Graduate School

Writing a research proposal for a PhD or MPhil application:
A guide for potential students
Some Schools and Departments may require you to write an outline research proposal and submit this with your application to study for a PhD or MPhil. The content and structure of the proposal will inevitably vary depending on the discipline area and the nature of the project you wish to pursue. In some cases you may be provided with some guidance in terms of what information should be included in the proposal and, if this is the case, you should read this carefully and follow it. However, where this is not the case, the general guidance, and suggested headings, provided here should help you to structure and present your ideas clearly in your proposal.

Your overall aim is to produce a research proposal that is clear and coherent in every respect. You should therefore avoid the use of overly long sentences and of technical jargon. It is important that the proposed research is realistic and feasible so that the outcomes can be achieved within the scale of a typical research degree programme, which is typically three years full-time for a PhD (or two years for an MPhil). Although you should write the proposal yourself, it is best if you discuss its contents with your proposed supervisor before you submit it. Your research question For most projects there is usually one main question that you would like to address, which can sometimes be broken down into several sub-questions. You will need to state your main research question(s), explain its significance, and locate it within the relevant literature (remembering to refer only to research that is directly relevant to your proposal). You will probably need to address questions such as;

What is the general area in which you will be working and the specific aspect(s) of that area that will be your focus on