example of phd gantt chart

A PhD timeline for finishing quickly [Free Gantt Download]

Navigating the labyrinthine journey of a PhD program is no small feat.

From the day you step into your graduate program as a bright-eyed doctoral student, you’re immediately thrust into a complex weave of coursework, research, and milestones.

By the second year, you’ve transitioned from coursework to research, laying the groundwork for your dissertation—a pivotal component in your scholarly endeavour. 

Come the third year, you face the critical oral examination, a hurdle that could make or break years of hard work.

But how does one streamline this multifaceted journey? The answer lies in a well-planned PhD timeline.

This blog serves as an invaluable guide for any PhD student looking to complete their doctoral studies efficiently, walking you through each milestone from coursework to graduation.

How to Begin with the PhD Timeline Planning?

Planning your PhD timeline is an essential first step in your PhD program.

Success in any PhD program depends, to a large extent, on effective time management and keeping track of progress through a thoughtfully crafted PhD timeline. 

Start with outlining all your major requirements:

• coursework,
• dissertation,
• and the expected time needed for each task.

I also highly recommend factoring in failure time – give yourself a little bit of wiggle room for when things, invariably – go wrong. 

It’s crucial to remain realistic about the time you can commit daily or weekly while keeping long-term goals in mind.

Regular check-ins on your PhD timeline and supervisor will help you stay on track and allow you to adapt if necessary.

Adjustments may be needed as you progress through your PhD program, but having a timeline as a guide can make the journey less daunting and more achievable. 

Elements to include in a 3-year PhD timeline

The initial stage in this timeline typically involves coursework, often lasting one year, where the student engrosses themselves in advanced study in their chosen field.

Once the coursework is done (USA PhDs), they focus on proposing, conducting, and presenting their initial research.

By the end of the second year, most students should have a clear direction for their dissertation, a core component of the PhD process.

In this third and final year of the PhD timeline, the student focuses primarily on completing their dissertation, which involves collecting data, analyzing results, and organizing their research into a substantial, original, and cohesive document that contributes to contemporary knowledge in their field.

Regular reviews and modifications of the PhD timeline may also be necessary to accommodate various unpredictable circumstances, thus making this timeline both a guide and a flexible workplan.

It is a significant tool in successfully navigating the maze of becoming a PhD holder. 

Create Your PhD Timeline for a 3 year completion

Creating a timeline for a 3-year PhD program requires careful planning, as you’ll have multiple milestones and tasks to complete.

This timeline may vary depending on your specific field, institution, or country, but here is a general outline you can use as a starting point:

Free Gantt chart excel template

Here is a free template you can modify for your own research:

Example Gantt chart for a USA PhD

Here are some common steps involved in completing a PhD, which I’ll use to create the Gantt chart:

• Orientation and Coursework (Semester 1) : Familiarization with the university, department, and coursework.
• Coursework (Semester 2) : Continued coursework and possible teaching/research assistantships.
• Select Advisor and Research Topic : Usually done towards the end of the first year or the beginning of the second year.
• Preliminary Research : Initial research and literature review.
• Complete Coursework (Semester 3) : Wrap up any remaining required courses.
• Research Proposal : Develop a full research proposal including methodology.
• Qualifying Exams : Exams to transition from a Ph.D. student to a Ph.D. candidate.
• Begin Research : Start of actual research based on the approved proposal.
• Conduct Research : Data collection, experiments, and analysis.
• Intermediate Review : A review to assess the progress of the research.
• Write Papers : Start writing papers and possibly publishing in journals.
• Finalize Research : Final experiments and data analysis.
• Write Dissertation : Writing the actual Ph.D. dissertation.
• Dissertation Defense : Defending the dissertation before the committee.
• Graduation : Completing all requirements and graduating.

Example Gantt chart for a UK, European and Australian PhD

For Ph.D. programs outside the United States, especially in Europe and some other parts of the world, students often go straight into research without the need for coursework. Here are some common steps for such programs:

• Orientation : Familiarization with the university and department.
• Select Advisor and Research Topic : Usually done at the beginning of the program.

Wrapping up

The journey to earning a PhD is complex and demanding, filled with academic milestones from coursework to research to dissertation writing.

The key to a smooth and efficient doctoral journey lies in well-planned time management—a structured PhD timeline.

This blog serves as an invaluable guide, offering detailed tips for planning out each academic year in both U.S. and international PhD programs. It emphasizes the importance of starting with an outline of major requirements and factoring in “failure time” for unforeseen challenges.

For those looking to navigate their PhD journey in three years or beyond, having a flexible but comprehensive timeline can be the compass that guides them successfully through the academic labyrinth.

Whether you’re just starting out or already deep into your research, the principles and strategies outlined here can help streamline your path to that coveted doctoral hood.

Dr Andrew Stapleton has a Masters and PhD in Chemistry from the UK and Australia. He has many years of research experience and has worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow and Associate at a number of Universities. Although having secured funding for his own research, he left academia to help others with his YouTube channel all about the inner workings of academia and how to make it work for you.

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How to Create and Use a Gantt Chart for PhD Studies

A Gantt chart is a common tool used in the project management field. It is used for schedule planning of a project and its tasks and activities. It shows the tasks, their start and end dates, and the duration needed to complete them.

A PhD is a project and may last from as few as three years to as long as six years depending on the university and department a student is enrolled in.

In order to successfully complete a PhD program, one needs to plan when each of the tasks will be completed from the word go. A Gantt chart is very useful in doing this.

A PhD student can create one comprehensive Gantt chart or several smaller Gantt charts for each of the major deliverables.

This article discusses a Gantt chart for a general PhD program that has both coursework and dissertation components.

Benefits of a Gantt chart for planning PhD studies

Steps involved in creating a gantt chart for phd studies, how to effectively use the phd gantt chart, final thoughts on the phd gantt chart.

Creating a Gantt chart at the beginning of PhD studies has the following benefits:

• It is easy to create. A student can use the traditional pen-and-paper method or existing digital tools or softwares to create a Gantt chart.
• It is easy to read. The visual presentation of the Gantt chart makes it easy for the student to read and know what is expected of him at any point in time.
• A Gantt chart makes it easy to monitor progress of PhD studies. The user can choose to use different colors for tasks that have already been completed, tasks that are close to completion, and tasks that require more time and effort to complete.
• It forms the basis for monthly, weekly, and daily planning of the PhD studies. Depending on how detailed a student wants to go in terms of planning, the Gantt chart comes in handy when writing out the monthly, weekly and even daily plans.

Step 1: List all the deliverables expected of your PhD program. In this example, the PhD program has the following requirements:

• Coursework, divided into 4 modules each lasting 2 weeks. All 4 modules need to be completed within the first year of study.
• A comprehensive written exam at the end of the fourth module.
• An oral exam once a student passes the written exam.
• Submission of a concept note.
• Submission of a research proposal once a student passes the oral exam.
• Writing a business management case study.
• Three journal papers.
• At least two conference papers.
• A dissertation.

Step 2: For each of the requirements listed above, note the start and end dates. For the above example, the PhD program lasts a minimum of 3 years and a maximum of 6 years. Assuming the minimum of 3 years (beginning January 2021), the activities’ start and end dates are as follows:

Step 3: Using the above information, create the Gantt chart using Microsoft Word, Powerpoint or Excel.

The following are useful resources for creating a Gantt chart using:

• Microsoft Powerpoint: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wp0vr6OkW8Y
• Microsoft Excel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00s5efQWrgU&t=10s
• Microsoft Word: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F90RdA5X4G0

The Gantt chart created from the above data is shown below. The chart was created using Microsoft Powerpoint.

Step 4: Once the Gantt chart is complete, print it out and hang it on the wall of your study room/area. This serves as a constant reminder of the tasks that need to be done at any point in time, as well as of the progress that has been made so far.

The greatest strength in using the Gantt chart for PhD studies lies in its ability to help one plan ahead. Using the Gantt chart above as an example, the user can plan as follows:

• At the beginning of every month, look at what is required of you. For instance, the student above needs to complete module one of the coursework and at the same time start working on proposal writing.

The student can plan for module one in advance by going through the course structure and expected readings, and reading in advance before the start of the module so that he is able to follow and understand what is being taught. If there are pre- and post-module exams, the student can also prepare for them in advance.

Preliminary tasks for proposal writing can include: discussing your proposed topic with your supervisor, and searching for and quick review of literature to identify the gap that your topic will be addressing. All these can be done in the first month before the actual proposal writing starts.

• The Gantt chart can help you identify the skills that are required for the successful completion of your dissertation. For instance, the student above is expected to write a Business Management case study by June of year 2.

If the student does not have case study writing skills, he can start looking for courses that teach case study writing and complete them way before the deadline for the case study. Same case for skills such as preparing and writing a journal paper, writing a conference paper, data analysis using softwares such as Stata, SPSS, NVivo etc.

• The Gantt chart can help you plan for academic-related events such as conferences.

In the example provided above, the student is expected to attend two scientific conferences (in November of year 2 and March of year 3) and make presentations.

The student can start looking for conferences related to his field that are held during the proposed times and mark the key dates and requirements of the conferences (for instance, abstract submission deadlines, abstract submission guidelines, registration deadlines etc).

• The Gantt chart can help you create monthly and weekly plans for longer tasks such as proposal writing.

In the above sample Gantt chart, proposal writing and defense spans a period of 15 months. By March of the second year, the student is expected to defend his proposal. This may seem like such a long period of time but in reality it is not. This is because it is not the only task that the student will undertake during this period. As a result, it is easier to focus on the tasks at hand and forget about the tasks that seem to have adequate time.

Proposal writing is a daunting task and requires constant reading and updating. To ensure that the student submits his proposal in time, he can create monthly and weekly plans for the task. An example of monthly planning for the proposal writing is provided in the table below:

The monthly plan is based on assumptions, for instance, that the supervisor will review the document within the scheduled timeframe. This may or may not hold, depending on the supervisor.

It is therefore important to allow ample time for such factors that are out of your own control in order to ensure that the task is completed by the deadline.

The monthly plans can further be broken down into weekly (and even daily) plans, for instance:

• Number of papers to read per week (day).
• Number of words to write per week (day).
• How many citations and bibliographies to insert (update) every week (day).
• Number of additional articles to search and add to your library each week etc.

Each of these tasks contributes to the overall proposal writing and make the task completion easier and faster than waiting for the last few months to do it all at once.

A PhD is a medium- to long-term project depending on how long it takes to finish. It therefore requires effective and careful planning from the start of the program to ensure that each deliverable is completed within the stipulated time. The Gantt chart is an easy-to-create, and easy-to-use planning tool that can be used by all PhD students. Not only does it save the student time but it also gives him peace of mind knowing the progress of each and every task required.

Grace Njeri-Otieno

Grace Njeri-Otieno is a Kenyan, a wife, a mom, and currently a PhD student, among many other balls she juggles. She holds a Bachelors' and Masters' degrees in Economics and has more than 7 years' experience with an INGO. She was inspired to start this site so as to share the lessons learned throughout her PhD journey with other PhD students. Her vision for this site is "to become a go-to resource center for PhD students in all their spheres of learning."

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5 Types of GANTT Charts for PhD

“GANTT chart is so crucial for PhDs. It helps them to divide, manage and arrange their PhD goals. Universities seek one from every student. So what are those 5 types of PhD GANTT charts that every PhDs need? Let’s find out.”  

A doctorate is the highest academic honor that every graduate is willing to achieve. Unfortunately, only some can manage to go for it. The journey of PhD is full of hurdles and hassles that students are often unaware about.    

It’s more an honor and thus difficult to achieve too but not impossible, certainly. Scholars often get stuck, fail and eventually drop their PhD, because of the lack of a single basic thing– planning. Every PhD is similar– Everyone has to do research, that’s it. 

However, it’s so true that doing research in some fields– like life science and biology or any other STEM subject – is quite hard and lengthy. But the sheer process is the same. Students fail because they fail to structurize their work. 

So how can we greatly succeed in our PhD endeavor? The answer is simple— by planning your work– not in mind, on paper actually in your daily life, for a year and the entire tenure of PhD. That looks nearly impossible, right?  

Planning your entire PhD, research work and writing assignments aren’t that difficult. Using a GANTT chart or preparing your own, you can manage all the stuff easily. You can design your goals and track them for your entire PhD. 

In this article, I’m gonna explain 5 types of PhD GANTT charts that every PhD student should know about.  

Stay tuned. 

5 Types of GANTT chart for PhD

36 months gantt chart for phd , phd gantt chart for research , gantt chart for thesis writing , gantt chart for daily schedule, progressive research chart.

Every scholar must have a 36-months (3-year) GANTT chart for their PhD. And let me tell you that universities also ask for one. So you must have it. Usually, the ideal PhD duration is 3 years, though students can ask for an extension. 

Along with their research project, universities ask to submit a fully planned GANTT chart for 3 years. In this planner, you have to enlist all your goals, research work, objectives and progress you would make each month. 

You have to decide and draw how much time you would give to each assignment/task. And accordingly, you have to work. Major goals in this chart would be

• Course work
• Pre-research work
• Research work
• Post-research work 
• Thesis writing 
• Research paper writing 
• Thesis submission. 

Each goal has an individual task too— For instance, during the pre-research phase one has to prepare their PhD research title, synopsis, and research project and send them for approval. I have enlisted all goals, individual tasks and time required to achieve each in this GANTT template. Download it. 

Preparing this chart will help you to monitor, assist and track your PhD progress in a real-time manner. Keep in note that this is a kind of goal-achiever chart, mark each goal as “complete” you achieve.  

Research has been such a crucial parameter in PhD. Every research starts with sample collection and ends with data collection. The stepwise process of PhD research included many other important steps. 

One trait of research is ‘uncertainty’. Research is a highly unpredictable process, no one, literally– no one can predict the results and define the time frame. However, you have to make a time frame for your research. 

Put simply, you have to allot time to every research goal, which certainly increases the probability of maximizing your chances of success. So what should be the process here? 

Divide your research process into steps (our previous article will help with this). Understand the importance of each research goal and accordingly allot time. For example, 6 months for sample collection or 3 months for validation, etc. 

Then go to the GANTT chart planner and prepare a chart for a research goal against the time required. You can also add other elements like real-time monitoring, color code and progress graph. That’s totally up to you. 

Here I have one for you. Please visit it and download it. 

This PhD research planner template would increase your chances of success. 

Yet another crucial goal of any PhD is thesis writing, and it should progress simultaneously with your research. Meaning, you should have to write in your free time during/while you do lab research.   

PhD thesis is a mountainous task of writing 200 pages– structured and organized assignment. Common thesis parts are– the introduction, review of literature, methodology, results and discussion, interpretation and references. 

Besides many other things are also included in the thesis, to know more read this article— How to Write a PhD thesis?

As we aforesaid, research is an uncertain process but not writing. You can manage and control your PhD writing assignments by only preparing a single GANTT chart. Note that writing for PhD takes a huge proportion of your time. 

So planning for writing a thesis is crucial too. Prepare a chart for thesis writing goals against the time required– For instance, 2 months for introduction, 7 months for review of the literature and so on. 

 Give each writing goal a different color and monitor the progress. Check out this GANTT chart for more detail. 

What is the ultimate goal of any research scholar? To achieve the PhD degree, right? No. it’s to achieve the PhD degree in a given time. I.e. in three years. Hence, to complete such a huge task in a given time frame you have to manage things at a micro-level. 

Zero-date planning and micro-management help you to get success in a quick time. Now, you may wonder how it’s possible. The simple answer is by planning every day, 365 days of the year 1,095 days of the entire tenure. 

My ultimate advice to every PhD student who wishes to succeed in their research is to prepare and manage your daily schedule. The importance of a daily schedule and how to manage it is explained in our previous article, here it is— What should be a daily routine for PhD Students? Our proven checklist .

Plan your day on an excel sheet in the form of a GANTT chart. Try hard to follow it every day and you would see magical results in the long run. Daily planning (using this simple GANTT chart) helps every one of our PhD research students. 

Prepare your daily schedule– activities you are doing, want to do and you have to do, give it a specific time and stamp it in the form of a chart. The fun part is you can use different colors to track your activities. 

For example, Read if fails to achieve a goal or green for achieved goals. Take a quick look at one of my student’s GANTT daily charts.  

Every PhD should have a progressive research chart there on their PhD. You have to lead it and apply to monitor how much progress you have done in your semester or in a year. It’s progressive means you have to update your goals, otherwise, it will consider it as “failed”  and mark it as unachieved. 

I plan to prepare one progressive and real-time chart, when you set a start and end date, it starts the tik-tik toward a deadline. I will update it later in this article. 

Wrapping up

After reading all these, you wonder if it’s difficult to prepare all this stuff and manage. Let me tell you that you do not need to waste your time on such things. Just focus on your research. We already have “ready-to-use templates” in a single place. 

Please visit this page to access a single or all GANTT chart. You can use it. I hope you like this article. Please share it and don’t forget to check out our templates. 

Dr. Tushar Chauhan is a Scientist, Blogger and Scientific-writer. He has completed PhD in Genetics. Dr. Chauhan is a PhD coach and tutor.

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10 Amazing Benefits of GANTT chart for PhD

How to Prepare a GANTT chart in a Google Sheet?

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How to develop an awesome PhD timeline step-by-step

A successful PhD journey begins with a solid plan that includes a PhD timeline . A thought-through and well-designed PhD timeline requires some time but can be accomplished in a few simple steps.

Why a clear PhD research timeline matters

A PhD timeline breaks down the daunting task of doing a PhD into an actionable plan with tasks and milestones along the way.

Even if not everything will go as planned (which is normal and no problem!), a PhD timeline can give PhD students peace of mind. A good plan, worked out in a PhD timeline, helps them to structure their time, communicate their goals and work toward specific targets.

Step 1: Decide what to include in your PhD timeline

PhD timelines should be as diverse as PhD research projects: What you decide to include in your timeline should fit to your situation, goals and your programmes’ requirements.

Step 2: Discuss your provisional PhD timeline with your supervisor/s

Proactively creating your PhD timeline is a good step as a PhD student. However, you should share your thoughts and ideas with your PhD supervisor/s and get their input.

Not only will this discussion help you to finalise your PhD timeline. It will also help you to get clarity on your supervisor/s’ expectations!

Step 3: Design your PhD timeline

A well-designed PhD timeline is not just pretty for the eyes, but it makes it much easier to have a good overview of all plans and milestones ahead.

Yet, it would be wrong to argue that there is a one-size-fits all solution to designing a perfect PhD timeline.

Step 4: Regularly update your PhD timeline

A PhD timeline is there to keep you on track and to showcase the milestones that you reached in your journey so far. However, while it is good to have a solid plan, the future is impossible to predict.

Your PhD timeline should be a living document or chart. Update it regularly!

Successful PhD students remain flexible and don’t panic as soon as something does not work out as planned.

So, use your PhD timeline to regularly reflect on your progress and your current situation. Update your PhD timeline when needed, to prioritise tasks and set more concrete and achievable goals for the upcoming months.

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My PhD journey in a Gantt chart incl. Open Science practices

Plan and monitor your PhD with a Gantt chart and include all of your activities in implementing Open Science practices to ensure efficiency and societal impact of your research work and efforts.

This Gantt chart provides you with an example and template plan for your Ph.D. from thesis proposal writing to the thesis defense.

Live spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1mcOWgD1GQq294E8rBM_WQHz38ipUxFoa4unbaigONkw/

Start with planning your Holidays and annual leave - as this gets usually neglected and difficult to catch up on as your thesis progresses. The row for unforeseen absences from work will be empty to start with, but you will likely fill some cells as you progress, and Life happens. Having this section in the chart allows you to adjust your timeline accordingly. In your weekly calendar, also highlight public holidays of the country you work and live in and perhaps also your home country’s holidays, in case you want to plan for leave during that time to visit family and friends.

The ‘ Thesis ’ components range from proposal writing, preregistration, data management, thesis writing, and finally to defense. For a more detailed breakdown, add the explicit projects and experiments/studies with their respective workflow steps. In doing so, you will have a more realistic image of the time you have available to juggle two or more experiments and projects at a time during your thesis.

In the ‘ Events ’ section, you can list and map conferences you would like to attend, research and field visits, bar camps, retreats, and other work-related happenings.

Under ‘ Publications ’ goes everything you can make available to the public and/or other researchers under open publishing practices - Open Access, openly licensed, and as restricted as necessary or feasible. Manuscripts can be published both as so-called ‘preprint articles’ and if need be submitted to a journal. Choose the journal based on the scope of your work matching the journal’s scope of research fields and topics and if it has reasonably priced publishing fees (aka APC = article processing charges) if any. Preregistrations, research manuscripts (preprints), datasets, posters, presentations, images a.o. can all be published on field-/region-specific or generalist cross-disciplinary open repositories. Methods and protocols can equally be shared in public repositories or at https://www.protocols.io/ .

Finally, also add any coursework you participate in within the scope of your Ph.D.

In case of any questions about your available courses, contact us at https://calendly.com/access2perspectives/free-exploratory-session

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Planning the timeline and progress of your doctoral dissertation (or Masters/undergraduate thesis)

One of my PhD students lamented this week with me that she had a lot to juggle (taking children to and from schools and to and from activities, etc.) and that she needed a strategy to make her research move forward. I had been planning to write this blog post for a while, since this is the one question I get asked the most by doctoral students (“ how do I plan my unstructured time over the summer ” being the other one).

Do you have one like this but for dissertations? From how to pick your topic to how to plan your chapters or something similar? 🙂 — Mariana Miguélez (@Scherezadda) March 27, 2018

I had to rush to get this blog post done because my student is 2 years away from the deadline her university has imposed for her thesis defence, which is why I sat down with her last night to show her how I do things. I have two other PhD students at exactly the same stage (2 years to defense) so I figured I might as well finish this blog post.

While I’ve suggested that people read one (or more) of the books that I’ve digested myself (check my Writing a Doctoral Dissertation page), one of the main things I teach my students is how to apply backcasting techniques to develop a project plan . I was trained as a project manager, and I worked in that capacity for a number of years, so I understand exactly the kind of work that needs to be done to develop good project plans.

There are a few resources for students, which I mentioned on Twitter earlier today (October 5th, 2018), many of which are listed in the thread that will appear if you click anywhere on the tweet shown below. Thanks to everyone who responded to my query, though I think many of them were professors describing their own process, which is not the same as having a doctoral dissertation (ONE GOAL) to finish in X number of years. My students are doing theirs in the 3 papers’ model, which is a bit closer to the day-to-day life of a professor, but still, the trajectory is quite different. Anyhow, here are some recommendations (click on the tweet to expand the entire thread).

Everyone: one of my PhD students today asked me how to plan her day/week/month/time table. Can you tweet me your process before I tweet/thread mine? Thanks! (I'm off to dinner because I've already written 460 words). — Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) October 3, 2018

The core planning strategy I would thus recommend doctoral, masters and undergraduate students is to engage in a combination of Gantt Chart Design and project backcasting techniques .

The Gantt chart is a technique I learned in graduate school when I took project management courses. This is a hypothetical Gantt chart for my doctoral student, covering about 15 months.

What I suggested to her was to use backcasting techniques to plan backwards from her goal (PhD thesis defense) to intermediate goals. This post explains how I backcast a project https://t.co/wAmyejeoa0 since her dissertation is a 3-papers one, I suggested she uses that model. — Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) October 5, 2018

For Gantt Chart templates, you can see Dr. Emma Sheppard’s here.

Project planning for research students https://t.co/ku7shfB5uL excellent template by @DrESheppard which may be of interest to students from undergrad, Masters and PhD levels. pic.twitter.com/ujQVlYocH7 — Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) September 3, 2018

Here is another resource that you can use to create Gantt Charts.

To do Gantt charts you can use Excel or Microsoft Project (which is how I learned to do them), or Visio (which has been bought by the evil company and is now Microsoft Visio). I liked this detailed approach that uses connectors between milestones and tasks https://t.co/xVjNmM1q7c — Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) October 5, 2018

Hugh Kearns and Maria Gardiner have lots of resources on their site, and have published books on this as well.

I just realised @ithinkwell and @ithinkwellHugh have excellent FREE templates on their website https://t.co/Q859jNiM6Q for PhD students to plan their trajectories, etc. #PhDChat (thanks, Maria and Hugh!) — Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) October 5, 2018

Dr. Patrick Dunleavy’s book “ Authoring a PhD ” is incredible and really does help students who are planning their PhD process. I recommend it to my own doctoral students.

And of course I would be remiss if I forgot to recommend Dr. Ellie Mackin Roberts (my coauthor for a forthcoming book on research planning) and her website. Ellie has A TON of downloadable printables for you to plan your own research. She is fantastic.

Both for doctoral students AND for post-PhD folks, my coauthor Dr. @EllieMackin has an entire website for research planning https://t.co/unXMqmaf2Z she offers FREE downloadable printable templates that you can use to plan your own research. — Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) October 5, 2018

In the end, the process I recommended to my students and that I do myself is – set a target defense date and then work backwards and plan tasks, activities, and intermediate goals. For example, I have asked my students to plan submission dates for their 3 papers (to be sent to journals) and then schedule fieldwork and data analysis accordingly. This process has worked well, and I hope my description of the process will help my students and others!

In a subsequent blog post I’ll describe how to go from long-term goals (submit paper X by Y date) to daily tasks. That blog post will definitely apply to doctoral students and post-PhD folks.

If you liked this blog post, you may also be interested in my Resources for Graduate Students page, and on my reading notes of books I’ve read on how to do a doctoral degree.

You can share this blog post on the following social networks by clicking on their icon.

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How to write a Research Proposal: Creating a Gantt chart

• Components of a research proposal
• Useful videos
• Common mistakes to avoid
• Sage Research Methods LibGuide This link opens in a new window
• Managing sources
• Request a literature search
• Research proposal - examples
• Creating a Gantt chart
• Free Apps for Research
• Academic writing

What is a Gantt chart

Some University departments require students to create a Gantt chart to represent a schedule for the research project. The Gantt chart shows the timelines of the various steps of the project including their dependencies and any  resources needed . In other words, the chart depicts when an event is supposed to take place in your project by providing an outline regarding the order in which the various tasks  need to be performed .

An example of a Gantt chart.

Gantt chart on Moodle

How to create a Gantt chart - videos

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The Research Whisperer

Just like the thesis whisperer – but with more money, how to make a simple gantt chart.

In every grant application, I want to see a simple visual guide (a Gantt chart ) that shows what you are planning to do. It is the perfect time to plan your project clearly. It shows the assessors that you have thought about your research in detail and, if it is done well, it can serve as a great, convincing overview of the project.

Clearly, these charts are hard to do. If they were easy, more people would do them, right?

Here are five steps to create a simple guide to your research project.

1. List your activities

Make a list of everything that you plan to do in the project. Take your methodology and turn it into a step-by-step plan. Have you said that you will interview 50 people? Write it on your list.  Are you performing statistical analysis on your sample?  Write it down.

Check it against your budget. Everything listed in the budget should also be listed on your uber-list? Have you asked for a Thingatron? Note down that you will need to buy it, install it, commission it… What about travel? Write down each trip separately.

2. Estimate the time required

For each item on your list, estimate how long it will take you to do that thing. How long are you going to be in the field? How long will it take to employ a research assistant? Realistically, how many interviews can you do in a day? When will people be available?

Initial meeting: about 3 weeks to find a time. Desk audit: 4 months. Draft key elements: about 1 week each. Testing: about 1 week each, but can start organising as soon as first element is drafted. Write up: 2 months. Final report: no time, really – just need to find a time to meet.

Generally, I use weeks to estimate time. Anything that takes less than a week I round off to a week. Small tasks like that will generally disappear from the list when we consolidate (see Step 4). Then I group things together into months for the actual plan.

3. Put activities in order

What is the first thing that you are going to do?  What will you do next? What will you do after that?

In the comments, Adrian Masters provided some great questions to help with this stage: What do I need to do by when? What do I need from others & when? How do I check that I am still on track?

One by one, put everything in order. Make a note of any dependencies; that is, situations where you can’t do one thing until another is started or finished. If the research assistant is going to do all the interviews, then the interviews can’t start until the research assistant is hired.

Where possible, you should eliminate as many as possible dependencies. For example, if you can’t find a decent research assistant, you will do the fieldwork yourself (but that might mean that work will be delayed until you finish teaching). It isn’t a necessary step to getting your time-line in order, but it is good project management practice.

In the comments, Amy Lamborg pointed out that you might want to work backwards . If you have a fixed end date, you might want to “…build back towards the project start date, then jiggle everything until it fits !” If you want an example of this, have a look at the post “ Work backwards “. It is about writing an application, but the principle of starting with the fixed end date and working backwards still applies.

4. Chunk it up

Now that you have an ordered list, and you know how long everything will take, you need to reduce the list without losing any specificity. At the same time, if you are combining tasks, you might want to add a bit of time as a contingency measure.

Meet with partners: 3 weeks. Review data protection regimes: 4 months. Draft three key elements: 3 months. Test three key elements: 3 months, with some overlap. Analyse test results and report: 3 months.

How you divide up your time depends on your project. If it is only one year long, you might list items by month. If your project is three years long, then you might list items by quarter. If you are planning over five years, you might break it down to six-month periods.

5. Draw me a picture

If you use project management software to manage your project, and you are comfortable with it, then use it to produce a summary of your project, too.

Most project management software (e.g. like Microsoft Project) will allow you to group activities into summary items. Chunk your tasks into major headings, then change the time interval to your months, quarters, half-years, or whatever you have chosen to use.

Or you can just draw it up with word-processing software (which is what I always do), spreadsheet software, or even hand-draw it.

Frankly, I don’t care – as long as it ends up in your application!

Also in the ‘simple grant’ series:

• How to write a simple research methods section .
• How to make a simple research budget .

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62 comments.

This is useful. I’m writing my first SERIOUS research proposal for my PhD. Obviously not something I’ve ever done before so all advice is greedily welcome.

My best advice – write something quickly and then get someone else to look at it. I’m a big fan of quick iterations to get started.

Your readers might be interested in Tom’s Planner ( http://www.tomsplanner.com ). It’s a very easy tool to help you create a schedule or project plan (and there is a free version). On our blog we have a bunch of guest blogs about planning your thesis or dissertation with a template and example to help you get started.

The free version is a farce you cannot print, export or do anything but view it online. So don’t waste time with this product it is not a real proof of concept.

Sometimes, when the chunks are too big, you end up failing to understand what’s in those chunks, then your estimate ends up WAY off when you realize the extra work you didn’t consider might go into a give task.

That looks like a useful technique for getting the right information together for a Gantt. I’d be interested in any techniques for step 5. It’s something I’ve done recently as part of my first year PhD report and I wrote about how I produced my Gantt chart here: http://phdtools.blogspot.com/2011/08/creating-gantt-charts.html

I can’t imagine many people use MS project to manage their entire PhD (I could be wrong?) therefore it seems a bit excessive to use it just for a Gantt chart. Equally I find Excel plots look a bit naff and it’s difficult to show linkages between items.

“I’m not looking for a tool to perform PERT or CPM or do resource levelling for me.”

Absolutely! I just want to plug in my info and get a simple image out. How hard is that?

I’m not a big fan of big-iron project management tools either. More time seems to go into managing the information than getting actual work done.

I do think that most group projects that are going to last twelve months or more could do with a simple project management tool, though. I’m a bit of a fan of Basecamp , even if it doesn’t draw Gantt charts.

Of course, everybody has to understand the tool and want to use it, which is a different matter.

Thanks for the post.

I’m currently trying my hand at project management software, but I seem to find it easier to simply write down stuff in a piece of paper before committing it to electronic format. Anybody else has the same issue?

Absolutely, Carlos. As someone who has managed a big project that included spending a lot of time wrangling MS Project, I’m a big fan of just scribbling it down on paper and then mocking it up in MS Word.

[…] How do you create a Gantt chart?  The best advice we have seen is at the useful Research Whisperer blog, where they list 5 steps to creating your very own Gantt Chart in the post ‘How to make a simple Gantt chart’.  […]

Excellent introduction to project planning. I’ve seen recent examples of project managers jumping into MS Project without this level of thinking, with predictable results.

Questions that should help (and which you would need to answer anyway when asked by seeking funding or approval) include: What do I need to do by when? What do I need from others & when? How do I check that I am still on track?

Build those answers into the simple paper approach above, and you’ll have covered the critical project basics (activities, resources, dependencies, scheduling, milestones and checkpoints)

Like Liked by 1 person

Thanks, Adrian.

I liked your questions so much, I added them into the original post. 🙂

An Excel bar chart is pretty much all you need to create a Gantt chart. Unless of course you intend to explore resourcing and costs.

Your info really helped me by doing my D.T ( Design Technology) homework. Thank You 🙂 Eirene Masri From Jordan, Amman

Thanks for your comment. It made me smile. 🙂

I haven’t been to Jordan for a very long time, but I had a great time when I was there.

[…] that you are going to do?  What will you do next? What will you do after that? In the comments, Adrian Masters provided some great questions to help with this […]

Thanks for this particular piece of ‘whisper’… I was in a dire need of a ‘quickie’ method to make a simple Gantt Chart. 😀

Cheers, Yan London

No worries, Yan. Happy to help.

[…] Jonathan. “How to make a simple Gantt Chart” The Research Whisperer. 13 September […]

I have just gone through.Iam also planning to undertake a phd programme and would want to recieve guild as i make progress using gantt Chart

Reblogged this on Queer Fear: Alternative Gothic Literary and Visual Cultures and commented: Stumbled across this useful piece on the use of Gantt charts in research projects. I realise this may seem rather common knowledge to scientists but as a Arts and Humanities-based person I found it gave useful insights for new researchers.

Thanks, Hanoconnor.

I suspect that there are plenty of science people who don’t get any formal training in this, either.

good job. very helpful

[…] Read More At: https://theresearchwhisperer.wordpress.com/2011/09/13/gantt-chart/ […]

This is my first time using a Gantt chart in research paper.. hmm. thanks for the info. 🙂

Gantt charts are really useful. Thanks for posting this information about gantt charts. This is a very informative post and very helpful, too.

Thanks Jonathan. I have just completed my first Gantt chart for my Doctorate in Health. I was beginning to get a bit jumpy about some of the very involved instructions I had found previously so your ‘idiots guide’ was really helpful.

No worries, Ade.

Happy to help. Good luck with your doctorate.

I have been using a Gantt chart to plan and track my doctorate since I began last year. It’s just an Excel spreadsheet but suits my purposes, very simple. One thing I’ve found useful us to mark all the highlighted cells bright blue initially, for ‘future action’. Each week, I update that week’s column to green (completed) or red (overdue). This gives me good feedback not only about where I need to change the priorities on my current ‘to do’ list, but is a very satisfying display of how much I’ve already done.

I love Excel, postgradpanda. I reckon that seeing the blue change to green would be very satisfying.

Thanks for this.

[…] https://theresearchwhisperer.wordpress.com/2011/09/13/gantt-chart/ […]

Thanks for this. It helped me alot for doing our work schedule in research for short allotted time.

Ohh Thank God Jonathan for that!! you have no idea how much you saved my life.. I was having a real hard time planning my first ever research proposal Loved it alot.. Looking forward for much guidance along the path!!!

Sruti… (From a far far away land.. INDIA)!! 🙂

Thanks, Sruti

Happy to help.

Sruti was right. It’s very helpful to me as well. Saves me a lot of trouble. Keep it up Jonathan.

No worries, Paul

Are you a commercial representative for Ganttic, or did you link to them because you like them? Just wondering.

[…] published a short article about doing research in academia. Some of their articles are mundane (How to make a simple Gantt chart), whereas others are more esoteric (Hashing it over) and heartfelt (Academic […]

[…] out your timeline and your budget. Working up a Gantt chart for your project will force you to think about how long different phases of the project will take. This is important […]

list any six elements that go into the format of a research report?

Hi abukamara

I don’t have a set list. It depends who your audience is, and what sort of report you are writing.

I’m usually helping people to write grant applications, where the format is set by the funding agency. They make it pretty simple, really – they generally tell you exactly what they want.

[…] logframe analysis is well worth reading, while the Research Whisperer explains how to make a simple Gantt chart. And Mind Tools overviews a range of project scheduling tools as does this from MIT. Over at […]

[…] take you three or maybe three-and-a-half years. However, PhDs in my area rarely follow the sort of gantt chart anybody approving funding, ethics clearance or candidature milestones might approve. A tangent I […]

[…] How to make a simple Gantt chart – Jonathan O’Donnell. […]

Jonathan, i suppose that you should try more intuitive service) My experience in project management tells me there are a lot of comlicated tools such as MS Project. After years of searching and trying (Wrike, Liquid Planner, Smartsheet) i start using GanttPRO, especially because of its simplicity and high visibility. So try GanttPRO to facilitate workflow.

[…] O’Donnell, J 2011, How to make a simple Gantt chart, The Research Whisperer, weblog, 13 September, viewed 23 April 2017, < https://theresearchwhisperer.wordpress.com/2011/09/13/gantt-chart/&gt ;. […]

[…] research design is important. Following the steps outlined in O’Donnell’s (2011) blog How to make a simple Gantt Chart, I constructed this graph and a risk matrix to ensure that my time was used efficiently. […]

[…] Other tips on Gantt charts, including how to make one manually: https://theresearchwhisperer.wordpress.com/2011/09/13/gantt-chart […]

Thanks Jonathan! I am a grant writer, and your post is a great reminder that I should probably make a timeline visually appealing, like your hand-made Gantt. I’m going to do it!

I wanted to point out that for a grant funded project (which often has a specified end date by which the money must be spent), I often find myself making a timeline backwards. That is, I start creating the timeline from the specified end date, and then ask myself the questions that Adrian Masters posed: What do I need to do by when? What do I need from others & when? I build back towards the project start date, then jiggle everything until it fits!

BTW, did you know that in your text descriptions of the example timeline, the time is in weeks, but in your Gantt chart the time is in months? I have a feeling that you really meant for these to match….

Like Liked by 2 people

Thanks, Amy

This article has been viewed over 150,000 times, and you are the first person to point out the weeks / months issue. I’ve fixed it now (although it is a bit of a bodge).

I agree with the backwards process, so much so that I wrote a post about it: Work backwards . It is about the grant writing process, but the principle is the same.

This particular instance was one of those rare times when I truly didn’t have an end date, and could work out the actual time the project would take (surprise – it took longer).

I’ve added a bit into the post about working backwards. Thanks for that.

Proofreading touchdown? You just made my day! Thanks for this, and for Research Whisperer in general. I am probably not really your intended audience, but I get a lot of value from all the posts. You-all do good work!

[…] Research Whisperer. (2016). How to Make a Simple Gannt Chart.[online] Available at: https://theresearchwhisperer.wordpress.com/2011/09/13/gantt-chart/ [Accessed 14 Mar. […]

[…] O’Donnell, J 2011, ‘How to make a simple Gantt chart’, The Research Whisperer, 13 September, viewed 13 April 2018, < https://theresearchwhisperer.wordpress.com/2011/09/13/gantt-chart/&gt ;. […]

[…] you know how to make a simple Gantt […]

[…] How to make a simple Gantt chart: This article provides steps on making a Gantt chart (generally, not specific for PhD). […]

[…] “How to Make a Simple Gantt Chart,” by Jonathan O’Donnell on The Research Whisperer […]

[…] analysis of all their blog search terms. His analysis  showed lots of people were looking for how to make a simple Gantt Chart. Jonathan’s excellent analysis left me wondering: what do readers think is ‘high value […]

If your university has the Microsoft suite of programs Viso (I think it is called) is easy to learn the basic functions to make a Gantt and the nice thing is that when you change a date the program moves the bars for you so fewer errors 🙂 winning.

Thanks, Wendy. Good advice.

[…] complex, messy, and not as linear as suggested by the timeline of activities we outline in project Gantt charts. During my doctorate, there were twists and turns as I made decisions around which literature to […]

[…] webinars should I register for? What about grants? Reading groups? Mentoring? How exactly does a research GANTT chart work (or does it)? How can I get research and writing done without sacrificing my entire summer on […]

[…] my various projects. This method was originally inspired by two academic Gantt chart enthusiasts (one, two). However, I found that the traditional way of setting up a gantt chart (with the projects on […]

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Are Gantt charts useful for PhD students?

2018 Oct 23 | Soft Skills | 0

In a project management for researcher workshop which I attended at the beginning of my second year of PhD studies, we were taught how to make Gantt charts.

To give a short answer to the question I asked, “are Gantt charts useful for PhD students?”, I’d like to say: yes and no.

Yes—it can be, but there are some drawbacks which one should know about before naïvely thinking (like I did) that it was the most brilliant thing ever and that I was really going to plan out my full PhD with it .

Actually, after the workshop I never took the time to work more and adjust my original Gantt chart. From time to time I was looking back at it and getting the “haha, nothing is working as planned” feeling…

So, before we go on, let’s explain what a Gantt chart is:

https://www.gantt.com/ “A Gantt chart, commonly used in project management, is one of the most popular and useful ways of showing activities (tasks or events) displayed against time . On the left of the chart is a list of the activities and along the top is a suitable time scale. Each activity is represented by a bar; the position and length of the bar reflect the start date, duration and end date of the activity. This allows you to see at a glance: What the various activities are When each activity begins and ends How long each activity is scheduled to last Where activities overlap with other activities, and by how much The start and end date of the whole project”

and it looks like this (taking my own simplified Gantt chart as an example)

How to make a Gantt chart concretely?

First, it needs a list of all the project’s main tasks, and to estimate for each one how long it will take . Then clarify the dependency between tasks, i.e. when task 1 has to be finished before task 2 can start, but tasks 3 and 4 can be carried in parallel. Identify milestones such as: task 1 is to develop a robust protocol and this protocol needs to be fully validated with my committee before starting experiment x.

Then to actually draw the chart, you could look for a software specialized for that, there are many and they are likely to make things more complex than you need. Or you could do it in Excel like I did for the example above, or even start on paper :)

What are the advantages?

It’s a highly visual tool . Like you see in the example above, in one chart we can draw the main steps of a whole PhD, from day one all the way to the defense . In particular, it nicely displays the dependency between tasks .

Like mentioned, it helps define technical milestones, like validating the methodology, and it can also be used to schedule and visualize other important milestones such as committee meetings . This might sound scary for a student who’s already feeling overwhelmed by academia, but I do think that actually visualizing these milestones helps demystify them and getting ready for them. What do you do to feel ready for a talk? You prepare for it, you plan for it.

One maybe unexpected pro of Gantt charts is that it helps to plan for weekends and holidays . For example, in biology, if you work with living samples you may not be able to perform experiments the week after you came back from holidays. Putting all this on paper in such a visual way will definitely help plan experiments and stay more realistic. One may also find it useful to show to a pushy supervisor who tends to forget how long experiments take…

Another good thing to know is that Gantt charts are well perceived in grant applications or any kind of project proposals as it allows to draw a project layout, especially if one includes possible alternative scenarios. Thus, learning to create such charts early can only be a good thing.

What are the drawbacks?

Over-planning and lack of flexibility.

If you take a long-time scale, like 4 years of PhD studies, you should be really careful not to detail too much, don’t over-plan. Because as we know, academic research is highly unpredictable and things are unlikely to work as planned.

If one invest a lot of time and energy in creating a detailed Gantt chart, then one is not gonna be willing to adjust this chart when things didn’t work out as planned. Therefore, on such a long time scale, I would suggest not to include any task which is shorter than 3 months, and to keep in mind that it is going to change many times until the PhD defense . Committee meetings or any other important meetings are great opportunities to re-discuss plans and adjust such PhD’s Gantt chart .

Especially if you’re still early in your PhD studies or if your project(s) relies on many uncertainties . Don’t put in your Gantt chart, like I did, “one year from now I will start writing a paper about project x”, because, in the meantime, we prioritized another more promising project. But because I wrote it in my Gantt chart and I never got to complete this task, it still feels like a failure. Obviously “scheduling” such a task while being in the early phase of a new project and without discussing it with my supervisor was not a very smart thing to do . A more useful thing to put in my Gantt chart would have been, “start sketching a paper draft”, not saying on which subject, or simply “take time to seriously evaluate the situation and re-discuss priorities.”

However, if one takes a short period, like 2 months, and a clear objective, then a detailed Gantt chart can be really helpful . When does such a situation happen? For example, for paper revisions , for the final months of your thesis, or any situation with a clearly define deadline, a short-term goal. What is the objective and what needs to be done to reach it? Write everything down, clarify and estimate . Then take your calendar and draw on paper: if I start this experiment that day, then I’ll get the result by …; I can start this thing in parallel, but only when this first thing will be done then I can start this other thing … oh and there is this important meeting here, so I won’t be able to do x that week; oh and there is this 3 day weekend we scheduled with my family meaning I will need to ask my colleague A (for awesome) to take care of my Drosophila … etc. Got it? :)

But you still need to be careful there as well, stay realistic, don’t plan more than 60% or 80% of your time, clarify what you need to have versus the nice to have , and always stay open to adjust plans as time goes. Importantly: schedule time to slow down , to analyze results, to re-discuss things with your supervisor, to make sure you’re still on track, and to adjust the Gantt chart.

In conclusion: Are Gantt charts useful for PhD students? Yes, it’s a great project management tool to learn, and if used properly it can give both a sense of where one is on the whole PhD process, and a sense of how everything which needs to be done in the coming weeks is going to fit together.

Hope it helps you and thanks for reading! :) I now published a follow-up article of this one with more details on how to create a timeline of your PhD with a Gantt chart. In this article you can even download for free my Excel file to get you started with Gantt charts !

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Proposal Maker

Before starting a project or any activity in an organization, there’s always a need to share this idea. Sharing it to a group would result in a much more outstanding proposition. Take, for example, a proposal for a project which needs to be evaluated and thought over before its implementation.

Creating proposals needs a lot of thinking. There are numerous factors that need to be speculated. It needs to be discussed and of course, be approved by someone of high position. Writing  grant proposals are very significant too, for this is mostly what the executives will be taking note of.

• Simple Proposal Formats
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Size: 52 KB

Assembly Budget Example

Grant Budget Proposal Example

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Capital Budget Proposal Example

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Conference Proposals

Conference sponsorship example.

Size: 363 KB

Annual Conference Proposal

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Event Proposal Samples

Cultural event proposal example.

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Event Sponsorship Proposal Example

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Financial Proposals

Technical and financial proposal example.

Size: 212 KB

Financial Request Example

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Financial Proposal Form Example

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Technical Proposals

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Technical Proposal Checklist

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Technical Budget Proposal

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Database Proposals

Database project example.

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Grant Proposals

Filmmaking grant proposal.

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Marketing Proposals

Digital marketing proposal.

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Report Proposal Samples

Final report example.

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Proposal Outline Report Example

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Sales Proposals

Sales business proposal.

Size: 39 KB

Sales Marketing Proposal

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Short Sales Example

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Training Proposals

Training program proposal.

Company Training Example

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On-the-Job Training Proposal

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Fellowship Training Example

What Is a Proposal?

Proposal examples are written propositions that are addressed to clients or by any department to its head executives. It contains ideas that would be beneficial to an organization. There are many types of proposals, such as a budget proposal and event proposal.

Proposals aim to be approved by the people involved. Writing a proposal , you have to ensure that all is well thought of. It is important for a proposal to be organized, structured, complete, and clear. You can make proposals in a way you see best and most understandable.

A Business Proposal and What It Holds

One type of proposal is the business proposal . This proposal aims to grab a client to invest in their organization. These proposals mostly address clients, who would potentially purchase goods and services.

There are no specific formats for a business proposal. What matters is its content that delivers a complete and clear concept. Its important elements are:

• Cover letter or page
• Table of Contents
• Overview of the Problem
• Method of Solving the Issue
• Company’s Qualification
• Benchmarks (or Schedule)
• Total Expenditure

The length of the proposal is insignificant. It focuses more on how information is communicated.

Guidelines for Writing a Proposal

Writing a proposal is a skill. Though it’s an easy way out to just follow proposal examples , it’s different when making an original one. Don’t get discouraged, we have prepared a few samples for your reference. Plus, here are tips and guidelines to make your proposal effective and more attractive.

1. Planning a Proposal

• Know the people who will be reading it :  Understanding what the reader will want to hear is important. When writing a proposal , keep in mind what you want your readers to understand. You may also see sponsorship proposal examples & samples .
• Determine the issue of which your proposal is aiming to resolve:  You have to make sure that the readers understand the problem, the situation and has it been dealt with before.
• Unravel solutions to those problems and issues :  Make it straightforward and easy to understand. Keep a narrow perspective of the problem and foresee outcomes. You may also like investment proposal examples .
• Apply a writing technique that would make it easier for readers to understand :  Keeping it simple yet persuasive is much more meaningful.
• Make use of an outline :  This keeps a proposal organized, and will help you deliver what you desire. You may also check out request for proposal examples .

2. Writing the Proposal

• Impress your readers with a firm introduction :  Make sure you catch the attention of the readers and keep them interested. You may also see policy proposal examples & samples .
• State the issues clearly and completely :  Determine the causes and effects of these issues.
• Issues should have solutions :  Explain how to address these issues, why in this manner, and what is expected to be achieved. You may also like concept proposal examples & samples .
• Include a well-constructed schedule of duties and budget :  Be as accurate as possible making sure that benefits outweigh costs.
• Wrap up everything in a short but on-point way :  Keep your content to a minimum and precise. Do not beat around the bush, but be straightforward with what you can offer.
• Keep an open mind and let others assess your work :  Edit your work and proofread to make sure there are no mistakes. You may also check out fundraising proposal examples & samples .

What Is a Research Proposal?

Aside from business proposals , there are other kinds of proposals that anyone can encounter, such as a research proposal. What is a research proposal?

A research proposal is the written proposal for a research paper that aims to convince the reader that there is a need for a research study to be conducted and needs financial aid for the research to be successful. You may also see non-profit proposal examples & samples . Research proposals present all that will be done during the research, what it is for, and what benefits are expected to be achieved at the end.

What Is a Grant Proposal?

There are organizations that operate with the purpose of serving the people and not for profit accumulation, like charities, government branches, foundations, and trusts. You may also like partnership proposal examples & samples . Therefore, to acquire funds that are needed for that organization, grants have to be issued.

A grant proposal is a document requesting funds to achieve a certain undertaking. These kinds of design proposals are used by any government entity asking for monetary assistance to be prepared for operations like improving roads, building facilities that would benefit the society, scholarships, research, charities or cases wherein a calamity has devastatingly affected a community.

Types of Proposals

Reaching this point, you have seen different types of proposals. To better understand, here are brief summaries of the different types of proposals:

1. Unsolicited Proposal:  Unsolicited proposals are proposals where no instructions regarding submission of proposals are made but are submitted anyway to catch the potential sponsor’s interest. Some business loan proposals are unsolicited and may be submitted anytime.

2. Solicited Proposal:  Solicited proposals is a response to any specific program that is issued by any organization. Proposals of this kind usually have deadlines. Take a look at the  security proposal examples  that are online for more.

3. Supplemental Proposal:  There are instances that the current budget is not enough for the current project. To acquire more funds, a request for an increase in the budget is made in the form of a supplemental proposal.

4. Competing Renewal Proposal:  A proposal is made to request sponsors for continued funding for a project proposal that is about to terminate. These type of proposals are like newly-made proposals that need to be approved in the same manner as the new one.

5. Non-competing Proposal:  This type of proposal is a request for the succeeding year’s funding, including the progress report of the project, the budget, etc. It also has the schedule of duties, changes or updates, and other relevant information about the project. You may also see grant proposal examples .

General FAQs

1. define a proposal..

A proposal is a written plan or a suggestion put forward for consideration by others. It is mostly formal. Business proposals are sent to the prospective client to obtain specific jobs. Also used by a seller, who writes to a buyer to know if he/she wants to buy certain services/goods from the seller.

2. Why is a Proposal important?

Proposals are a way to pitch an idea and state your requirements. It is important because it provides information in writing and you can act knowing the implications of your choices and decisions. Proposals help in making a structured and logical argument to lay down every idea and point in your favor.

3. What should a Proposal cover?

Proposals must cover the following:

• Introduction: a brief overview of the issues, costs, and benefits
• Issue: The subject, the reason for the proposal, the main argument, etc.
• Solutions: Step-by-step plan, potential obstacles and how to overcome them
• Qualifications: Your personnel requirement, experience, etc.
• Conclusions: Add the budget , benefits and reinforce your final point.

4. What makes a Good Proposal?

Preparing a winning proposal means that you are writing for the client and are proving a clear solution to their issues. Not every proposal you make is accepted by the client, so make sure that you make it from the point of view that is beneficial to the client.

5. What is the best way to conclude a Proposal?

The best way to conclude a proposal can be:

• To summarize the key points of your proposal
• Focus on why action is needed
• Emphasize the benefits the action provides
• Add bullet points of essential information
• Add verbal highlights of your key benefits
• Close on a positive note and ask them to take action.

Text prompt

• Instructive
• Professional

Generate a proposal for a new school recycling program

Compose a proposal for a school field trip to a science museum.

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