university research proposal pdf

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Research Proposal Template

The fastest (and smartest) way to craft a convincing proposal and get your dissertation or research project approved.

Available in Google Doc, Word & PDF format 4.9 star rating, 5000 + downloads

Step-by-step instructions

Tried & tested academic format

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Pro tips, tricks and resources

What It Covers

This free proposal template covers the core essential ingredients for a strong research proposal. It includes clear explanations of what you need to address in each section, as well as straightforward examples and links to further resources. The template covers the following core elements:

• Introduction & background (including the research problem)
• Literature review
• Research design/methodology
• Project plan, resource requirements and
• risk management

The Google Doc can be copied to your Google Drive 0r downloaded as a fully editable MS Word Document (DOCX format), which you can also use in LaTeX.

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FAQs: Research Proposal Template

Research proposal template faqs, what types of research proposals can this template be used for.

The proposal template follows the standard format for academic research projects, which means it will be suitable for the vast majority of dissertations and theses (especially those within the sciences), whether they are qualitative or quantitative in terms of design.

Keep in mind that the exact requirements for the introduction chapter/section will vary between universities and degree programs. These are typically minor, but it’s always a good idea to double-check your university’s requirements before you finalise your structure.

Is this template for an undergrad, Master or PhD-level proposal?

This template can be used for a research project at any level of study. Doctoral-level projects typically require the research proposal to be more extensive/comprehensive, but the structure will typically remain the same.

How long should my research proposal be?

The length of a research proposal varies by institution and subject, but as a ballpark, it’s usually between 1,500 and 3,000 words.

To be safe, it’s best to check with your university if they have any preferences or requirements in terms of minimum and maximum word count for the research propsal.

How detailed should the methodology of the proposal be?

You don’t need to go into the fine details of your methodology, but this section should be detailed enough to demonstrate that your research approach is feasible and will address your research questions effectively. Be sure to include your intended methods for data collection and analysis.

Can I include preliminary data or pilot study results in my proposal?

Generally, yes. This can strengthen your proposal by demonstrating the feasibility of your research. However, make sure that your pilot study is approved by your university before collecting any data.

Can I share this template with my friends/colleagues?

Yes, you’re welcome to share this template in its original format (no editing allowed). If you want to post about it on your blog or social media, we kindly request that you reference this page as your source.

What format is the template (DOC, PDF, PPT, etc.)?

The research proposal template is provided as a Google Doc. You can download it in MS Word format or make a copy to your Google Drive. You’re also welcome to convert it to whatever format works best for you, such as LaTeX or PDF.

Do you have templates for the other chapters?

Yes, we do. We are constantly developing our collection of free resources to help students complete their dissertations and theses. You can view all of our template resources here .

Can Grad Coach help me with my dissertation/thesis?

Yes, you’re welcome to get in touch with us to discuss our private coaching services .

Additional Resources

If you’re working on a research proposal, you’ll also want to check these out…

1-On-1 Private Coaching

Research Proposal Bootcamp

The Grad Coach YouTube Channel

The Grad Coach Podcast

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Examples of research proposals

How to write your research proposal, with examples of good proposals.

Research proposals

Your research proposal is a key part of your application. It tells us about the question you want to answer through your research. It is a chance for you to show your knowledge of the subject area and tell us about the methods you want to use.

We use your research proposal to match you with a supervisor or team of supervisors.

In your proposal, please tell us if you have an interest in the work of a specific academic at York St John. You can get in touch with this academic to discuss your proposal. You can also speak to one of our Research Leads. There is a list of our Research Leads on the Apply page.

When you write your proposal you need to:

• Highlight how it is original or significant
• Explain how it will develop or challenge current knowledge of your subject
• Identify the importance of your research
• Show why you are the right person to do this research
• Research Proposal Example 1 (DOC, 49kB)
• Research Proposal Example 2 (DOC, 0.9MB)
• Research Proposal Example 3 (DOC, 55.5kB)
• Research Proposal Example 4 (DOC, 49.5kB)

Subject specific guidance

• Writing a Humanities PhD Proposal (PDF, 0.1MB)
• Writing a Creative Writing PhD Proposal (PDF, 0.1MB)
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Sample Academic Proposals

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Select the Sample Academic Proposals PDF in the Media box above to download this file and read examples of proposals for conferences, journals, and book chapters.

Ester H. Howard Student Research Fellows Program

The howard student research fellows program.

Initiative 1.4 of Campbell University’s Strategic Plan is to establish a student research program for undergraduate, graduate, and professional students, a facet of the larger aim of securing gains in academic quality. We are pleased to continue the summer Howard Student Research Fellows program for undergraduate students, as we work to build a campus-wide student research program. 

The summer program offers financial and research support for student-driven projects that emphasize collaboration between undergraduate students and faculty mentors. The program will provide value beyond existing summer student research projects by bookending the summer research experience with unique learning and presentation opportunities.  A stipend will be awarded to participating students and faculty members. 

Program Overview

Program dates .

Submission Deadline: Monday, February 5, 2024 An information session will be held in mid-January for interested students and/or faculty mentors to answer questions about the application process. A recording of last year’s information session is available here . 

Awards Announced: Wednesday, February 28, 2024 Award recipients will be  notified by email and are recognized at the Wiggins Memorial Library Academic Symposium Closing Awards Ceremony.

Welcome & Workshops: Monday, May 20, 2024 Welcome and review of program requirements and deadlines; workshop on research basics. 

Student Progress Meetings: Fridays, May 31 & June 21, 2024 One-hour interdisciplinary discussions among students; share project updates. 

Student & Faculty Progress Meetings: Fridays, June 7 & 28, 2024 One-hour interdisciplinary discussions among students and faculty mentors; share project updates.  

Program End: Friday, July 12, 2024

Presentation Day: Tuesday, August 20, 2024 Program conclusion with student presentations of research, tentatively scheduled during new student orientation in the fall. 

*An IRB workshop may be held shortly after awards are announced in March, depending on need and interest.

Student Eligibility

The program is limited to Campbell University undergraduate students, with funding prioritized to full-time students (registered for 12.0 credit hours or more) who have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher.

Program Expectations

Student Expectations 

• Commit 20-40 hours a week to research during the duration of the program. The exact time commitment can be discussed with your faculty mentor.
• Attend relevant program events (Welcome & Workshop; Student & Faculty Progress Meetings, and Presentation Day). 
• Produce a discipline-appropriate research output (e.g., research paper, design project, creative work, technical report). 
• Write a short reflection essay on the program experience. 
• Present at the 2025 Wiggins Memorial Library Academic Symposium, or another venue during the 2024-25 academic year. 

Faculty Expectations 

• Attend relevant program events (Welcome & Workshop; two Student & Faculty Progress Meetings, and Presentation Day). 
• Get approval for research materials purchased from Department Chair. Academic departments are encouraged to use departmental funds to cover research materials and travel expenses. Mentors should consult with their Department Chair to provide a budget of project expenses prior to nominating a student. 
• Mentoring and supporting student research as appropriate within the program timeline (It is highly recommended that lengthier processes like obtaining IRB approval begin as soon as possible after award notification, or even prior to award notification).
• Faculty may be asked to facilitate discussion at Student & Faculty Progress Meetings, or lead opening workshop. 
• On campus housing during the summer program will also be available to fellows, for those who are interested.
• Faculty Awards: $2,000 will be awarded to participating mentors, to be given in May. 

Submissions

Students will complete the submission form below, uploading a Cover Sheet and Project Proposal, outlined below, as PDF attachments. To complete the submission form, please first log in to your Campbell University Gmail account.

Students will complete and submit the following Cover Page, which states their intention of fulfilling the program requirements, if accepted, and provides a 150-word proposal abstract.  Note: The Cover Page requires the signature of the faculty mentor and department chair.

The Cover Page should be saved as a PDF and submitted as an attachment with the submission form above.

Project Proposal 

Students will draft a project proposal organized using the following sections. Proposals should be 11-point Times New Roman font, double-spaced and no longer than 5 pages.  Project proposals should be saved as a PDF and submitted as an attachment on the submission form above. 

• Indicate the purpose of your project/research study
• A brief background of your project and/or topic
• Plans or methods to carry out the project
• A timeline for completion of the project. (Be sure to consider steps such as soliciting IRB approval, collecting and analyzing information/data, synthesizing information, and presenting findings, as appropriate). The project does not need to be finished during the program, but the timeline should demonstrate that reasonable progress will be made over the course of the eight-week summer program period. 
• Provide a budget for this project, considering materials, equipment, and/or travel expenses.  
• Academic departments are encouraged to use departmental funds to cover research materials and travel expenses. Mentors nominating students are expected to consult with their Department Chair to provide a budget of project expenses.

Example Proposals

The Howard Research Fellows Program values participation from diverse disciplines. The proposal guidelines are intentionally broad to accommodate different disciplinary styles. To assist you in preparing your application, several examples of funded proposals from different research areas are provided below. We have historically funded a similar percentage of STEM and Social Sciences/Humanities proposals based on the number of applications from each of those areas. 

Example Proposal 1 – English

Example Proposal 2 – Psychology

Example Proposal 3 – Biology

Projects will be evaluated according to the following rubric:

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Important information for proposers

All proposals must be submitted in accordance with the requirements specified in this funding opportunity and in the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) that is in effect for the relevant due date to which the proposal is being submitted. It is the responsibility of the proposer to ensure that the proposal meets these requirements. Submitting a proposal prior to a specified deadline does not negate this requirement.

Research Coordination Network for a University-Community Climate Action Network (RCN-UCCAN)

Dear Colleagues:

With this Dear Colleague Letter (DCL), the U.S. National Science Foundation's Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP) and the Department of Energy's Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office (AMMTO) within the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) announce their intent to together establish a strategic leadership network on climate action engagement aimed at the transition from the linear economy of today to a circular economy of tomorrow, including one that will better integrate university research and community needs. With this investment, NSF and DOE aim to organize "Climate Action Ambassadors" into an effective national network of professionals to develop evidence-based models, program concepts and recommendations that share, implement, and scale university-community partnerships in this national priority area.

The expertise of the Ambassadors will span climate action strategies across all areas of science and engineering for mitigation (including circular design and circular economy principles), resiliency, and/or adaptation, resulting in a new multi-disciplinary, multi-sector Research Coordination Network (RCN) called a U niversity- C ommunity C limate A ction N etwork (UCCAN). Ambassadors will be geographically distributed and represent the diverse range of communities (e.g., cities, towns, tribal nations) as well as U.S. Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs), referred to in this DCL as colleges and universities (e.g., Land Grant, public, private, community, technical, Minority Serving Institutions) across the nation.

NSF and DOE will invest in one RCN proposal to develop new connections and collaborations to accelerate and elevate climate action through university-community partnerships and identify untapped resources to ensure environmental justice for unserved and under-served communities. This RCN-UCCAN will provide a framework for engaging students and participating local communities to co-create and scale successful proof-of-concept projects. The RCN-UCCAN also will create the "connective tissue" to build upon existing efforts and support collaborations and communication between campuses with governments, industry, and their surrounding communities to enable fast response, replication, and scaling of climate mitigation, resilience, and/or adaptation solutions nationally.

Ambassadors will build upon the momentum and findings of an initial meeting convened by NSF together with other federal departments, agencies, and offices on March 8-9, 2023. Specifically, that forum was a first step in an inclusive effort to marshal the strengths of campuses, including the nearly 20 million students enrolled in the U.S. post-secondary education system, to help address climate mitigation, resilience, and/or adaptation, environmental sustainability, and environmental justice, and encourage and support their innovation and entrepreneurship. Students seek access to the translational knowledge and skills to address issues related to climate and environment in their communities, which this RCN-UCCAN aims to uniquely make possible.

PROPOSAL GUIDANCE AND SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

The RCN-UCCAN should aim to develop a national strategy connecting our colleges and universities with their communities to share knowledge and resources across a network that spans a range of institution types. Of particular interest is ensuring that everyone, regardless of location or affiliation, has the opportunity to address the goals outlined in this DCL. Researchers and practitioners across their communities are especially encouraged to communicate, collaborate and exchange information for action on climate mitigation, resilience and adaption through the RCN, including with international partners.

Proposals responding to this DCL should be prepared in accordance with the guidance contained in the RCN solicitation including the seven guidance items outlined in Section II. Program Description. When submitting the proposal, select the RCN solicitation and then direct the proposal to the Special Projects Program in the Division of Innovation and Technology Ecosystems (ITE) within the TIP directorate. Proposal titles should begin with "RCN-UCCAN:" followed by a substantive title. RCN-UCCAN proposals should be received by November 15, 2024 (due by 5 p.m. submitting organization's local time).

Proposals should include a network of named Ambassadors who will contribute a substantial portion (minimum of 20% with a greater commitment preferred) of their time to the RCN-UCCAN. For instance, coordinating sabbatical or other similar time away from normal duties is encouraged. Each Ambassador who is either a faculty or practitioner (such as a Director or Vice President of Sustainability) should form a substantive collaboration with a community Ambassador focused on climate action and facilitating interactions with students. Each named Ambassador should also enlist the help of one or more undergraduate students, graduate students, and/or post-doctoral fellows for a minimum of 10 hours per week. Additionally, to ensure co-design and co-creation of solutions, specific funding to support a community leader to serve as an Ambassador alongside the university Ambassador for a minimum of 20% of their time should be included. Further, proposals that show substantive reach and collaboration with K-12 networks in the participating communities/regions are highly encouraged.

For purposes of this DCL, any RCN-UCCAN proposal should address the proposer's ability to contribute to the following deliverables envisioned for the RCN-UCCAN:

• A connected university-community climate action network bringing together multiple universities, or regional groups of universities, with their local communities to develop climate action solutions;
• An implementation governance structure to coordinate the multi-sector effort that will create a self-sustaining effort;
• Campus as a Living Lab/Testbed: activities would include assessing campus-generated climate solutions, piloting commercial innovations, refining models and tools through campus and community testing, and importantly, empowering student-led innovation for climate solutions. Galvanizing the innovative and problem-solving capabilities of our nation's 20 million students and supporting their entrepreneurial efforts and continued contributions to all fields of STEM through a lens of environmental sustainability will be encouraged.
• Campus Sustainability and Resilience: activities would include decarbonizing the built campus environment, modernizing transportation, considering the campus as a functioning ecosystem and making campuses more resilient.
• Climate Action in the Classroom: activities would include engaging in climate across the curriculum such as circular design and circular economy, programs and majors for climate action leaders, skilled workforce development and public engagement, and informal science education.
• Providing Climate Services to Communities: with emphasis in mitigation/prevention, activities would include local transitions to clean energy and renewable technologies, development of climate-resilient agriculture and ecosystems, building capacity for community-based climate research and action, and partnerships for mitigation, resilience and adaptation.
• New models for implementation and scaling of pilots across institutions of higher education and from those institutions to their communities and their states for the four themes.

The essential work of the Ambassadors will be to leverage existing and future climate solutions and strengthen the ties between the Universities and their respective communities as well as create a strategic network across all institutions to leverage best practices, build new collaborations, and share resources. The RCN-UCCAN thus formed will be the result of the efforts of the Ambassadors. It is further anticipated that the RCN-UCCAN network would grow each year with external funding from sources beyond NSF. Such growth can lead to a new set of Ambassadors to build upon, update, and/or execute the strategy to mitigate further climate change and build capacity for resilience and adaptation. In this way, the reach of coordination and cooperation across the US and internationally can be extended and sustained.

REVIEW AND AWARD INFORMATION

Proposals should be prepared and submitted to NSF as described above. NSF will manage and conduct the review process of proposals in accordance with standard NSF policies and procedures. If selected for funding by NSF, the award will be made and managed by NSF with funds transferred from DOE. NSF anticipates issuing one cooperative agreement for up to two years for up to $2 million, subject to the quality of proposals and availability of funds.

For questions about this DCL, please contact Linda Molnar, program director in TIP/ITE, at [email protected] .

Erwin Gianchandani Assistant Director for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships

Organization(s)

• Division of Innovation and Technology Ecosystems (TIP/ITE)
• Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP)