive voice is a common choice for outlines and overviews because the context makes it clear who is carrying out the action (e.g., you are conducting the research ). However, overuse of the passive voice can make your text vague and imprecise.

Example 2: IS-AV construction

You can also present your information using the “IS-AV” (inanimate subject with an active verb ) construction.

A chapter is an inanimate object, so it is not capable of taking an action itself (e.g., presenting or discussing). However, the meaning of the sentence is still easily understandable, so the IS-AV construction can be a good way to add variety to your text.

Example 3: The “I” construction

Another option is to use the “I” construction, which is often recommended by style manuals (e.g., APA Style and Chicago style ). However, depending on your field of study, this construction is not always considered professional or academic. Ask your supervisor if you’re not sure.

Example 4: Mix-and-match

To truly make the most of these options, consider mixing and matching the passive voice , IS-AV construction , and “I” construction .This can help the flow of your argument and improve the readability of your text.

As you draft the chapter outline, you may also find yourself frequently repeating the same words, such as “discuss,” “present,” “prove,” or “show.” Consider branching out to add richness and nuance to your writing. Here are some examples of synonyms you can use.

If you want to know more about AI for academic writing, AI tools, or research bias, make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

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When you mention different chapters within your text, it’s considered best to use Roman numerals for most citation styles. However, the most important thing here is to remain consistent whenever using numbers in your dissertation .

The title page of your thesis or dissertation goes first, before all other content or lists that you may choose to include.

A thesis or dissertation outline is one of the most critical first steps in your writing process. It helps you to lay out and organize your ideas and can provide you with a roadmap for deciding what kind of research you’d like to undertake.

• Your chapters (sometimes subdivided into further topics like literature review , research methods , avenues for future research, etc.)

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

George, T. (2023, November 21). Dissertation & Thesis Outline | Example & Free Templates. Scribbr. Retrieved September 3, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/dissertation/dissertation-thesis-outline/

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Thesis Proposal Presentation

Approval of your dissertation proposal by the supervisory committee.

The format of the Dissertation Proposal will be decided by the Supervisory Committee. The student must present the proposal in a public seminar, but may also be required to provide the committee with a written proposal. All members of the committee must approve the proposal as indicated by signing the Thesis Proposal Approval form. Students may be requested to revise the proposal based on committee input.

Format for your Thesis Proposal Presentation

Your  Thesis Proposal Presentation  should indicate that you have investigated the literature in your area and show that your research is novel. It should be clear that your experimental design and chosen methods are the most suitable for your work. We recommend you include the following in your proposal presentation:

• Introduction/Motivation
• Relevance to the Field and Originality Statement- what is new about your work that no one has done before
• Research Question- What are the main objectives of your research? Your thesis should have at least three chapters, and it should be clear to the committee what your three chapters will be.
• Research Strategy- Experimental Design
• Research Methods and Tools
• Expected Outcomes
• Timelines and Milestones- Indicate which years you expect to do each part of the research. What journal articles do you expect to publish and when.
• Plan B- What if the experiments you plan do not give good results? Do you anticipate any difficulties? How will you respond?

You may also wish to include any preliminary results you have obtained and any anticipated difficulties and how you plan on dealing with them.

Supervisory Committee Members

As part of your duties, you are being asked to evaluate the research proposal for the PhD candidate. As a supervisory committee member, you can advise the candidate on how their thesis proposal may be improved to meet the following requirements. To be approved, a research proposal should meet the following requirements: 

• Contribution to knowledge:  the research proposed is expected to contribute substantially to knowledge in the field. E.g., the work proposed is publishable in a peer-reviewed scientific journal.
• Originality : the research proposed contains at least one component that represents an original contribution to the field.
• Independency : the research proposed indicates that the candidate has the ability to design and conduct an independent research project.
• Feasibility : research methods are appropriate to conduct the research proposed, are feasible within the resources available to the PhD candidate, and can be completed within the timeframe of the program (3-4 years).

A research proposal that is aligned with these requirements is more likely to lead to a dissertation that will be approved by an external reviewer without problems.     

Planning the Research

Be strategic in developing your research. Consider these points when finding and developing a research topic 

• Can it be enthusiastically pursued?
• Will it sustain your interest?
• Is the problem solvable?
• Is it worth doing?
• Will it lead to other research problems?
• Is it manageable in size?
• What is the potential for making an original contribution to the literature?
• Will the research prepare you in an area of demand or promise for the future?

Are you ready to prepare your research proposal?

• My supervisor supports the research I am proposing
• my proposed research is needed and the
• methods I am suggesting are the most appropriate
• I know the steps I need to take to conduct the research
• I have the technical skills to perform each of the steps to complete the research (or I am capable of acquiring them)
• I have the motivation and drive to complete each of the steps

Scheduling your Thesis Proposal Presentation

You can use Doodle  http://doodle.com/  to find a time that will work for all your members. The program coordinator should be included in your scheduling as they must be present to chair the meeting. You may wish to invite the member who will act as external examiner at your comprehensive exam to introduce them to your topic.  Your committee will sign the  Approval of Dissertation Proposal  form at the end of your presentation and after any discussion. This indicates they are satisfied with your proposed (and possibly amended) research plan. In some cases, the committee will request written work in the form of a literature review on a particular topic or a description of methodology to be submitted before final approval is given.

PHD Form 2: APPROVAL OF DISSERTATION PROPOSAL

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Basic Customizable PhD Dissertation

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Speaker 1: Hi, my name is Shady Atia. I'm going to present today a presentation on writing a research proposal. This is a very important presentation for postgraduates in order to learn how to write a research proposal. My presentation will go through four main axes. I will present how to write a what is actually a research proposal, how to define your topic, how to organize your research proposal and finally how to write it technically and presented. Well, let's see the first question. What is a research proposal? A research proposal is a statement of intent where you describe your intentions and simply we can describe it into a motivational intention manuscript where you declare your intentions and show your motivations and it's very important in this sense that you define the scope of your topic, the subject enough it has to be specific enough and you have to have a specific aim and objective related to your topic and definitely it would reflect your interest and it should be your own research so therefore you should also explain why is this topic better than other topics and you have to show that this is the first time subject that will be innovative you not previously addressed in a way and that you will carry that responsibility and present it through the research proposal. Well, the next question comes to what are the types of research proposal that we have. Many people get confused about that. We have a research proposal that is mainly under a thesis. A thesis is mainly a manuscript that you write for a master degree and it answers a research question based on existing knowledge. And here we are looking to your capacity to critical think and analyze deep information and process that and presented as new knowledge. While there is another type of manuscript that is called dissertations, the dissertations that are mainly for PhD doctoral degrees and in this sense you have to create a significant new contribution to knowledge and you have to come up with a new solution for a problem or a cure for a certain contextual problem. Well there is a third type of research proposal that you could write for funding grants like the Belgian research institutes or you write it for national research organizations in order to go through a competition process to win a funding to cover research topic okay well these are the three type of proposal that you can write next I will move to the second important question how to define your topic this is a not an easy task because you are most probably not having large experience with doing research and sometimes it's very difficult to do that so in this sense you have to define your topic and the process should start by identifying a general idea or an area of research and then develop it and focus on a certain research question so you have to ask yourself the following question is the topic related to real life because we are looking to applied science we are looking applied research So you have to make sure that this is related to real life. When you answer this question, you have to come to the next question. Is your topic related to societal problem? Is it a real problem in the society that your research is addressing? Is your topic going to be useful and interesting or did someone before answer it? So you must make sure that the topic is useful and interesting. Is your topic focused and specific or is it very broad and large? The more the topic is large and generic, the more it's difficult to come up with something new, it's difficult to process the work. Can your idea fill a gap in research? Do we have a problem or a topic that was not addressed previously by another researcher? So you have also to make sure that your research topic is not a kind of common topic that has been processed by many people. Always you must look for a gap or something that is missing and make sure that your research will cover that area and definitely you should ask yourself will this study generate new knowledge and this is very important because when you generate new knowledge then you have a real contribution and your research is worthy and you should also ask would the benefit from it the architects the engineers the professional in your field is it going to advance the understanding or influence policy this is very important and definitely finally should ask yourself Will this study fill a gap in existing knowledge or resolve current controversies? So these kind of series of questions, you can use them as a kind of checklist, as a starting approach, after defining a general topic you are interested in, and go step by step trying to answer them until you can define and shape your research topic. Well, there are some golden rules you should keep in mind while defining your research topic. You must be passionate about the topic because it should come from you. It should be your interest that you are related. You might ask your supervisor or follow a previously developed idea or concept from your supervisor or your professor. But in the same time, you must have the passion related to this topic. So this is very important. The second Gordon rule is related to the discoveries. Could the topic lead to discoveries? you should not promise to guarantee a discovery, but you should have a kind of estimation this could topic lead to discoveries or not. And you have to make sure that this is catchy topic. It catch the attention. People will be interested in it. It's grabby. It's really related to society. People will really would like to listen to what you are going to present and read it through your manuscripts. And definitely you have to formulate very clearly your objectives and aims so that you are focused in your research and having a very specific topic. And finally, you should select a supervisor, he or she that can help you through this process and has the ability and the skills to guide you through the process. So these are kind of five golden rules I would like to highlight. You must follow them to make sure that you are on the right track. Now, after describing what is a research proposal and how to do it, I would start to talk about the content. The content is very important. Many people don't know how to write a proposal, what should be the order of the information. And here are kind of 10 major elements you should focus on in writing a research proposal. You should cover issues related to the title and the keywords related to your research topic, brief abstract describing your topic, a problem statement, aims and objectives, the significance and importance of your topic and the audience that your research is catering for, the state of the art, the methodologies, your expected results and definitely you should describe the project outline and the impact and the biography of your research. Well let's start with this and and I'm going to describe everyone into detail. Well, when I'm talking about title and keywords, this is very important. Why? Because a title and a keyword is not an easy task. A title in general should be catchy and should be precise. So these are some rules that you should follow to have a good title. It has to be a specific title, accurate, not too long, catchy, and it has to contain the main idea. I should read the title and figure out most probably what is this thesis about or what is this dissertation about. So you have to look at the title in a way and revise it and think about it and most of the time good titles start with an action verb let's say like simulation of comparison of assessment of these are all examples that you can look at and start with them your title. Once you have an action verb it shows already that you are trying to do something to cater or to address a certain problem and most of the time a researcher doing a master thesis or a PhD thesis or even a research for grant proposals he or she should look at these verbs as a starting to identify and formulate their title well once you are done with your title that's not enough you have to define next to the title keywords well you will ask what's the point I just defined the topic and I have a title now why should I use keywords well keywords are very important they should not exceed six to eight words and actually we use terminologies or we will use words that are not in the title in this sense you are helping the search engine to extend the topic so I let me let me give you an example. My topic of my research is called Dynamic Building Kit for Adaptable and Reusable Wall Solutions. That's the title. The title is talking about developing a building kit that could be adaptable, that could be assembled and disassembled for materials or building components that could be reused, okay, and specifically on walls. This is the title and I understand it like that? Well, I can add to that some keywords. These keywords can help me to describe more. I can say that I'm talking about design solutions. I'm talking specifically on post-war housing. I can add a context or a city to describe where I am, Liège in this case. I can add the keyword energy efficiency renovation like that I am extending my title and amending additional words that can help in the understanding of topic and once you do a research with these keywords the topic will pop up in the search engine much much easier so actually this is very important to define your keywords associated with your topic and in this sense they are very complementary well the next step is to move to the abstract well the abstract is one of the things you do at the end so you don't start with an abstract but let me tell you first what is an abstract an abstract simply is a text a piece of text that is not longer than 250 words and it describes simply your topic the research problem the objectives the methodology your results and the audience and the impact of your work so simply the abstract should be read by somebody in less than 3-4 minutes he or she can directly grasp the whole overview of your topic so you summarize the essence of your whole master thesis or PhD thesis in 250 words and therefore it should be really well thought well written and following this structure well let me give you an example here is a topic related to health the topic title is called the effect of exposure to natural environment on health inequalities and observational population study. As we can see those words are not exceeding 250 words, we have a background statement just two sentences, we have a methodology fully described where it has been done, what is the population, the population size, the sampling and finally we find the findings talking about this observational study results with some statistical analysis and the rates of the study that the rates of the study and finally we have to look at the final two sentences talking about interpretation in this sense this is an abstract it's compact but it's describing the whole study into a systematical approach so this is actually you do when you finish your thesis you write your abstract in order to communicate to people and actually when you publish your work on your abstract will be an open source and then after that when a researcher looking on internet they will be interested by your topic by title by keywords then when they will go through your abstract if they find the topic interesting they find interesting findings and interpretation they come up with the idea of investing in reading the whole manuscript or ordering the master thesis from another library or from another country okay so this is very important to start with after having defining the title and the keyword the third step is mainly related to the problem statement and here we are really starting the real work the serious work related to the research proposal well what is a problem statement you must start in your problem statement to contextualize your problem and you have to be concise you have to define exactly what's the what's the problem and most of the time it's good to link your background problem with authorities. So you start by saying the European Union has this objective, the national government has this objective, the region or the province or the city has these objectives. So you relate your background and the problem with political, governmental or non-governmental the United Nations, the World Health Organization, whatever authority that is stating something related to the topic. Also it's important to quantify this information and quantify the background. So it's advised here to define the problem into numbers, give some statistics, some figures related to the issue and you must also contain an overview of most relevant work. You should also try to cover others work saying in this context of this problem those stakeholders are doing that or doing that or covering this problem or addressing it from an angle or another. It's also important here to describe clearly your hypothesis that you have been done and how you are going to enter to propose the problem. Well, after describing this background and preparing the reader for the topic, you can directly now start to propose the problem and you have to show a really significant problem that is related to a a topic. So you should not make the reader get lost on the opposite. You should start to define a statement clearly and make sure that it's a societal problem in a certain context. Well this is an example. Just remember that at the end of the day a research proposal maybe in a master's thesis or a dissertation you will get funding or sometimes you don't get funding you do it work for free but at the end no one will fund a research proposal or find it reasonable as long as it's not solving a local or global problem. So my advice in writing a research proposal, make sure that your problem definition is by default solving a local or a global problem, trying to solve it in a way or another, linking to reality, linking to statistics, putting some figures, variables, and contextualizing the problem, describing it in a way that is viable, up-to-date, related to our current practice. Once you are done with that, you can start to define your aim and objectives. And you should take into account that an aim is not an objective. An aim is like a bullet. It's very important to define your aim. Once you define a good aim, you are sure that you will do a good research. So, aim well and you should hit your target cleanly. If you don't write a clear aim that is targeting a specific goal, you'll not succeed in doing your research. And simply you have to say what you want to simply and directly want to say. You have to explain what is this research going to do and who will benefit from it. I will give you some examples related to aims, but keep into account it has to be short, it has to be to the point, and it's like a bullet. you don't need to write a lot. It's the shorter the better. Well, what's the definition of an aim? An aim simply provides an answer to a general problem. So, so far we are not talking about the specific problem. This is the objective. In an aim I'm talking about the general problem. And the aim goes along with an adjective. It has to be concise. You should be aware that your grandmother can read the aim and understand it. And you should also keep in mind that it should be related to what's motivating you so this is very important and it should assist on improving the decision lead this is very important some examples of aims you can have a look lowering the dependency or the dependence on fossil fuel increasing the energy efficiency of improving the situation of increasing renovation rate dissemination knowledge sharing information general overall aims related to a serious problem and in this sense you don't need to write it more than one sentence maximum and then you are describing the topic in general in a sense in an aim that a non-technical person can understand it when I say here my aim of my research is to increase energy efficiency in the building sector this is a very broad generic aim anybody can understand and that's the purpose you should have this aim now once you define the aim you cannot be more specific and focus on the objective. But let me tell you what's the objective. The objective is more specific to your study, it's more accurate than the aim, and it's operational. So there is an action in it, you have to do something in it. In the aim, in the objective also it has to correspond to what you will try to produce and generate. So it has to be very precise in description, it has to focus on the central research question, and often contextualize it to a specific climate, context, country, region. Very important and these are some examples for objectives. So here I'm saying my objective to develop a software or a program to calculate turbulent nonlinear equation. Here the objective became very clear. Analyze the reason of low renovation rate identify barriers understand study the impact of assess compare so the objective has to be very clear very precise to the point talking about a specific aspect so in general it should be combined with the aim but let me give you an example with a good description of an aim with an objective well have a a look and read this sentence sorry just have a look I have a aim here the main aim of this research is this to disseminate technological knowledge on adaptive facade at a European level that's the overall aim very general I want to spread or share information related to a specific type of building facades in Europe and do it on a European level so this is a very broad aim and this is very successful one sentence like a bullet now how I'm going to do this aim I need to describe at least three four objectives to do this aim first of all I'm aiming to increase knowledge sharing secondly I'm looking to develop a new knowledge thirdly I'm starting new collaboration so in this sense I am precisely describing how I'm going to achieve this aim through operational tactical objectives. Another example could be interesting here, have a look at that. The project is aiming to improving building energy labeling schemes. So I would like to improve the labeling of buildings, so like you buy any food product you have a label telling what's the ingredients, I want to improve the labeling of buildings. But how I'm going to do that? These are the objectives that I'm going to do. I'm going to review different building labeling. I'm going to review different performance indicators. I will investigate possibilities for developing other labels. I will choose some case studies. I will examine the robustness of labeling schemes. I will evaluate their social acceptance. I will analyze the results. I will create a fair framework. Directly, you can see that we have here at least something around eight objectives serving one aim. So it's very important in your research proposal to keep this structure in your writing. You have an overall overarching aim with a very specific objectives that serves to achieve this aim and they as I told you it has to be operational with adjectives. Also a criteria to make sure that your objectives are well or right good written we call objective smart smart stands for specific measurable attainable realistic and time bound every reviewer reading your research proposal he or she will look at these objectives are the objectives specific are they measurable are they attainable realistic and time bound and this is very important you have to make sure that you have a pointed topic you are covering it you can measure the objective and measure what you are doing you must make sure that you can reach this objectives and that you have a realistic objective it's not a dream you have calculated the time and the effort and you can do it and definitely it should be time bound so you must put it in a frame of a deadline with a certain start and an end date once you make sure sure that your objectives are smart you can pass now and validate your topic and in this sense you can look to the topic and say I have smart objectives and you need some time to do it it's not easy to write it but you need just to take some time brainstorm your topic once you defined well the problem you can then define good the aim and from the aim you can break it down into specific objective. This is how it works. Another final advice for the aim and objective, don't forget to frame it. You need always to frame it. So these are the questions you should ask yourself at the end of writing your aim and objective. So first question, is it worth it answering your research question and the aim? What will benefit, am I going to benefit from it? Is the society, the community, the professional or the scientific community going to benefit from it? Is it specific, your aim and objective? Are they answerable? Can we answer them in this frame of thesis or dissertation? Is the topic original? Is it contribution to knowledge? Did somebody else do it or I'm really doing something new? What about the outcomes? Are they appropriate? Do they think ahead are the expected outcomes really achievable this is very important and finally you should ask yourself is this topic interesting to you there is many students who start a thesis and after a while they say I don't like this problem I don't like this topic they stop this means that you are not certain that you are motivated you are passionate and this topic is for your own personal interest is triggering you so these are some important advices to validate and to make sure that your aims and objectives are well written and this is a very fast example you can have a look for a winning proposal. This is simply an example showing the specific measurable and attainable realistic time-bound objectives. You can see here I have a precise problem. Agriculture is the backbone of Belgium's economy for example and it's central to the government development strategy but although the agricultural sector employs more than 75% of countries workforce and accounts both directly and indirectly for approximately 51% of countries Belgium's gross domestic product little is known about the scale of livestock farming livestock diversity distribution of livestock farms so here I have a problem very specific well described it's contextual there is a background on the national level I find some figures and statistics and the researcher simply wanted to say one thing we don't have information about the livestock farming in this country but instead of writing it directly he put a context he gives some numbers he put some figures he shows the importance of the topic and right after he will or she starts to write the objective. So the objective here is not a aim, he is directly talking about operational specific tasks. A team of eight researchers defining who will do that, eight researchers at the livestock research unit of Agricultural College for example at Liège University will research the types and extent of livestock farming in the country. A comprehensive report will be published and an online database and website will be created the project will be presented in its entirely four years after the start of the project at the sub-saharan agricultural summit in Botswana in November 2016 so you have here a very clear objective operational with steps following up and I can measure it it's specific it's attainable it's realistic it's time bound so this is the way how to write a good research aim and a research objective and this will be the start of your research proposal and just to remind you keep in mind that in the beginning of your search proposal you have to have a catchy and informative title the summary and the abstract leave it for the end you will not do it when you start this is after you finish write your six eight keywords that are not included in your title make sure that you have a good problem statement description with a problem related to contextual societal issues, define an overall aim and go for your operational step-by-step specific objectives. In this way if you keep this slide in mind while developing your first part of your proposal you are on the road to success. Well I'm done with the aims and objectives and I will move to the fifth component or element which is the significance and audience. It's very important in research to define why is this research important and who are the users of this research, who are the end users who should benefit from this study. Am I doing this study for myself, for fun? You should not do that in university. Even though that some people try to do explorational work, you can do it, but you should just succeed in translating your own interest into a common interest. Once you did it, you are on the track. So significance is meant the importance the importance here so you have to make sure and describe in your text what is the added value what is original about this work why is it important even if some people are not finding it important you have to defend the work and present it and write it in a way that is important something you should show that this is something never that was never did before and once you contextualize your topic you succeed to have a significance For example, if I'm talking about renovation using prefabricated units or if I'm talking about prefabricated housing. Once you open or would like to research the topic, you might get some feedback saying, yeah, but prefabricated construction, there is many countries who do it in the United States, in Canada, it's nothing new. But once you contextualize it, you can make it new. If you say studying prefabricated housing in Liège or in Wallonia or in Belgium or in the province X or in the region X or for residential housing or for a specific context, for a specific region. Once you contextualize a topic, you directly make it original. So there is many topics in your society, in our context here at Liège universities. Maybe there is advancement in Finland or in other European countries, but they are not contextualized. So you can also borrow ideas from abroad, from other researchers, and contextualizing and study how to implement them in our context here. Once you do that, your topic becomes significant and important and becomes unique because we don't have answers for that. Also, it's important that it does not mean that the question is new, but never approached like you. even some researchers they select a topic that has been selected or researched by many people before but you can show that how you will do it in a unique way how you will go through personal endeavor that looks differently to process the topic so don't be afraid and saying yeah I when you look at the depository of previous master seasons if you find somebody else before you did the same topic that you are interested in, you should not stop. Take the topic, read it well and see how you can do it different. Once you define this difference and set it as a significant, as added value, you can guarantee that your research topic is significant and important. Also, your topic should lead to added value. At the end of the day, you should add value and make sure that you have important and significance has to take into account of the principal aim. It should be at the end related to your principal aim. Some other questions you could look at. Questions have to be open in general when you describe your topic. Here you can add a list of keywords not included in the title and the motivation is linked to the context. Well, defining the significance is important. Now you defined your problem, your title, your aim, your objective, why is this topic important, how is it significant. Now comes a very important topic people forget about and I think personally you might start by that. The audience. Why are you doing this study? Who is going to benefit from this study? Who you want to reach? Define your target audience very clearly and from the beginning. The easier the target audience is described, the easier you can do your research. Many people forget that it could be politicians your target, your target could be professional community, it could be the research community, it could be managers, it could be whoever, community or stakeholders. But leaving your research proposal without defining the audience, there is no meaning. Because many people do interesting studies, but then they don't contact their audience. If I'm doing a study, for example, about the green area spaces in Liège city, so I want to know how much green area per square meter per citizen is in the city of Liège. And I did a very beautiful analysis and I went through the neighborhoods of Liège and And I then identified through my analysis how much square meter of green spaces are available for the citizens of Liège. If at the end of this study I did not contact the community or the local authority of Liège city or the province and tell them here is my work, how can you benefit from them? If I didn't go and do an interview with them, if I didn't contact them to make sure that the municipality is benefiting from the study, then I failed to connect my research to the audience. So you must always to make sure what's the research and ask yourself, what's the relation between my research topic and the audience? And did I allow the audience to intervene in my study? In this sense, I should have maybe went to the municipality and asked the urbanism sector or unit and tell them, I'm doing a study about Liège. Can you help me with this information? Is this information for you helpful? How can this information, can I modify it to meet a kind of certain requirement from your side? So it's very important to define the audience and not to define it theoretically on paper. No, you have to go engage with those people, contact them before starting your study, during your study, and after your study. You can even invite them to your defense. If you don't do this step, our research will have no impact. It will be just theoretical research hidden in research university without having any impact on society. So therefore, make sure always what is the audience of your research. Get in contact with these people. And as I told, why you have to reach those people? Because you have to consider your motives and why you feel this group should be targeted. You have to know why you want to reach a particular group. And you should provide insight that will help develop effective study. and you should say also why should they be interested in my research this is very important once you define that you can start now your research I'm moving now to the step number six but I would say that this is the first chunk of your research proposal it does not need to be more than one or two pages defining clearly from the title going to the keywords talking about your problem statement and the background defining the aim and objective the significance of your work and finally the audience once you define this one or two pages i can guarantee you that you have a good topic well defined and make sure that you revise it with your supervisor well you are now ready to embark and start your topic more clearly but you have to describe another additional component in your proposal? The state of the art or the literature review. What is the state of the art? Why do we do a research related to state of the art? Why do we review literature for a research proposal? Number one, you have to improve your own understanding. You have to understand, you have to become an expert because now you are talking about a topic, you don't know enough information about it. So you have to understand what has been done before and you have to read literature so number one why we do a literature review to improve the understanding number two you have to build your expertise in the specific domain number three you have to demonstrate knowledge and show that you understand a specific knowledge related to the topic and you have to update the reader with the state of the art because at the end of the of the end of the day the master thesis or the phd you will submit it to a jury or a reader or you will set it online and you would like the community to read it. Once they read it, they must make sure that they are up to date to the latest information related to this topic and therefore we should do a literature review. To do a good literature review, you must guarantee that you have good resources. You should look at major published work, you should look at a narrow specific topic and you should start your review. The review should cover the major concepts, snapshots relationships classifications and extractions so the literature review actually is like an essence you go through different publications different sources and you extract the most important information and you provide me with a snapshot with a pattern image describing what has been done before what are the major publication related to this topic and like that you can put me up-to-date related to the topic. Does one of the criteria that anybody would like a professor will look at a research proposal will ask does the proposal advance the state of the art? Does it introduce innovative approaches? This is very important and the more you go into this a PhD or a grant proposal the more the answer for these questions is very important. If the proposal shows it does it show a good understanding of the major work? Does it identify the gaps of existing knowledge and so on so this is very important and you should also say what is currently available in Liège in Belgium in Europe and worldwide so this is the aim of the literature review to make sure what is done also in the North America what's done in Asia to make sure that I am up-to-date related to this topic well you should also capture the major concept and ideas related to research and finally you should ask yourself how is your research you are doing compared with similar research in other contexts so you should not only describe your research topic and forget that others maybe did the same idea 90% of ideas are not new we are processing others ideas so 90% of ideas are not new So you should keep in mind, put an assumption in your mind, that maybe somebody else, someone, somewhere else, tried to address the same problem. What about looking, exploring, how did those other people do my work? So this is the aim of literature review, to make sure that I cover the literature, I am up to date, I am covering the major concepts and publications that describe the topic, and also similar studies related to my research topic. once you did that you can move to the methodology and the methodology should describe how you are going to do your research in the proposal and this could not should not be a long text it could be a couple of paragraphs or maybe maximum three paragraphs describing how we are going to do your research there is in general different methodologies you can do strategic research you can do applied research you can do experimental research and these are all examples of researchers that you can do if you like to do lab work and monitoring then it's experimental work if you would like to do applied then it's more like simulation case studies system analysis comparison analysis if you are looking to develop concepts model standards prototypes solutions you are more into strategical basic research and definitely if you are looking for developing things beyond applied research, pure basic research, a theory, an equation, a philosophy, then you are looking at basic research. So you should define clearly what is your methodology and these are all examples for different methodologies as you can see and every researcher and every specialization, every group of specialization has its own collection of methodologies they use. People in social sciences, we know that they use a lot interview and they use surveying techniques. This is their methodology they come up with. People working in engineering, for example, they go more for experimentation and so on and so forth. So you must make sure your domain, your expertise, your field of expertise, what are the common methodology. In the field of architecture or buildings in general, we use analysis research, development research, we do a lot of case studies research, evidence-based design, parametric research, optimization, also participatory or action research, operational research, post-occupancy evaluation, lab research, and system analysis research. So just you must be familiar with these types of methodology and describe them in your research proposals and now I will move to another thing which is called a method which means that like in the aims and objective there is an aim and there is an objective here there is something called methodology and method. A method is a small action of research done to achieve a methodology for example I can have a case study as a methodology but in order to achieve this methodology, I have several methods that I can do. I can do some drawings, photography, videotaping, visualization, sketching, mapping, process analysis, technology review, history review. These are all methods that I can use in my research to achieve my methodology. So it's very important in your research proposal that you define in the beginning your research methodological on this level. Is it basic research, is it strategical, is it applied, is it experimental. Then you pick up a methodology and don't hesitate, you can have several methodology in a research. You can combine evidence-based design with case studies, there is no problem at all. But once you define your methodology, you have to pick up a collection of methods. A systematic review is a method, data analysis is a method, GIS or simulation, visualizing, classification and categorization, These are all methods. So your research proposal should address these methods and simply your methodology in general should describe how are you going to approach your work. So as I said you start with a literature review and from the literature review you see what has been done by previous researchers. You have to outline the instrument, fix boundaries of diseases and we should look at different methodology, describe them well, make sure that you have qualitative and quantitative approaches for your methodology, and make sure how you will collect the information, how this information will be robust. I give you a very important example here you should keep into account. When we talk about methodology, one of the big problems we see today in research, the methodology should be replicable, which means that any independent researcher is going to do the same research you have been doing, he or she should be able to repeat the same methodology and come up with the same research. One of the problems we find today in research, very common, that researchers, they do the research without describing it well, without a clear methodology, and as a consequence, the results are fake, because they didn't have a methodology. And once you describe your methodology, keep into account that it should be replicable and repeatable by others. So this is very important. And how to present a methodology, this is how to do it. You have to come up with a study design. A study design is simply a specific plan or a protocol for conducting the study. and it allows you to investigate and translate the conceptual hypothesis into operational research. So actually in this section of methodology I should see this overview design. I'm saying that my methodology is based on quantitative and qualitative research methods. I have here case studies and so on and so forth and I here have my own other quantitative approaches and you draw it into a sort of diagram and this is another representation I have descriptive analysis I have analytical here I'm going to do a survey here I'm going to do experiment here I'm going to do a cross-sectional analysis once you think about your methodology and represented in a graph like that and describe it into a couple of paragraphs you are done with the methodology it's accessible and I have a very interesting document you can ask me for it it describes the different research methodologies in architecture. So you can go from theoretical research, interpretative research, experimental, survey, simulation, qualitative, even action research, and for each of these methodologies there are different ontological assumptions, epistemological assumptions also, methodologies, how you validate, how you have examples for each of those so this is very important very helpful you might use it and I would like to ask you to start your methodology by sketching drawing thinking about picking up some methods making sure how you will address it you have to define your method your sample your case studies what are the target users are you going to use equipment analysis this is very important and you can draw a study design scheme for that and the study design scheme like I showed you based on this analysis using this Excel or this table I provided previously. Make sure that you draw a study design scheme and integrate it in your proposal, discuss it with your supervisor, explain why it is the most appropriate to effectively answer your research question and you have also to explain what alternatives have been considered when and why these have been disregarded. So these are the golden rules for the methodology. Don't forget you have to come up with a study design scheme, describe your methodology on the level of what is the strategical level of your research, what is the methodologies you are using, what are the methods and summarize it into a scheme and present it and describe it. Well now I would like to move to the expected results even in a research proposal before doing your research you should describe your expected results this is very important and how are you going to do that it's mainly based on your literature review if you are going to read some major publication related to your topic you can be able to expect what will be the results of your work you may fragment you may grab fragments from other studies but you can predict possible outcomes and that's all what you are expected to report in this sense. You have to be based on the literature review, linked to the aims and objectives, explain what you will be producing, something concrete, evidence-based with numbers, you have to define how is it going to be usable, is it some rules of thumb, is it findings, is it guidelines, is it advice, is it a strategy, what it is and for example you can say I'm going to come up with a prototype, with a design concept, with a solution. These are all important to define in the expected results. So it's not here meant that you will say exactly what will come out from the study but you will define what parameters, what outcomes you are looking at and these are examples of outcomes you must keep into account that you answer this question very important in your research proposal because if you are just putting facts they are called data if you are classifying them they can become information they will become only knowledge if you are adding an analysis and interpretation kind of working the information into a useful information and once you have knowledge you can help in decisions and actually that's the cycle of knowledge so your thesis is mainly looking to collect the data and information and process them to generate knowledge so that this knowledge can help the community and the decision makers to take decision and become more informed, more knowledgeable. Well, what could be examples of outcomes? This is a series of outcomes. It could be a product, rules of thumb, guidelines, a manual, a website, an application, even an app. Don't hesitate to develop an app for your master's thesis. This could be interesting, a map, a tool, a website, a program, a book, an infographic, a cartographic guide, equation, model, benchmark, simulation, a checklist, sometimes some students come up with their master outcome, a checklist, a policy, a strategy, a theory. You must be sure that you come up with a concrete outcome that you will present at the end of your thesis and you link this outcome to the audience as described previously. So this is very important and to validate that you have good expected result describe how the work will be validated. You must make sure that your outcomes and what you are going to present will be compared with results published and other works. Are you going to use a user group or a case study to test this outcome because it's not enough to tell me I will come up with a map or a tool and then it was not used by anyone or it was not tested by anyone. Make sure that you have a validation process and in the validation process you have some groups or users who make sure that your outcome that you use was developed for them in a useful way and you should look for internal and external validity of your result. If this research is repeated by someone else, would they get the same results you did or not? Is your work accurate enough? Do you have a systematic approach? Can the result be generalized in another similar context? These are interesting discussion questions that you can use to develop your final conclusion later in the thesis, but also you could address them in your proposal writing to make sure that you are not only looking to produce an information and through it without making sure that it works that it function that will have an effect and impact well by that I am approaching almost the end now you are described you have described those major topics from the keywords until the research results and outcomes now it's time to talk about outline and talk in the language of professional language professional language this is not a research topic this is more related to professionalism and any institution should talk about it. Once you go through any professional document you must develop an organizational chart. Organizational chart it's a chart that tells me what are the parts and the component of your research or your research thesis. In this sense you should have a description of your chapters maybe you can put your chapters you can put the topics you are talking about and it should represent your work and it should predict the possible progress of your work. So here I'm drawing all the component of my research in one diagram. In French we call it Organigramme, in English it's called the organizational chart and any research proposal must include an organizational chart to describe the components of the work and the main work packages that you will do and in every work packages I have associated activities. This is very important to clarify the topic. I have many master students, they come up at the end of their master thesis and they are not able even to write a structure or a table of content of their own thesis. Why? Because they didn't do an organizational chart. Once you do it early enough, you know that you will start with an introduction chapter, you will have something about a methodology, what are your case studies, your results, what would be the validation part, what would be your conclusion part, the discussion. So therefore it's very important it's also important to be added you can add it in the annex of your research proposal don't hesitate to do that and you should do use it also to discuss with your supervisor in the beginning how are you going to proceed with your master's thesis or your PhD dissertation very important to include it another important organizational chart related to the professional work the Gantt chart. Any master student graduating from Liège University he or she must know what is a Gantt chart because without that you are not going to be able to process tasks on long term. A Gantt chart is a professional diagram it is a methodology used to define milestones and work packages and activities and in this sense you describe your work in sufficient details and you set up deliverables, steps, deadlines. Very important. More detail than the organizational chart. So if you look at the organization chart, it's mainly chunky. It's looking at big scale component of your research. While here you are going more into detail and it's very important to be also placed in the annex of your research proposal. As you can see, here's a list of activities. Here is the master thesis. It takes an average in Liège four months I can define every month in two weeks and define with these dark bars when I'm going to do the literature review, the interviews, the case study analysis, the simulation work, when I'm going to start to write my thesis. Very important to do that as early as possible to make sure that you go psychologically through the process of your thesis writing. Because if you leave everything till the end you will be improvising and improvising you can never become professional with improvisation as long you have a lot of time and in fact you don't have time you must try your thesis to graduate so this is the best way to do it as early as possible and try to explore previous master's thesis of older students who graduated and see how they did it to make sure that what could be the tasks and activities that you must come up and how much time they will take Some people would say, I will do a literature review in two months. In reality, it might need three months. Maybe it will need eight weeks. You never know. Six weeks. You never know. So it's very important to have this translation into deliverable steps and time. And it's very important once you finish this, that you have a section in your research proposal called project outline. The project outline. You link it to the organizational chart and you link it to your Gantt chart and your proposal must describe where are you going to start. You say when are you going to start, what steps are you going to do and where are you heading to, where will you get to, how you will get there. Very important. If you don't do this in the project outline, the certainty that you will do successful work is very weak. So make sure that you have defined the step of your research, you say where are you starting, describe what's the problem, the literature view where are you heading and make sure that you will describe that accurately and what are the final aim to go for well the last step that you should look at before leaving that I have just forgot to say that you should describe every milestone into activity description and evidence of progress the last thing you should look at is the impact and biography this This is the last part of your proposal and the last element that you should address in your proposal. And first I will start with the impact. It's very important to identify, does the proposal clarify clearly how it is relevant and realistic on the short-term and long-term. By definition, impact is the effect or influence on short-term to long-term scientific, technological or socio-economical changes produced by a research, directly or indirectly, intended or unintended. And you should ask yourself, are the impacts identified by the proposal relevant to the society at large? Can the impact be listed and realistically achieved? And let me give some examples. The impact should be able to be explained. is different from the objective and it's the only way to do an impact is to publish your work because if I'm going to spend maybe six months of my life on a manuscript for a thesis or maybe four years for my PhD work if this document is going to be in the depository of the library of Liège University no one on earth will access it even it's not on Google so forget about it the only way make sure that your work has an impact and other researchers and other professionals and the society in large is going to access it, read it, benefit from it is to publish the work and study or look at the impact of your work. Here is an example of a work I will read you I will read you this very fast energy certification labels increases the awareness of energy consumption and enables consumers to compare buildings therefore providing builders with an incentive to improve energy efficiency in buildings? Improving energy efficiency in buildings is one of the most cost-effective ways across all sectors to reduce energy consumption and hence green gas house emissions. Energy efficiency is the most cost-effective method to improve energy security. From the household perspective, energy efficiency seems to be profitable. you are telling how energy efficiency or the labels are you how is this impact of this topic energy efficient lighting and appliances can save about 465 euro per year per household in energy bills much more savings can be easily insured when the whole building is energy efficient the energy efficiency of buildings can only be guaranteed by creditable building energy label so here you are describing what is the impact of your research you are saying that while studying the labeling of buildings already I can promise to have a cost-effective savings and I can guarantee a security and independence from fossil fuels and you try to quantify it with some example saying that for example a building that has energy label a for example can save up to 465 euro per year so we give an example so this is a very important aspect that you should include what would be the impact of your study and this is difficult you have to brainstorm you have to think if I come up with my research and I publish it could it be useful examples for dissemination activities also to spread dissemination means spreading your research findings is there a clear or attainable plan for dissemination for results this is a question. Is the dissemination plan targeted, clear and attainable? Is it relevant and you have a clear exploitation of the results? These are all important topics and you can disseminate your work by publishing it, by having internal seminars, regular reporting, publication, conferences, exhibition or reaching out communicating with the community. If you go to an NGO and tell them I would like to present my master's thesis to you, I would like to share with you my document. These are all important activities you must guarantee to make sure that you are disseminating your knowledge. In a PhD it's very important to do a lot of effort to disseminate the information. In a master thesis it would be enough to publish in a conference or publish in a journal, your results, and this is the only way to validate and make sure that your information now is available to the public, it's accessible, and it could be shared and become beneficial to the society. Last part is the biography. In your research proposal, you should include a bibliographical sector. You should have references cited in a specific format. In my lab, I prefer the APA standard, and I have a presentation on that. But you should make sure that many reviewers, they go at the end of your research proposal and read the biography. And based on the quality of biography they find, they start to say this is a good research or not. This means that the more you are describing the key publication-related topic, it means that you did your homework, you read, and you should pay attention how you write it, because there are rules in citation. You should write, for example, the family name, and then the year, and then the title, and then the city, and so on. There are different styles. Make sure that you are using the right style. You just ask your supervisor for that. You can show your motivation on the subject also based on that. Use a reference management system. There are many softwares. Previously, there was a software called EndNote. Today, the most commonly used is Zotero, and I advise you to use Zotero. Well, I'm going to the end. This is it. This is the research proposal. It sounds maybe dense, very informative, but keep in mind that a research proposal does not need to be more than five, six pages. Sometimes the research proposal, a large European project, can be something like 25 pages. I'm talking about funding of millions. So in your case, all you need to have five pages, six pages, describing and covering these issues and just start to write and go through it I give you some golden final tips structure your text make sure you have headings address every topic into a heading structure section and write under it write short sentences this is a very important thing many I figured out that in the French speaking word many students seems to write long sentences chop your sentence keep it short and follow your ideas and don't make it complex just write you can write down first in a sketch what ideas you want to communicate and start to make them short sentences in a row use bullets bullets are very important because readers get bored when they find a full block of text try to make bullets to highlight important topics provide images charts i already told you that you need a gun chart an organizational chart a study research design for the methodology try as maximum to have a kind of visual component don't make it exceed 30 40 percent of the proposal so that the proposal is readable and accessible and the keys are access to success are important that you should assure that all relevant chapters of the proposal have been addressed accurately the ten themes that I described are addressed in detail be brief and concise as possible you should support your information with empirical and proof try to have always statistics numbers references to cite your work right don't hesitate don't leave it till the end if you have time write a part of the proposal later on write another part so just keep writing it's very easy it's not a difficult thing it's just that you have to get used to answer these kind of questions and do it and improvise it ask for peers you can send it to colleagues to a teaching assistant to your supervisor don't hesitate to do that to review the proposal and improve it you can make draft 1 draft 2 until you are satisfied and willing to submit it you can get expert help you can talk to the audience people you can talk to somebody who knows about the problem go consult a professor or any person who is professional you should be well organized synthesized and don't forget that we are looking for a master student a master student who has a critical appraisal who can criticize who can build up a case with new information and this is very important by describing any controversies that you find in the objectives include the evidence as possible whether it's against or with your proposition these are the key rules of success I would like to go back just to remind you that this is very important to respect this structure cover it go step by step until you have a good proposal one thing I can promise you if you developed and invested as much as possible time in writing your research proposal your master thesis process will go as smooth as possible because you thought ahead about what you are going to do so instead of going reactive and just reacting on everyday crisis the simulation is not working the interviews is not doing you have here something that protects you it makes you more certain stable and you see what are you going to do and already you are certain that you can achieve the goal easier so this is very important I would like to thank you for your presentation here are my reference and those don't hesitate to contact me I'm looking forward for your proposals thank you very much