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How to Write a Research Proposal | Examples & Templates

How to Write a Research Proposal | Examples & Templates

Published on October 12, 2022 by Shona McCombes and Tegan George. Revised on November 21, 2023.

A research proposal describes what you will investigate, why it’s important, and how you will conduct your research.

The format of a research proposal varies between fields, but most proposals will contain at least these elements:

Introduction

Literature review.

Research design

Reference list

While the sections may vary, the overall objective is always the same. A research proposal serves as a blueprint and guide for your research plan, helping you get organized and feel confident in the path forward you choose to take.

Research proposal purpose, research proposal examples, research design and methods, contribution to knowledge, research schedule, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about research proposals.

Academics often have to write research proposals to get funding for their projects. As a student, you might have to write a research proposal as part of a grad school application , or prior to starting your thesis or dissertation .

In addition to helping you figure out what your research can look like, a proposal can also serve to demonstrate why your project is worth pursuing to a funder, educational institution, or supervisor.

Research proposal length

The length of a research proposal can vary quite a bit. A bachelor’s or master’s thesis proposal can be just a few pages, while proposals for PhD dissertations or research funding are usually much longer and more detailed. Your supervisor can help you determine the best length for your work.

One trick to get started is to think of your proposal’s structure as a shorter version of your thesis or dissertation , only without the results , conclusion and discussion sections.

Download our research proposal template

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Writing a research proposal can be quite challenging, but a good starting point could be to look at some examples. We’ve included a few for you below.

Example research proposal #1: “A Conceptual Framework for Scheduling Constraint Management”
Example research proposal #2: “Medical Students as Mediators of Change in Tobacco Use”

Like your dissertation or thesis, the proposal will usually have a title page that includes:

The proposed title of your project
Your supervisor’s name
Your institution and department

The first part of your proposal is the initial pitch for your project. Make sure it succinctly explains what you want to do and why.

Your introduction should:

Introduce your topic
Give necessary background and context
Outline your problem statement and research questions

To guide your introduction , include information about:

Who could have an interest in the topic (e.g., scientists, policymakers)
How much is already known about the topic
What is missing from this current knowledge
What new insights your research will contribute
Why you believe this research is worth doing

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As you get started, it’s important to demonstrate that you’re familiar with the most important research on your topic. A strong literature review shows your reader that your project has a solid foundation in existing knowledge or theory. It also shows that you’re not simply repeating what other people have already done or said, but rather using existing research as a jumping-off point for your own.

In this section, share exactly how your project will contribute to ongoing conversations in the field by:

Comparing and contrasting the main theories, methods, and debates
Examining the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches
Explaining how will you build on, challenge, or synthesize prior scholarship

Following the literature review, restate your main objectives . This brings the focus back to your own project. Next, your research design or methodology section will describe your overall approach, and the practical steps you will take to answer your research questions.

To finish your proposal on a strong note, explore the potential implications of your research for your field. Emphasize again what you aim to contribute and why it matters.

For example, your results might have implications for:

Improving best practices
Informing policymaking decisions
Strengthening a theory or model
Challenging popular or scientific beliefs
Creating a basis for future research

Last but not least, your research proposal must include correct citations for every source you have used, compiled in a reference list . To create citations quickly and easily, you can use our free APA citation generator .

Some institutions or funders require a detailed timeline of the project, asking you to forecast what you will do at each stage and how long it may take. While not always required, be sure to check the requirements of your project.

Here’s an example schedule to help you get started. You can also download a template at the button below.

Download our research schedule template

If you are applying for research funding, chances are you will have to include a detailed budget. This shows your estimates of how much each part of your project will cost.

Make sure to check what type of costs the funding body will agree to cover. For each item, include:

Cost : exactly how much money do you need?
Justification : why is this cost necessary to complete the research?
Source : how did you calculate the amount?

To determine your budget, think about:

Travel costs : do you need to go somewhere to collect your data? How will you get there, and how much time will you need? What will you do there (e.g., interviews, archival research)?
Materials : do you need access to any tools or technologies?
Help : do you need to hire any research assistants for the project? What will they do, and how much will you pay them?

If you want to know more about the research process , methodology , research bias , or statistics , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

Methodology

Sampling methods
Simple random sampling
Stratified sampling
Cluster sampling
Likert scales
Reproducibility

Statistics

Null hypothesis
Statistical power
Probability distribution
Effect size
Poisson distribution

Research bias

Optimism bias
Cognitive bias
Implicit bias
Hawthorne effect
Anchoring bias
Explicit bias

Once you’ve decided on your research objectives , you need to explain them in your paper, at the end of your problem statement .

Keep your research objectives clear and concise, and use appropriate verbs to accurately convey the work that you will carry out for each one.

I will compare …

A research aim is a broad statement indicating the general purpose of your research project. It should appear in your introduction at the end of your problem statement , before your research objectives.

Research objectives are more specific than your research aim. They indicate the specific ways you’ll address the overarching aim.

A PhD, which is short for philosophiae doctor (doctor of philosophy in Latin), is the highest university degree that can be obtained. In a PhD, students spend 3–5 years writing a dissertation , which aims to make a significant, original contribution to current knowledge.

A PhD is intended to prepare students for a career as a researcher, whether that be in academia, the public sector, or the private sector.

A master’s is a 1- or 2-year graduate degree that can prepare you for a variety of careers.

All master’s involve graduate-level coursework. Some are research-intensive and intend to prepare students for further study in a PhD; these usually require their students to write a master’s thesis . Others focus on professional training for a specific career.

Critical thinking refers to the ability to evaluate information and to be aware of biases or assumptions, including your own.

Like information literacy , it involves evaluating arguments, identifying and solving problems in an objective and systematic way, and clearly communicating your ideas.

The best way to remember the difference between a research plan and a research proposal is that they have fundamentally different audiences. A research plan helps you, the researcher, organize your thoughts. On the other hand, a dissertation proposal or research proposal aims to convince others (e.g., a supervisor, a funding body, or a dissertation committee) that your research topic is relevant and worthy of being conducted.

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11.2 Steps in Developing a Research Proposal

Learning objectives.

Identify the steps in developing a research proposal.
Choose a topic and formulate a research question and working thesis.
Develop a research proposal.

Writing a good research paper takes time, thought, and effort. Although this assignment is challenging, it is manageable. Focusing on one step at a time will help you develop a thoughtful, informative, well-supported research paper.

Your first step is to choose a topic and then to develop research questions, a working thesis, and a written research proposal. Set aside adequate time for this part of the process. Fully exploring ideas will help you build a solid foundation for your paper.

Choosing a Topic

When you choose a topic for a research paper, you are making a major commitment. Your choice will help determine whether you enjoy the lengthy process of research and writing—and whether your final paper fulfills the assignment requirements. If you choose your topic hastily, you may later find it difficult to work with your topic. By taking your time and choosing carefully, you can ensure that this assignment is not only challenging but also rewarding.

Writers understand the importance of choosing a topic that fulfills the assignment requirements and fits the assignment’s purpose and audience. (For more information about purpose and audience, see Chapter 6 “Writing Paragraphs: Separating Ideas and Shaping Content” .) Choosing a topic that interests you is also crucial. You instructor may provide a list of suggested topics or ask that you develop a topic on your own. In either case, try to identify topics that genuinely interest you.

After identifying potential topic ideas, you will need to evaluate your ideas and choose one topic to pursue. Will you be able to find enough information about the topic? Can you develop a paper about this topic that presents and supports your original ideas? Is the topic too broad or too narrow for the scope of the assignment? If so, can you modify it so it is more manageable? You will ask these questions during this preliminary phase of the research process.

Identifying Potential Topics

Sometimes, your instructor may provide a list of suggested topics. If so, you may benefit from identifying several possibilities before committing to one idea. It is important to know how to narrow down your ideas into a concise, manageable thesis. You may also use the list as a starting point to help you identify additional, related topics. Discussing your ideas with your instructor will help ensure that you choose a manageable topic that fits the requirements of the assignment.

In this chapter, you will follow a writer named Jorge, who is studying health care administration, as he prepares a research paper. You will also plan, research, and draft your own research paper.

Jorge was assigned to write a research paper on health and the media for an introductory course in health care. Although a general topic was selected for the students, Jorge had to decide which specific issues interested him. He brainstormed a list of possibilities.

If you are writing a research paper for a specialized course, look back through your notes and course activities. Identify reading assignments and class discussions that especially engaged you. Doing so can help you identify topics to pursue.

Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) in the news
Sexual education programs
Hollywood and eating disorders
Americans’ access to public health information
Media portrayal of health care reform bill
Depictions of drugs on television
The effect of the Internet on mental health
Popularized diets (such as low-carbohydrate diets)
Fear of pandemics (bird flu, HINI, SARS)
Electronic entertainment and obesity
Advertisements for prescription drugs
Public education and disease prevention

Set a timer for five minutes. Use brainstorming or idea mapping to create a list of topics you would be interested in researching for a paper about the influence of the Internet on social networking. Do you closely follow the media coverage of a particular website, such as Twitter? Would you like to learn more about a certain industry, such as online dating? Which social networking sites do you and your friends use? List as many ideas related to this topic as you can.

Narrowing Your Topic

Once you have a list of potential topics, you will need to choose one as the focus of your essay. You will also need to narrow your topic. Most writers find that the topics they listed during brainstorming or idea mapping are broad—too broad for the scope of the assignment. Working with an overly broad topic, such as sexual education programs or popularized diets, can be frustrating and overwhelming. Each topic has so many facets that it would be impossible to cover them all in a college research paper. However, more specific choices, such as the pros and cons of sexual education in kids’ television programs or the physical effects of the South Beach diet, are specific enough to write about without being too narrow to sustain an entire research paper.

A good research paper provides focused, in-depth information and analysis. If your topic is too broad, you will find it difficult to do more than skim the surface when you research it and write about it. Narrowing your focus is essential to making your topic manageable. To narrow your focus, explore your topic in writing, conduct preliminary research, and discuss both the topic and the research with others.

Exploring Your Topic in Writing

“How am I supposed to narrow my topic when I haven’t even begun researching yet?” In fact, you may already know more than you realize. Review your list and identify your top two or three topics. Set aside some time to explore each one through freewriting. (For more information about freewriting, see Chapter 8 “The Writing Process: How Do I Begin?” .) Simply taking the time to focus on your topic may yield fresh angles.

Jorge knew that he was especially interested in the topic of diet fads, but he also knew that it was much too broad for his assignment. He used freewriting to explore his thoughts so he could narrow his topic. Read Jorge’s ideas.

Conducting Preliminary Research

Another way writers may focus a topic is to conduct preliminary research . Like freewriting, exploratory reading can help you identify interesting angles. Surfing the web and browsing through newspaper and magazine articles are good ways to start. Find out what people are saying about your topic on blogs and online discussion groups. Discussing your topic with others can also inspire you. Talk about your ideas with your classmates, your friends, or your instructor.

Jorge’s freewriting exercise helped him realize that the assigned topic of health and the media intersected with a few of his interests—diet, nutrition, and obesity. Preliminary online research and discussions with his classmates strengthened his impression that many people are confused or misled by media coverage of these subjects.

Jorge decided to focus his paper on a topic that had garnered a great deal of media attention—low-carbohydrate diets. He wanted to find out whether low-carbohydrate diets were as effective as their proponents claimed.

Writing at Work

At work, you may need to research a topic quickly to find general information. This information can be useful in understanding trends in a given industry or generating competition. For example, a company may research a competitor’s prices and use the information when pricing their own product. You may find it useful to skim a variety of reliable sources and take notes on your findings.

The reliability of online sources varies greatly. In this exploratory phase of your research, you do not need to evaluate sources as closely as you will later. However, use common sense as you refine your paper topic. If you read a fascinating blog comment that gives you a new idea for your paper, be sure to check out other, more reliable sources as well to make sure the idea is worth pursuing.

Review the list of topics you created in Note 11.18 “Exercise 1” and identify two or three topics you would like to explore further. For each of these topics, spend five to ten minutes writing about the topic without stopping. Then review your writing to identify possible areas of focus.

Set aside time to conduct preliminary research about your potential topics. Then choose a topic to pursue for your research paper.

Collaboration

Please share your topic list with a classmate. Select one or two topics on his or her list that you would like to learn more about and return it to him or her. Discuss why you found the topics interesting, and learn which of your topics your classmate selected and why.

A Plan for Research

Your freewriting and preliminary research have helped you choose a focused, manageable topic for your research paper. To work with your topic successfully, you will need to determine what exactly you want to learn about it—and later, what you want to say about it. Before you begin conducting in-depth research, you will further define your focus by developing a research question , a working thesis, and a research proposal.

Formulating a Research Question

In forming a research question, you are setting a goal for your research. Your main research question should be substantial enough to form the guiding principle of your paper—but focused enough to guide your research. A strong research question requires you not only to find information but also to put together different pieces of information, interpret and analyze them, and figure out what you think. As you consider potential research questions, ask yourself whether they would be too hard or too easy to answer.

To determine your research question, review the freewriting you completed earlier. Skim through books, articles, and websites and list the questions you have. (You may wish to use the 5WH strategy to help you formulate questions. See Chapter 8 “The Writing Process: How Do I Begin?” for more information about 5WH questions.) Include simple, factual questions and more complex questions that would require analysis and interpretation. Determine your main question—the primary focus of your paper—and several subquestions that you will need to research to answer your main question.

Here are the research questions Jorge will use to focus his research. Notice that his main research question has no obvious, straightforward answer. Jorge will need to research his subquestions, which address narrower topics, to answer his main question.

Using the topic you selected in Note 11.24 “Exercise 2” , write your main research question and at least four to five subquestions. Check that your main research question is appropriately complex for your assignment.

Constructing a Working ThesIs

A working thesis concisely states a writer’s initial answer to the main research question. It does not merely state a fact or present a subjective opinion. Instead, it expresses a debatable idea or claim that you hope to prove through additional research. Your working thesis is called a working thesis for a reason—it is subject to change. As you learn more about your topic, you may change your thinking in light of your research findings. Let your working thesis serve as a guide to your research, but do not be afraid to modify it based on what you learn.

Jorge began his research with a strong point of view based on his preliminary writing and research. Read his working thesis statement, which presents the point he will argue. Notice how it states Jorge’s tentative answer to his research question.

One way to determine your working thesis is to consider how you would complete sentences such as I believe or My opinion is . However, keep in mind that academic writing generally does not use first-person pronouns. These statements are useful starting points, but formal research papers use an objective voice.

Write a working thesis statement that presents your preliminary answer to the research question you wrote in Note 11.27 “Exercise 3” . Check that your working thesis statement presents an idea or claim that could be supported or refuted by evidence from research.

Creating a Research Proposal

A research proposal is a brief document—no more than one typed page—that summarizes the preliminary work you have completed. Your purpose in writing it is to formalize your plan for research and present it to your instructor for feedback. In your research proposal, you will present your main research question, related subquestions, and working thesis. You will also briefly discuss the value of researching this topic and indicate how you plan to gather information.

When Jorge began drafting his research proposal, he realized that he had already created most of the pieces he needed. However, he knew he also had to explain how his research would be relevant to other future health care professionals. In addition, he wanted to form a general plan for doing the research and identifying potentially useful sources. Read Jorge’s research proposal.

Before you begin a new project at work, you may have to develop a project summary document that states the purpose of the project, explains why it would be a wise use of company resources, and briefly outlines the steps involved in completing the project. This type of document is similar to a research proposal. Both documents define and limit a project, explain its value, discuss how to proceed, and identify what resources you will use.

Writing Your Own Research Proposal

Now you may write your own research proposal, if you have not done so already. Follow the guidelines provided in this lesson.

Key Takeaways

Developing a research proposal involves the following preliminary steps: identifying potential ideas, choosing ideas to explore further, choosing and narrowing a topic, formulating a research question, and developing a working thesis.
A good topic for a research paper interests the writer and fulfills the requirements of the assignment.
Defining and narrowing a topic helps writers conduct focused, in-depth research.
Writers conduct preliminary research to identify possible topics and research questions and to develop a working thesis.
A good research question interests readers, is neither too broad nor too narrow, and has no obvious answer.
A good working thesis expresses a debatable idea or claim that can be supported with evidence from research.
Writers create a research proposal to present their topic, main research question, subquestions, and working thesis to an instructor for approval or feedback.

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Acknowledgments

The goal of a research proposal is twofold: to present and justify the need to study a research problem and to present the practical ways in which the proposed study should be conducted. The design elements and procedures for conducting research are governed by standards of the predominant discipline in which the problem resides, therefore, the guidelines for research proposals are more exacting and less formal than a general project proposal. Research proposals contain extensive literature reviews. They must provide persuasive evidence that a need exists for the proposed study. In addition to providing a rationale, a proposal describes detailed methodology for conducting the research consistent with requirements of the professional or academic field and a statement on anticipated outcomes and benefits derived from the study's completion.

Krathwohl, David R. How to Prepare a Dissertation Proposal: Suggestions for Students in Education and the Social and Behavioral Sciences . Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2005.

How to Approach Writing a Research Proposal

Your professor may assign the task of writing a research proposal for the following reasons:

Develop your skills in thinking about and designing a comprehensive research study;
Learn how to conduct a comprehensive review of the literature to determine that the research problem has not been adequately addressed or has been answered ineffectively and, in so doing, become better at locating pertinent scholarship related to your topic;
Improve your general research and writing skills;
Practice identifying the logical steps that must be taken to accomplish one's research goals;
Critically review, examine, and consider the use of different methods for gathering and analyzing data related to the research problem; and,
Nurture a sense of inquisitiveness within yourself and to help see yourself as an active participant in the process of conducting scholarly research.

A proposal should contain all the key elements involved in designing a completed research study, with sufficient information that allows readers to assess the validity and usefulness of your proposed study. The only elements missing from a research proposal are the findings of the study and your analysis of those findings. Finally, an effective proposal is judged on the quality of your writing and, therefore, it is important that your proposal is coherent, clear, and compelling.

Regardless of the research problem you are investigating and the methodology you choose, all research proposals must address the following questions:

What do you plan to accomplish? Be clear and succinct in defining the research problem and what it is you are proposing to investigate.
Why do you want to do the research? In addition to detailing your research design, you also must conduct a thorough review of the literature and provide convincing evidence that it is a topic worthy of in-depth study. A successful research proposal must answer the "So What?" question.
How are you going to conduct the research? Be sure that what you propose is doable. If you're having difficulty formulating a research problem to propose investigating, go here for strategies in developing a problem to study.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Failure to be concise . A research proposal must be focused and not be "all over the map" or diverge into unrelated tangents without a clear sense of purpose.
Failure to cite landmark works in your literature review . Proposals should be grounded in foundational research that lays a foundation for understanding the development and scope of the the topic and its relevance.
Failure to delimit the contextual scope of your research [e.g., time, place, people, etc.]. As with any research paper, your proposed study must inform the reader how and in what ways the study will frame the problem.
Failure to develop a coherent and persuasive argument for the proposed research . This is critical. In many workplace settings, the research proposal is a formal document intended to argue for why a study should be funded.
Sloppy or imprecise writing, or poor grammar . Although a research proposal does not represent a completed research study, there is still an expectation that it is well-written and follows the style and rules of good academic writing.
Too much detail on minor issues, but not enough detail on major issues . Your proposal should focus on only a few key research questions in order to support the argument that the research needs to be conducted. Minor issues, even if valid, can be mentioned but they should not dominate the overall narrative.

Procter, Margaret. The Academic Proposal. The Lab Report. University College Writing Centre. University of Toronto; Sanford, Keith. Information for Students: Writing a Research Proposal. Baylor University; Wong, Paul T. P. How to Write a Research Proposal. International Network on Personal Meaning. Trinity Western University; Writing Academic Proposals: Conferences, Articles, and Books. The Writing Lab and The OWL. Purdue University; Writing a Research Proposal. University Library. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Structure and Writing Style

Beginning the Proposal Process

As with writing most college-level academic papers, research proposals are generally organized the same way throughout most social science disciplines. The text of proposals generally vary in length between ten and thirty-five pages, followed by the list of references. However, before you begin, read the assignment carefully and, if anything seems unclear, ask your professor whether there are any specific requirements for organizing and writing the proposal.

A good place to begin is to ask yourself a series of questions:

What do I want to study?
Why is the topic important?
How is it significant within the subject areas covered in my class?
What problems will it help solve?
How does it build upon [and hopefully go beyond] research already conducted on the topic?
What exactly should I plan to do, and can I get it done in the time available?

In general, a compelling research proposal should document your knowledge of the topic and demonstrate your enthusiasm for conducting the study. Approach it with the intention of leaving your readers feeling like, "Wow, that's an exciting idea and I can’t wait to see how it turns out!"

Most proposals should include the following sections:

I. Introduction

In the real world of higher education, a research proposal is most often written by scholars seeking grant funding for a research project or it's the first step in getting approval to write a doctoral dissertation. Even if this is just a course assignment, treat your introduction as the initial pitch of an idea based on a thorough examination of the significance of a research problem. After reading the introduction, your readers should not only have an understanding of what you want to do, but they should also be able to gain a sense of your passion for the topic and to be excited about the study's possible outcomes. Note that most proposals do not include an abstract [summary] before the introduction.

Think about your introduction as a narrative written in two to four paragraphs that succinctly answers the following four questions :

What is the central research problem?
What is the topic of study related to that research problem?
What methods should be used to analyze the research problem?
Answer the "So What?" question by explaining why this is important research, what is its significance, and why should someone reading the proposal care about the outcomes of the proposed study?

II. Background and Significance

This is where you explain the scope and context of your proposal and describe in detail why it's important. It can be melded into your introduction or you can create a separate section to help with the organization and narrative flow of your proposal. Approach writing this section with the thought that you can’t assume your readers will know as much about the research problem as you do. Note that this section is not an essay going over everything you have learned about the topic; instead, you must choose what is most relevant in explaining the aims of your research.

To that end, while there are no prescribed rules for establishing the significance of your proposed study, you should attempt to address some or all of the following:

State the research problem and give a more detailed explanation about the purpose of the study than what you stated in the introduction. This is particularly important if the problem is complex or multifaceted .
Present the rationale of your proposed study and clearly indicate why it is worth doing; be sure to answer the "So What? question [i.e., why should anyone care?].
Describe the major issues or problems examined by your research. This can be in the form of questions to be addressed. Be sure to note how your proposed study builds on previous assumptions about the research problem.
Explain the methods you plan to use for conducting your research. Clearly identify the key sources you intend to use and explain how they will contribute to your analysis of the topic.
Describe the boundaries of your proposed research in order to provide a clear focus. Where appropriate, state not only what you plan to study, but what aspects of the research problem will be excluded from the study.
If necessary, provide definitions of key concepts, theories, or terms.

III. Literature Review

Connected to the background and significance of your study is a section of your proposal devoted to a more deliberate review and synthesis of prior studies related to the research problem under investigation . The purpose here is to place your project within the larger whole of what is currently being explored, while at the same time, demonstrating to your readers that your work is original and innovative. Think about what questions other researchers have asked, what methodological approaches they have used, and what is your understanding of their findings and, when stated, their recommendations. Also pay attention to any suggestions for further research.

Since a literature review is information dense, it is crucial that this section is intelligently structured to enable a reader to grasp the key arguments underpinning your proposed study in relation to the arguments put forth by other researchers. A good strategy is to break the literature into "conceptual categories" [themes] rather than systematically or chronologically describing groups of materials one at a time. Note that conceptual categories generally reveal themselves after you have read most of the pertinent literature on your topic so adding new categories is an on-going process of discovery as you review more studies. How do you know you've covered the key conceptual categories underlying the research literature? Generally, you can have confidence that all of the significant conceptual categories have been identified if you start to see repetition in the conclusions or recommendations that are being made.

NOTE: Do not shy away from challenging the conclusions made in prior research as a basis for supporting the need for your proposal. Assess what you believe is missing and state how previous research has failed to adequately examine the issue that your study addresses. Highlighting the problematic conclusions strengthens your proposal. For more information on writing literature reviews, GO HERE .

To help frame your proposal's review of prior research, consider the "five C’s" of writing a literature review:

Cite , so as to keep the primary focus on the literature pertinent to your research problem.
Compare the various arguments, theories, methodologies, and findings expressed in the literature: what do the authors agree on? Who applies similar approaches to analyzing the research problem?
Contrast the various arguments, themes, methodologies, approaches, and controversies expressed in the literature: describe what are the major areas of disagreement, controversy, or debate among scholars?
Critique the literature: Which arguments are more persuasive, and why? Which approaches, findings, and methodologies seem most reliable, valid, or appropriate, and why? Pay attention to the verbs you use to describe what an author says/does [e.g., asserts, demonstrates, argues, etc.].
Connect the literature to your own area of research and investigation: how does your own work draw upon, depart from, synthesize, or add a new perspective to what has been said in the literature?

IV. Research Design and Methods

This section must be well-written and logically organized because you are not actually doing the research, yet, your reader must have confidence that you have a plan worth pursuing . The reader will never have a study outcome from which to evaluate whether your methodological choices were the correct ones. Thus, the objective here is to convince the reader that your overall research design and proposed methods of analysis will correctly address the problem and that the methods will provide the means to effectively interpret the potential results. Your design and methods should be unmistakably tied to the specific aims of your study.

Describe the overall research design by building upon and drawing examples from your review of the literature. Consider not only methods that other researchers have used, but methods of data gathering that have not been used but perhaps could be. Be specific about the methodological approaches you plan to undertake to obtain information, the techniques you would use to analyze the data, and the tests of external validity to which you commit yourself [i.e., the trustworthiness by which you can generalize from your study to other people, places, events, and/or periods of time].

When describing the methods you will use, be sure to cover the following:

Specify the research process you will undertake and the way you will interpret the results obtained in relation to the research problem. Don't just describe what you intend to achieve from applying the methods you choose, but state how you will spend your time while applying these methods [e.g., coding text from interviews to find statements about the need to change school curriculum; running a regression to determine if there is a relationship between campaign advertising on social media sites and election outcomes in Europe ].
Keep in mind that the methodology is not just a list of tasks; it is a deliberate argument as to why techniques for gathering information add up to the best way to investigate the research problem. This is an important point because the mere listing of tasks to be performed does not demonstrate that, collectively, they effectively address the research problem. Be sure you clearly explain this.
Anticipate and acknowledge any potential barriers and pitfalls in carrying out your research design and explain how you plan to address them. No method applied to research in the social and behavioral sciences is perfect, so you need to describe where you believe challenges may exist in obtaining data or accessing information. It's always better to acknowledge this than to have it brought up by your professor!

V. Preliminary Suppositions and Implications

Just because you don't have to actually conduct the study and analyze the results, doesn't mean you can skip talking about the analytical process and potential implications . The purpose of this section is to argue how and in what ways you believe your research will refine, revise, or extend existing knowledge in the subject area under investigation. Depending on the aims and objectives of your study, describe how the anticipated results will impact future scholarly research, theory, practice, forms of interventions, or policy making. Note that such discussions may have either substantive [a potential new policy], theoretical [a potential new understanding], or methodological [a potential new way of analyzing] significance. When thinking about the potential implications of your study, ask the following questions:

What might the results mean in regards to challenging the theoretical framework and underlying assumptions that support the study?
What suggestions for subsequent research could arise from the potential outcomes of the study?
What will the results mean to practitioners in the natural settings of their workplace, organization, or community?
Will the results influence programs, methods, and/or forms of intervention?
How might the results contribute to the solution of social, economic, or other types of problems?
Will the results influence policy decisions?
In what way do individuals or groups benefit should your study be pursued?
What will be improved or changed as a result of the proposed research?
How will the results of the study be implemented and what innovations or transformative insights could emerge from the process of implementation?

NOTE: This section should not delve into idle speculation, opinion, or be formulated on the basis of unclear evidence . The purpose is to reflect upon gaps or understudied areas of the current literature and describe how your proposed research contributes to a new understanding of the research problem should the study be implemented as designed.

ANOTHER NOTE : This section is also where you describe any potential limitations to your proposed study. While it is impossible to highlight all potential limitations because the study has yet to be conducted, you still must tell the reader where and in what form impediments may arise and how you plan to address them.

VI. Conclusion

The conclusion reiterates the importance or significance of your proposal and provides a brief summary of the entire study . This section should be only one or two paragraphs long, emphasizing why the research problem is worth investigating, why your research study is unique, and how it should advance existing knowledge.

Someone reading this section should come away with an understanding of:

Why the study should be done;
The specific purpose of the study and the research questions it attempts to answer;
The decision for why the research design and methods used where chosen over other options;
The potential implications emerging from your proposed study of the research problem; and
A sense of how your study fits within the broader scholarship about the research problem.

VII. Citations

As with any scholarly research paper, you must cite the sources you used . In a standard research proposal, this section can take two forms, so consult with your professor about which one is preferred.

References -- a list of only the sources you actually used in creating your proposal.
Bibliography -- a list of everything you used in creating your proposal, along with additional citations to any key sources relevant to understanding the research problem.

In either case, this section should testify to the fact that you did enough preparatory work to ensure the project will complement and not just duplicate the efforts of other researchers. It demonstrates to the reader that you have a thorough understanding of prior research on the topic.

Most proposal formats have you start a new page and use the heading "References" or "Bibliography" centered at the top of the page. Cited works should always use a standard format that follows the writing style advised by the discipline of your course [e.g., education=APA; history=Chicago] or that is preferred by your professor. This section normally does not count towards the total page length of your research proposal.

Develop a Research Proposal: Writing the Proposal. Office of Library Information Services. Baltimore County Public Schools; Heath, M. Teresa Pereira and Caroline Tynan. “Crafting a Research Proposal.” The Marketing Review 10 (Summer 2010): 147-168; Jones, Mark. “Writing a Research Proposal.” In MasterClass in Geography Education: Transforming Teaching and Learning . Graham Butt, editor. (New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2015), pp. 113-127; Juni, Muhamad Hanafiah. “Writing a Research Proposal.” International Journal of Public Health and Clinical Sciences 1 (September/October 2014): 229-240; Krathwohl, David R. How to Prepare a Dissertation Proposal: Suggestions for Students in Education and the Social and Behavioral Sciences . Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2005; Procter, Margaret. The Academic Proposal. The Lab Report. University College Writing Centre. University of Toronto; Punch, Keith and Wayne McGowan. "Developing and Writing a Research Proposal." In From Postgraduate to Social Scientist: A Guide to Key Skills . Nigel Gilbert, ed. (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2006), 59-81; Wong, Paul T. P. How to Write a Research Proposal. International Network on Personal Meaning. Trinity Western University; Writing Academic Proposals: Conferences , Articles, and Books. The Writing Lab and The OWL. Purdue University; Writing a Research Proposal. University Library. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

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How to Write a Research Proposal | Examples & Templates

How to Write a Research Proposal | Examples & Templates

Published on 30 October 2022 by Shona McCombes and Tegan George. Revised on 13 June 2023.

A research proposal describes what you will investigate, why it’s important, and how you will conduct your research.

The format of a research proposal varies between fields, but most proposals will contain at least these elements:

Introduction

Literature review.

Research design

Reference list

While the sections may vary, the overall objective is always the same. A research proposal serves as a blueprint and guide for your research plan, helping you get organised and feel confident in the path forward you choose to take.

Research proposal purpose, research proposal examples, research design and methods, contribution to knowledge, research schedule, frequently asked questions.

Research proposal length

One trick to get started is to think of your proposal’s structure as a shorter version of your thesis or dissertation , only without the results , conclusion and discussion sections.

Download our research proposal template

Prevent plagiarism, run a free check.

Writing a research proposal can be quite challenging, but a good starting point could be to look at some examples. We’ve included a few for you below.

Example research proposal #1: ‘A Conceptual Framework for Scheduling Constraint Management’
Example research proposal #2: ‘ Medical Students as Mediators of Change in Tobacco Use’

Like your dissertation or thesis, the proposal will usually have a title page that includes:

The proposed title of your project
Your supervisor’s name
Your institution and department

The first part of your proposal is the initial pitch for your project. Make sure it succinctly explains what you want to do and why.

Your introduction should:

Introduce your topic
Give necessary background and context
Outline your problem statement and research questions

To guide your introduction , include information about:

Who could have an interest in the topic (e.g., scientists, policymakers)
How much is already known about the topic
What is missing from this current knowledge
What new insights your research will contribute
Why you believe this research is worth doing

In this section, share exactly how your project will contribute to ongoing conversations in the field by:

Comparing and contrasting the main theories, methods, and debates
Examining the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches
Explaining how will you build on, challenge, or synthesise prior scholarship

To finish your proposal on a strong note, explore the potential implications of your research for your field. Emphasise again what you aim to contribute and why it matters.

For example, your results might have implications for:

Improving best practices
Informing policymaking decisions
Strengthening a theory or model
Challenging popular or scientific beliefs
Creating a basis for future research

Here’s an example schedule to help you get started. You can also download a template at the button below.

Download our research schedule template

If you are applying for research funding, chances are you will have to include a detailed budget. This shows your estimates of how much each part of your project will cost.

Make sure to check what type of costs the funding body will agree to cover. For each item, include:

Cost : exactly how much money do you need?
Justification : why is this cost necessary to complete the research?
Source : how did you calculate the amount?

To determine your budget, think about:

Travel costs : do you need to go somewhere to collect your data? How will you get there, and how much time will you need? What will you do there (e.g., interviews, archival research)?
Materials : do you need access to any tools or technologies?
Help : do you need to hire any research assistants for the project? What will they do, and how much will you pay them?

Once you’ve decided on your research objectives , you need to explain them in your paper, at the end of your problem statement.

Keep your research objectives clear and concise, and use appropriate verbs to accurately convey the work that you will carry out for each one.

I will compare …

Research objectives are more specific than your research aim. They indicate the specific ways you’ll address the overarching aim.

A PhD is intended to prepare students for a career as a researcher, whether that be in academia, the public sector, or the private sector.

A master’s is a 1- or 2-year graduate degree that can prepare you for a variety of careers.

Critical thinking refers to the ability to evaluate information and to be aware of biases or assumptions, including your own.

Like information literacy , it involves evaluating arguments, identifying and solving problems in an objective and systematic way, and clearly communicating your ideas.

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Structure and content, introduction (to topic and problem), research question (or hypothesis, thesis statement, aim), proposed methodology, anticipated findings, contributions - impact and significance, tables and figures (if applicable).

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The structure and content of a research proposal can vary depending upon the discipline, purpose, and target audience. For example, a graduate thesis proposal and a Tri-Council grant proposal will have different guidelines for length and required sections.

Before you begin writing, be sure to talk with your supervisor to gain a clear understanding of their specific expectations, and continually check in with them throughout the writing process.

Organizing your Research Proposal - Template This 6-page fillable pdf handout provides writers with a template to begin outlining sections of their own research proposal.

This template can be used in conjunction with the sections below.

What are some keywords for your research?

Should give a clear indication of your proposed research approach or key question
Should be concise and descriptive

Writing Tip: When constructing your title, think about the search terms you would use to find this research online.

Important: Write this section last, after you have completed drafting the proposal. Or if you are required to draft a preliminary abstract, then remember to rewrite the abstract after you have completed drafting the entire proposal because some information may need to be revised.

The abstract should provide a brief overview of the entire proposal. Briefly state the research question (or hypothesis, thesis statement, aim), the problem and rationale, the proposed methods, and the proposed analyses or expected results.

The purpose of the introduction is to communicate the information that is essential for the reader to understand the overall area of concern. Be explicit. Outline why this research must be conducted and try to do so without unnecessary jargon or overwhelming detail.

Start with a short statement that establishes the overall area of concern. Avoid too much detail. Get to the point. Communicate only information essential for the reader’s comprehension. Avoid unnecessary technical language and jargon. Answer the question, "What is this study about?"

Questions to consider:

What is your topic area, and what is the problem within that topic?
What does the relevant literature say about the problem? – Be selective and focused.
What are the critical, theoretical, or methodological issues directly related to the problem to be investigated?
What are the reasons for undertaking the research? – This is the answer to the "so what?" question.

The following sections - listed as part of the introduction - are intended as a guide for drafting a research proposal. Most introductions include these following components. However, be sure to clarify with your advisor or carefully review the grant guidelines to be sure to comply with the proposal genre expectations of your specific discipline.

Broad topic and focus of study

Briefly describe the broad topic of your research area, and then clearly explain the narrowed focus of your specific study.

Importance of topic/field of study

Position your project in a current important research area.
Address the “So what?” question directly, and as soon as possible.
Provide context for the reader to understand the problem you are about to pose or research question you are asking.

Problem within field of study

Identify the problem that you are investigating in your study.

Gap(s) in knowledge

Identify something missing from the literature.
What is unknown in this specific research area? This is what your study will explore and where you will attempt to provide new insights.
Is there a reason this gap exists? Where does the current literature agree and where does it disagree? How you fill this gap (at least partially) with your research?
Convince your reader that the problem has been appropriately defined and that the study is worth doing. Be explicit and detailed.
Develop your argument logically and provide evidence.
Explain why you are the person to do this project. Summarize any previous work or studies you may have undertaken in this field or research area.

Research question or hypothesis

Foreshadow outcomes of your research. What is the question you are hoping to answer? What are the specific hypotheses to be tested and/or issues to be explored?
Use questions when research is exploratory.
Use declarative statements when existing knowledge enables predictions.
List any secondary or subsidiary questions if applicable.

Purpose statement

State the purpose of your research. Be succinct and simple.
Why do you want to do this study?
What is your research trying to find out?

Goals for proposed research

Write a brief, broad statement of what you hope to accomplish and why (e.g., Improve something… Understand something… ). Are there specific measurable outcomes that you will accomplish in your study?
You will have a chance to go into greater detail in the research question and methodology sections.

Background or context (or literature review)

What does the existing research on this topic say?
Briefly state what you already know and introduce literature most relevant to your research.
Indicate main research findings, methodologies, and interpretations from previous related studies.
Discuss how your question or hypothesis relates to what is already known.
Position your research within the field’s developing body of knowledge.
Explain and support your choice of methodology or theoretical framework.

The research question is the question you are hoping to answer in your research project. It is important to know how you should write your research question into your proposal. Some proposals include

a research question, written as a question
or, a hypothesis as a potential response to the research question
or, a thesis statement as an argument that answers the research question
or, aims and objects as accomplishment or operational statements

Foreshadow the outcomes of your research. Are you trying to improve something? Understand something? Advocate for a social responsibility?

Research question

What is the question you are hoping to answer?

Subsidiary questions (if applicable)

Does your major research question hinge on a few smaller questions? Which will you address first?

Your hypothesis should provide one (of many) possible answers to your research question.

What are the specific hypotheses to be tested and/or issues to be explored?
What results do you anticipate for this experiment?

Usually a hypothesis is written to show the relationship between the independent and dependent variables. Your hypothesis must be

An expected relationship between variables
Falsifiable
Consistent with the existing body of knowledge

Thesis statement

Your thesis statement is a clear, concise statement of what you are arguing and why it is important. For more support on writing thesis statements, check out these following resources:

5 Types of Thesis Statements - Learn about five different types of thesis statements to help you choose the best type for your research.
Templates for Writing Thesis Statements - This template provides a two-step guide for writing thesis statements.
5 Questions to Strengthen Your Thesis Statement - Follow these five steps to strengthen your thesis statements.

Aims and objectives

Aims are typically broader statements of what you are trying to accomplish and may or may not be measurable. Objectives are operational statements indicating specifically how you will accomplish the aims of your project.

What are you trying to accomplish?
How are you going to address the research question?

Be specific and make sure your aims or objectives are realistic. You want to convey that it is feasible to answer this question with the objectives you have proposed.

Make it clear that you know what you are going to do, how you are going to do it, and why it will work by relating your methodology to previous research. If there isn’t much literature on the topic, you can relate your methodology to your own preliminary research or point out how your methodology tackles something that may have been overlooked in previous studies.

Explain how you will conduct this research. Specify scope and parameters (e.g., geographic locations, demographics). Limit your inclusion of literature to only essential articles and studies.

How will these methods produce an answer to your research question?
How do the methods relate to the introduction and literature review?
Have you done any previous work (or read any literature) that would inform your choices about methodology?
Are your methods feasible and adequate? How do you know?
What obstacles might you encounter in conducting the research, and how will you overcome them?

This section should include the following components that are relevant to your study and research methodologies:

Object(s) of study / participants / population

Provide detail about your objects of study (e.g., literary texts, swine, government policies, children, health care systems).

Who/what are they?
How will you find, select, or collect them?
How feasible is it to find/select them?
Are there any limitations to sample/data collection?
Do you need to travel to collect samples or visit archives, etc.?
Do you need to obtain Research Ethics Board (REB) approval to include human participants?

Theoretical frame or critical methodology

Explain the theories or disciplinary methodologies that your research draws from or builds upon.

Materials and apparatus

What are your survey or interview methods? (You may include a copy of questionnaires, etc.)
Do you require any special equipment?
How do you plan to purchase or construct or obtain this equipment?

Procedure and design

What exactly will you do? Include variables selected or manipulated, randomization, controls, the definition of coding categories, etc.

Is it a questionnaire? Laboratory experiment? Series of interviews? Systematic review? Interpretative analysis?
How will subjects be assigned to experimental conditions?
What precautions will be used to control possible confounding variables?
How long do you expect to spend on each step, and do you have a backup plan?

Data analysis and statistical procedures

How do you plan to statistically analyze your data?
What analyses will you conduct?
How will the analyses contribute to the objectives?

What are the expected outcomes from your methods? Describe your expected results in relation to your hypothesis. Support these results using existing literature.

What results would prove or disprove your hypotheses and validate your methodology, and why?
What obstacles might you encounter in obtaining your results, and how will you deal with those obstacles?
How will you analyze and interpret your results?

This section may be the most important part of your proposal. Make sure to emphasize how this research is significant to the related field, and how it will impact the broader community, now and in the future.

Convince your reader why this project should be funded above the other potential projects. Why is this research useful and relevant? Why is it useful to others? Answer the question “so what?”

Specific contributions

How will your anticipated results specifically contribute to fulfilling the aims, objectives, or goals of your research?
Will these be direct or indirect contributions? – theoretical or applied?
How will your research contribute to the larger topic area or research discipline?

Impact and significance

How will your research contribute to the research field of study?
How will your research contribute to the larger topic addressed in your introduction?
How will this research extend other work that you have done?
How will this contribution/significance convince the reader that this research will be useful and relevant?
Who else might find your research useful and relevant? (e.g., other research streams, policy makers, professional fields, etc.)

Provide a list of some of the most important sources that you will need to use for the introduction and background sections, plus your literature review and theoretical framework.

What are some of the most important sources that you will need to use for the intro/background/lit review/theoretical framework?

Find out what style guide you are required to follow (e.g., APA, MLA, Chicago).
Follow the guidelines in our Cite Your Sources Libguide to format citations and create a reference list or bibliography.

Attach this list to your proposal as a separate page unless otherwise specified.

This section should include only visuals that help illustrate the preliminary results, methods, or expected results.

What visuals will you use to help illustrate the methods or expected results?
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Guidelines on writing a research proposal

This is a work in progress, intended to organize my thoughts on the process of formulating a proposal. If you have any thoughts on the contents, or on the notion of making this available to students, please share them with me. Thanks.

Introduction

Proposal writing, different theses, similar proposals, a couple of models for proposals, a two page (preliminary proposal) model, the (longer) standard model.

The two outlines below are intended to show both what are the standard parts of a proposal and of a science paper. Notice that the only real difference is that you change "expected results" to "results" in the paper, and usually leave the budget out, of the paper.

Another outline (maybe from Gary Fuller?).

The Sections of the Proposal

The introduction, literature review, research questions in detail, methodology, expected results, bibliography, tips and tricks, useful references:.

NIAID Funding News

Highlight preliminary data in your next application.

Funding News Edition: April 5, 2023 See more articles in this edition

Researcher checks western/moisture blots to know if proteins bind to antibodies.

Data are often only as valuable as the methods you use to generate them. Anything that reflects your research skills and methods can help.

When you’re crafting your grant application, high-quality preliminary data can make all the difference. Here we answer common questions and advise you on how to use preliminary data to your advantage.

Why Should I Include Preliminary Data?

Bolster your application with strong preliminary data to demonstrate two key factors:

Approach—your proposed research is promising.
Feasibility—your ability to carry it out is credible.

Especially for an R01 application, solid preliminary data can provide added information that will enable reviewers to evaluate your proposed studies favorably. Other grant types may not require preliminary data, but it could still help to include them. More on that below.

How Much Preliminary Data Is Enough?

Though it may be frustrating, there is no easy method to determine exactly how much preliminary data is adequate to justify your particular project. NIAID staff can advise you, but ultimately you must decide how much to include.

We advise you to focus on what reviewers would like to see in your application: enough information to convince them that your proposed project can be accomplished and is likely to have a high impact.

The more paradigm-shifting your hypothesis is, the more you must lay a solid foundation for your proposed projects. Similarly, if your initial findings are surprising, you may want to include more data to convince reviewers that the results are real, replicable, and statistically significant.

You must also assess whether or not your preliminary data are sufficient to convince reviewers that your project has a high likelihood of success. Reviewers use this information to evaluate both the merit of your proposed studies and your skills as a scientist.

When Are Preliminary Data Necessary?

This varies by type of grant. They are required for investigator-initiated R01 applications as well as for several fellowship, cooperative agreement, and program project grants. Check your chosen notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) to confirm.

Preliminary data are not required for the exploratory/developmental grant (R21) or small grant (R03) mechanisms. However, we’ve seen that most R21 applicants include preliminary data, and those who do typically enjoy greater success rates.

If you don’t have any preliminary data for your R21 or R03 application, you should still show reviewers that your project is impactful and that you are likely to accomplish it fully. Make critical assessments of other published research, explaining where and why your additional work is needed. Provide reasoning as to why you are certain you can complete the proposed project.

Certain NOFOs, like requests for applications and program announcements with special receipt, referral, and/or review considerations, vary on whether or not preliminary data are required. You will need to read the individual NOFO for details.

Whether preliminary data are required or not, include any evidence that helps you justify your proposed project.

Should I Include as Much Preliminary Data as Possible?

Keep it focused. Include rigorous preliminary data that directly relate to and justify your Specific Aims. You may also share past research outcomes to establish your expertise with a method or model system.

Don’t include irrelevant information in an effort to impress reviewers with your productivity. We’ve seen applicants fall prey to this temptation, but more data is not necessarily better. Any preliminary data that you do include will be judged and considered during scoring.

For complex or multiproject applications, include research relevant to each component. Be thoughtful in justifying each project with appropriate preliminary data.

What Kind of Data Should I Provide?

Applicants often think of quantitative data as ideal. However, qualitative data provide equally important evidence.

For example, you may use a figure to illustrate your ability to perform a new technique. Include information, flowcharts, and diagrams that support the sensitivity, specificity, and reproducibility of your techniques.

Data are often only as valuable as the methods you use to generate them. Anything that reflects your research skills and methods can help.

As for quantitative data, be sure to include a thoughtful analysis in the text. This helps reviewers assess your ability to interpret your findings, which is especially important for new investigators. Further, you risk reviewers drawing separate conclusions from your own if you neglect to explain why you view the quantitative data as significant.

Must I Personally Generate the Data?

As the principal investigator (PI), you should rely primarily on research and data that you have generated.

That said, you can include data from collaborators to show that your team is capable of conducting the experiments you propose. If a teammate is meant to fill a gap in your expertise, include supporting evidence that reflects his or her expertise in that field.

You can share data from other investigators to support the significance of your studies. Be sure to include proper citations if you reference outside data in your application.

What if I Don’t Have Enough of My Own Preliminary Data?

Other researchers are likely to have their own preliminary data, so make sure you can compete. You may generate additional data as we suggest in the next question, but we also advise you to consider alternative ways to demonstrate your capabilities as well as the rationale and feasibility of your proposed studies.

As an example, you could support one of your Specific Aims through a literature review. If you take this approach, be sure to provide an original, thoughtful analysis—not just a list of references.

When you reference data, remember that reviewers are not required to read any papers you cite or follow web links you include. Put any critical information that justifies your Specific Aims directly into the application.

Be cautious when you identify unknown information that, once collected, could support your research proposal. That path leads to speculation (bad) and may leave reviewers frustrated that you haven’t already collected that data (also bad).

How Can I Generate Preliminary Data if I Don’t Already Have Funding?

For many researchers, a postdoctoral project provides preliminary evidence for their first independent R01 application.

Without funding, you may still be able to conduct preliminary experiments with others. Network to find other scientists interested in working on the same topic. Read our advice at Build Your Team . For multidisciplinary research, you could apply for a grant with Multiple Principal Investigators .

If you’re an early-stage investigator, focus on collaboration opportunities that allow you to practice and demonstrate the methods and techniques that are critical for your area of research. Find experienced teammates whose strengths complement yours.

Consider the following sources of funding for preliminary research:

Startup funds or other institutional support
Find a Foundation or Other Funding Source (e.g., professional societies, advocacy groups)
Training and Career Development Grant Programs
Research Enhancement Awards (R15)
Small (R03) and exploratory/developmental (R21) research grants

Regarding that final point, R03s and R21s are not meant to be stepping-stones for new PIs to reach their first R01. You may find them valuable for generating preliminary data for an R01, but remember that these award types do not convey any special advantages or incentives to early-career researchers.

If you are a new investigator with sufficient data to support the proposed work, we encourage you to apply for an R01 directly instead of an R03 or R21. NIAID typically has a separate R01 payline to support new PIs.

That caveat aside, R03s and R21s are ideal grant types if you wish to explore novel avenues of research. Get more advice at Comparing Popular Research Project Grants—R01, R03, and R21 and Information for New Investigators .

Are There Other NOFOs That Do Not Require Preliminary Data?

Yes. If you are a postdoctoral or newly independent early-stage investigator ready to start an independent research career with highly innovative research projects in mind, consider NIAID’s New Innovators Awards program. The initiative emphasizes innovation and creativity with high impact in NIAID mission areas; preliminary data are not required. Thus, you can pursue novel research ideas rather than being limited solely to topics for which you already have evidence, likely from your postdoctoral experience in another investigator’s lab.

Similarly, the NIH Common Fund’s High-Risk, High-Reward Research Program does not require preliminary data. The four awards in this program support creative scientists with high-impact ideas that may be risky or at a stage too early to fare well in the traditional peer review process—research projects with exceptionally innovative approaches or radically unconventional hypotheses.

The next application due dates for the High-Risk, High-Reward Program are in August or September, depending on the specific NOFO through which you apply.

NIAID also participates in the Stephen I. Katz Early-Stage Investigator Research Project Grant (R01, Clinical Trial Not Allowed) NOFO, which explicitly disallows any preliminary data. The initiative’s purpose is to support early-stage investigators who wish to initiate a research project in an area different from their previous research focus or training experience, and therefore have not produced preliminary data.

How Should I Include Preliminary Data in My Application?

When you apply, you may put your preliminary research data anywhere in the Research Strategy that seems appropriate. Just ensure that your reviewers can clearly distinguish your original research from other evidence you cite. As another option, you could create a separate section with its own header.

Whichever structural approach you choose, make sure it helps you clearly present your past research to show rigorous methodology, insightful and unbiased interpretation, and applicability to your Specific Aims. Learn more at Draft Specific Aims .

Always include adequate explanation and/or a figure legend. If you use a table or figure from a publication, be sure to update the legend or text so that all the information your reviewers need is in your application.

Polish your application so it’s an easy read for reviewers. Keep figures simple and large enough to be clear, with labels on all axes and units. Try placing figures close to where you reference them to save readers from having to flip between pages. Double check your footnotes.

We advise you to also discuss any limitations of the previous work and how you plan to overcome them. Don’t expect reviewers to give you the benefit of the doubt.

Get examples of how other investigators successfully presented their preliminary research at Sample Applications & More .

For more advice, talk to a program officer about your application (but don’t send a copy). He or she can advise you on whether your preliminary research seems sufficient to justify your Specific Aims. See When to Contact an NIAID Program Officer .

Email us at [email protected] for help navigating NIAID’s grant and contract policies and procedures.

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17 Research Proposal Examples

research proposal example sections definition and purpose, explained below

A research proposal systematically and transparently outlines a proposed research project.

The purpose of a research proposal is to demonstrate a project’s viability and the researcher’s preparedness to conduct an academic study. It serves as a roadmap for the researcher.

The process holds value both externally (for accountability purposes and often as a requirement for a grant application) and intrinsic value (for helping the researcher to clarify the mechanics, purpose, and potential signficance of the study).

Key sections of a research proposal include: the title, abstract, introduction, literature review, research design and methods, timeline, budget, outcomes and implications, references, and appendix. Each is briefly explained below.

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Research Proposal Sample Structure

Title: The title should present a concise and descriptive statement that clearly conveys the core idea of the research projects. Make it as specific as possible. The reader should immediately be able to grasp the core idea of the intended research project. Often, the title is left too vague and does not help give an understanding of what exactly the study looks at.

Abstract: Abstracts are usually around 250-300 words and provide an overview of what is to follow – including the research problem , objectives, methods, expected outcomes, and significance of the study. Use it as a roadmap and ensure that, if the abstract is the only thing someone reads, they’ll get a good fly-by of what will be discussed in the peice.

Introduction: Introductions are all about contextualization. They often set the background information with a statement of the problem. At the end of the introduction, the reader should understand what the rationale for the study truly is. I like to see the research questions or hypotheses included in the introduction and I like to get a good understanding of what the significance of the research will be. It’s often easiest to write the introduction last

Literature Review: The literature review dives deep into the existing literature on the topic, demosntrating your thorough understanding of the existing literature including themes, strengths, weaknesses, and gaps in the literature. It serves both to demonstrate your knowledge of the field and, to demonstrate how the proposed study will fit alongside the literature on the topic. A good literature review concludes by clearly demonstrating how your research will contribute something new and innovative to the conversation in the literature.

Research Design and Methods: This section needs to clearly demonstrate how the data will be gathered and analyzed in a systematic and academically sound manner. Here, you need to demonstrate that the conclusions of your research will be both valid and reliable. Common points discussed in the research design and methods section include highlighting the research paradigm, methodologies, intended population or sample to be studied, data collection techniques, and data analysis procedures . Toward the end of this section, you are encouraged to also address ethical considerations and limitations of the research process , but also to explain why you chose your research design and how you are mitigating the identified risks and limitations.

Timeline: Provide an outline of the anticipated timeline for the study. Break it down into its various stages (including data collection, data analysis, and report writing). The goal of this section is firstly to establish a reasonable breakdown of steps for you to follow and secondly to demonstrate to the assessors that your project is practicable and feasible.

Budget: Estimate the costs associated with the research project and include evidence for your estimations. Typical costs include staffing costs, equipment, travel, and data collection tools. When applying for a scholarship, the budget should demonstrate that you are being responsible with your expensive and that your funding application is reasonable.

Expected Outcomes and Implications: A discussion of the anticipated findings or results of the research, as well as the potential contributions to the existing knowledge, theory, or practice in the field. This section should also address the potential impact of the research on relevant stakeholders and any broader implications for policy or practice.

References: A complete list of all the sources cited in the research proposal, formatted according to the required citation style. This demonstrates the researcher’s familiarity with the relevant literature and ensures proper attribution of ideas and information.

Appendices (if applicable): Any additional materials, such as questionnaires, interview guides, or consent forms, that provide further information or support for the research proposal. These materials should be included as appendices at the end of the document.

Research Proposal Examples

Research proposals often extend anywhere between 2,000 and 15,000 words in length. The following snippets are samples designed to briefly demonstrate what might be discussed in each section.

1. Education Studies Research Proposals

See some real sample pieces:

Assessment of the perceptions of teachers towards a new grading system
Does ICT use in secondary classrooms help or hinder student learning?
Digital technologies in focus project
Urban Middle School Teachers’ Experiences of the Implementation of
Restorative Justice Practices
Experiences of students of color in service learning

Consider this hypothetical education research proposal:

The Impact of Game-Based Learning on Student Engagement and Academic Performance in Middle School Mathematics

Abstract: The proposed study will explore multiplayer game-based learning techniques in middle school mathematics curricula and their effects on student engagement. The study aims to contribute to the current literature on game-based learning by examining the effects of multiplayer gaming in learning.

Introduction: Digital game-based learning has long been shunned within mathematics education for fears that it may distract students or lower the academic integrity of the classrooms. However, there is emerging evidence that digital games in math have emerging benefits not only for engagement but also academic skill development. Contributing to this discourse, this study seeks to explore the potential benefits of multiplayer digital game-based learning by examining its impact on middle school students’ engagement and academic performance in a mathematics class.

Literature Review: The literature review has identified gaps in the current knowledge, namely, while game-based learning has been extensively explored, the role of multiplayer games in supporting learning has not been studied.

Research Design and Methods: This study will employ a mixed-methods research design based upon action research in the classroom. A quasi-experimental pre-test/post-test control group design will first be used to compare the academic performance and engagement of middle school students exposed to game-based learning techniques with those in a control group receiving instruction without the aid of technology. Students will also be observed and interviewed in regard to the effect of communication and collaboration during gameplay on their learning.

Timeline: The study will take place across the second term of the school year with a pre-test taking place on the first day of the term and the post-test taking place on Wednesday in Week 10.

Budget: The key budgetary requirements will be the technologies required, including the subscription cost for the identified games and computers.

Expected Outcomes and Implications: It is expected that the findings will contribute to the current literature on game-based learning and inform educational practices, providing educators and policymakers with insights into how to better support student achievement in mathematics.

2. Psychology Research Proposals

See some real examples:

A situational analysis of shared leadership in a self-managing team
The effect of musical preference on running performance
Relationship between self-esteem and disordered eating amongst adolescent females

Consider this hypothetical psychology research proposal:

The Effects of Mindfulness-Based Interventions on Stress Reduction in College Students

Abstract: This research proposal examines the impact of mindfulness-based interventions on stress reduction among college students, using a pre-test/post-test experimental design with both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods .

Introduction: College students face heightened stress levels during exam weeks. This can affect both mental health and test performance. This study explores the potential benefits of mindfulness-based interventions such as meditation as a way to mediate stress levels in the weeks leading up to exam time.

Literature Review: Existing research on mindfulness-based meditation has shown the ability for mindfulness to increase metacognition, decrease anxiety levels, and decrease stress. Existing literature has looked at workplace, high school and general college-level applications. This study will contribute to the corpus of literature by exploring the effects of mindfulness directly in the context of exam weeks.

Research Design and Methods: Participants ( n= 234 ) will be randomly assigned to either an experimental group, receiving 5 days per week of 10-minute mindfulness-based interventions, or a control group, receiving no intervention. Data will be collected through self-report questionnaires, measuring stress levels, semi-structured interviews exploring participants’ experiences, and students’ test scores.

Timeline: The study will begin three weeks before the students’ exam week and conclude after each student’s final exam. Data collection will occur at the beginning (pre-test of self-reported stress levels) and end (post-test) of the three weeks.

Expected Outcomes and Implications: The study aims to provide evidence supporting the effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions in reducing stress among college students in the lead up to exams, with potential implications for mental health support and stress management programs on college campuses.

3. Sociology Research Proposals

Understanding emerging social movements: A case study of ‘Jersey in Transition’
The interaction of health, education and employment in Western China
Can we preserve lower-income affordable neighbourhoods in the face of rising costs?

Consider this hypothetical sociology research proposal:

The Impact of Social Media Usage on Interpersonal Relationships among Young Adults

Abstract: This research proposal investigates the effects of social media usage on interpersonal relationships among young adults, using a longitudinal mixed-methods approach with ongoing semi-structured interviews to collect qualitative data.

Introduction: Social media platforms have become a key medium for the development of interpersonal relationships, particularly for young adults. This study examines the potential positive and negative effects of social media usage on young adults’ relationships and development over time.

Literature Review: A preliminary review of relevant literature has demonstrated that social media usage is central to development of a personal identity and relationships with others with similar subcultural interests. However, it has also been accompanied by data on mental health deline and deteriorating off-screen relationships. The literature is to-date lacking important longitudinal data on these topics.

Research Design and Methods: Participants ( n = 454 ) will be young adults aged 18-24. Ongoing self-report surveys will assess participants’ social media usage, relationship satisfaction, and communication patterns. A subset of participants will be selected for longitudinal in-depth interviews starting at age 18 and continuing for 5 years.

Timeline: The study will be conducted over a period of five years, including recruitment, data collection, analysis, and report writing.

Expected Outcomes and Implications: This study aims to provide insights into the complex relationship between social media usage and interpersonal relationships among young adults, potentially informing social policies and mental health support related to social media use.

4. Nursing Research Proposals

Does Orthopaedic Pre-assessment clinic prepare the patient for admission to hospital?
Nurses’ perceptions and experiences of providing psychological care to burns patients
Registered psychiatric nurse’s practice with mentally ill parents and their children

Consider this hypothetical nursing research proposal:

The Influence of Nurse-Patient Communication on Patient Satisfaction and Health Outcomes following Emergency Cesarians

Abstract: This research will examines the impact of effective nurse-patient communication on patient satisfaction and health outcomes for women following c-sections, utilizing a mixed-methods approach with patient surveys and semi-structured interviews.

Introduction: It has long been known that effective communication between nurses and patients is crucial for quality care. However, additional complications arise following emergency c-sections due to the interaction between new mother’s changing roles and recovery from surgery.

Literature Review: A review of the literature demonstrates the importance of nurse-patient communication, its impact on patient satisfaction, and potential links to health outcomes. However, communication between nurses and new mothers is less examined, and the specific experiences of those who have given birth via emergency c-section are to date unexamined.

Research Design and Methods: Participants will be patients in a hospital setting who have recently had an emergency c-section. A self-report survey will assess their satisfaction with nurse-patient communication and perceived health outcomes. A subset of participants will be selected for in-depth interviews to explore their experiences and perceptions of the communication with their nurses.

Timeline: The study will be conducted over a period of six months, including rolling recruitment, data collection, analysis, and report writing within the hospital.

Expected Outcomes and Implications: This study aims to provide evidence for the significance of nurse-patient communication in supporting new mothers who have had an emergency c-section. Recommendations will be presented for supporting nurses and midwives in improving outcomes for new mothers who had complications during birth.

5. Social Work Research Proposals

Experiences of negotiating employment and caring responsibilities of fathers post-divorce
Exploring kinship care in the north region of British Columbia

Consider this hypothetical social work research proposal:

The Role of a Family-Centered Intervention in Preventing Homelessness Among At-Risk Youthin a working-class town in Northern England

Abstract: This research proposal investigates the effectiveness of a family-centered intervention provided by a local council area in preventing homelessness among at-risk youth. This case study will use a mixed-methods approach with program evaluation data and semi-structured interviews to collect quantitative and qualitative data .

Introduction: Homelessness among youth remains a significant social issue. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of family-centered interventions in addressing this problem and identify factors that contribute to successful prevention strategies.

Literature Review: A review of the literature has demonstrated several key factors contributing to youth homelessness including lack of parental support, lack of social support, and low levels of family involvement. It also demonstrates the important role of family-centered interventions in addressing this issue. Drawing on current evidence, this study explores the effectiveness of one such intervention in preventing homelessness among at-risk youth in a working-class town in Northern England.

Research Design and Methods: The study will evaluate a new family-centered intervention program targeting at-risk youth and their families. Quantitative data on program outcomes, including housing stability and family functioning, will be collected through program records and evaluation reports. Semi-structured interviews with program staff, participants, and relevant stakeholders will provide qualitative insights into the factors contributing to program success or failure.

Timeline: The study will be conducted over a period of six months, including recruitment, data collection, analysis, and report writing.

Budget: Expenses include access to program evaluation data, interview materials, data analysis software, and any related travel costs for in-person interviews.

Expected Outcomes and Implications: This study aims to provide evidence for the effectiveness of family-centered interventions in preventing youth homelessness, potentially informing the expansion of or necessary changes to social work practices in Northern England.

Research Proposal Template

Get your Detailed Template for Writing your Research Proposal Here (With AI Prompts!)

This is a template for a 2500-word research proposal. You may find it difficult to squeeze everything into this wordcount, but it’s a common wordcount for Honors and MA-level dissertations.

Your research proposal is where you really get going with your study. I’d strongly recommend working closely with your teacher in developing a research proposal that’s consistent with the requirements and culture of your institution, as in my experience it varies considerably. The above template is from my own courses that walk students through research proposals in a British School of Education.

Chris Drew (PhD)

Dr. Chris Drew is the founder of the Helpful Professor. He holds a PhD in education and has published over 20 articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. [Image Descriptor: Photo of Chris]

Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 5 Top Tips for Succeeding at University
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8 thoughts on “17 Research Proposal Examples”

Very excellent research proposals

very helpful

Very helpful

Dear Sir, I need some help to write an educational research proposal. Thank you.

Hi Levi, use the site search bar to ask a question and I’ll likely have a guide already written for your specific question. Thanks for reading!

very good research proposal

Thank you so much sir! ❤️

Very helpful 👌

How to write a grant proposal

Michael zlowodzki.

Division of Orthopedic Surgery, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada

Anders Jönsson

* Association Internationale Pour l' Ostéosynthèse Dynamique, Nice, France

Philip J Kregor

** Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA

Mohit Bhandari

Academic success and promotion in medicine largely depends on the quality and quantity of received grants. Grant money brings prestige and notoriety to the writer and his institution. However, writing a grant proposal can be a challenging task especially for the inexperienced researcher. As research budgets are being reduced by many funding agencies and more researches are competing for it, it is becoming increasingly important to be able to write a grant proposal of high quality.

The purpose of this article is to give the reader guidance on how to organize a research proposal in order maximize chances to obtain the desired funding. Key aspects will be highlighted and practical tips emphasized. This article will primarily focus on writing a grant for a clinical study.

G ETTING S TARTED

Good research starts with a good idea! Once you have identified a good idea, you need to clearly define the problem that needs to be addressed and formulate a research question. Subsequently you need to ask yourself if that question is already answered [ Table 1 ]. A thorough literature review is therefore mandatory. If you have a truly good idea, you might find out that you are not the first one having it. You do not want to spend a lot of time and energy into a project only to find out later that there have been already 17 trials and a meta-analysis performed and your research question is answered.

It is not only important to know how much was already published on that topic, but also what the quality of the current evidence is. Rarely in medicine does a question have a definitive answer. If you are trying to compare two interventions for a certain disease, after performing a thorough literature search, you have to ask yourself the following questions: 1) Are there already multiple case series published on that topic? If yes, then it might not be worth it to add another case series to the literature. However, that might be your chance for the first comparative study (cohort study or randomized controlled trial). 2) Are there already multiple comparative studies? If yes, are they cohort studies or randomized trials (RCT)? If there is no RCT maybe you should do one. 3) Are there already multiple RCTs published? If yes, what are the results and what is their sample size? Maybe they were underpowered? If yes you might consider doing a meta-analysis of the existing RCTs and subsequently a larger trial.

After you decided to perceive with your study proposal, you need to determine how many study subjects you need, how much money you need and who your collaborators will be. In order to be successful in obtaining a grant you will need convincing data, which might require several preliminary studies and you will need to prove to the granting agency that you are capable of performing the study the way you propose it. The purpose of the research plan is to describe what will be done, why it is important and how the study will be conducted.

E LEMENTS OF A S TUDY P ROTOCOL

The key elements of the study protocol are the executive summary, specific aims, background and significance, preliminary results and research design and methods [ Table 2 ]. The research design and the methodology used in the process of planning and conducting the project should be described in detail. Prior work relevant to the proposed project should be included. Also if a pilot study was conducted, the results should be included.

Elements of a study protocol

Abstract (Executive summary)

The abstract is an important part of a study protocol because it is the first page that a reviewer reads. Reviewers of granting agencies may make their opinion based on the abstract alone. It may be difficult to overcome a bad first impression and conversely there may be a lot to gain with a good first impression. The purpose of the abstract is to describe succinctly every key element of the proposed project. It is good to be complete but concise.

Specific aims

The purpose of the specific study aims is to clearly describe what research question the investigators are trying to answer by conducting the study. What is the problem to be addressed? The investigators need to describe why the study is needed now. In detail, the hypothesis of the study and the primary and secondary goals should be stated. Typically, the study question should be formulated to include the following: 1) the population to be studied, 2) the intervention, 3) any comparison group to be studied (if relevant) and 4) the study outcomes. The study outcomes should be reported as the primary (main) outcome and any secondary outcomes.

Background and significance

The purpose of the background and significance section is to lay out the rationale for the proposed research project and to summarize currently available data in the literature that is relevant to the project. If no systematic review or meta-analysis was done on the topic, you should do one. Describe the magnitude of the problem to be addressed. What is the patient population you are targeting? What is the incidence of the problem? Is the problem likely to increase in the future (e.g. geriatric fractures)? You need to describe the historic management of the problem and whether or not there is any consensus on the current management of the problem. Are there any uncertainties about the treatment that need to be resolved? If you hypothesize that intervention A is better than intervention B you need to designate your primary outcome parameter and have some baseline data for a sample size calculation. Depending on the project, you might want to survey surgeons for their treatment preferences. Also consider surveying patients to find out about what outcome they consider to be important. There might be some disagreements between the surgeons and patients perspectives. 1 The purpose of the background and significance chapter is to justify the study you are proposing. Describe how the result of your study will benefit society. You need to convince the granting agencies that it is worth their money.

Study design

In order to answer the question you need to choose an appropriate study design. The main clinical study designs are interventional studies, observational studies and diagnostic studies - some overlaps may exist [ Table 3 ]. Which study design is most likely to answer the research question, which one is most feasible and which one gives the highest quality results? The choice of the study design has a significant implication on the magnitude of the required funding. Ethical considerations also need to be taken into account e.g. in some cases a certain study design might not be ethical. A clear description of the eligibility criteria (inclusion / exclusion) is essential. Also describe how outcomes will be measured during follow-up and what the follow-up schedule will be like (frequency and duration).

Types of clinical study designs

Sample size calculation

The sample size calculation is a crucial part of the study protocol. The required sample size has major implications on your required funding and the size of the team. Before you can calculate the sample size you need to designate the primary outcome. It is advantageous to choose an objective, reliable and highly validated outcome in order to limit bias. Ultimately, you should choose the clinically most important outcome that is feasible.

The sample size calculation is different depending on the type of the outcome; if you choose a categorical dichotomous outcome parameter (e.g. nonunion rate, infection rate) the sample size requirements are much higher than if you choose a continuous outcome like a score (e.g., SF-36, DASH, SMFA, pain score). 2 , 3 In order to perform a sample size calculation for dichotomous outcomes, you must have an event rate (e.g., nonunion rate) for your gold standard treatment (e.g., treatment A) and you must hypothesize by how much treatment B is going to decrease or increase that event rate. For continuous outcomes you need to have a mean value for the gold standard treatment and hypothesize a difference for the alternative treatment. Using an alpha error rate of 0.05 (=accepting the probability of a false-positive result) and a beta error rate of 0.20 (=accepting the probability of a false-negative result), which corresponds to a power of 80% is a commonly accepted standard.

You can obtain baseline numbers either from a pilot study or reports in the literature. Ideally the “hypothesized” differences should be in the magnitude of what you consider clinically significant. You can calculate the sample size by hand 4 or use one multiple tools to help with the sample size calculations 5 [ Table 4 ]. Be aware that the sample size calculation is based on assumptions; calculate the best-case and the worst-case scenario.

Useful Books, Software and Websites

The justification of the estimated sample size should be presented as a separate section in a grant proposal. Investigators can present estimates of sample size varying across different mean differences between groups. Alternative approaches are to present the study power across varying sample sizes and mean differences or the estimated mean differences of the outcome parameter across varying study power. 4

Protecting against bias

Study results can be negatively affected by multiple types of bias, mainly selection bias and measurement bias. Investigators need to describe proposed methods for protecting against bias. The most powerful techniques for protecting against bias are 1) randomization, 2) concealment of randomization, 3) blinding and 4) the choice of an objective outcome measure.

If you are comparing the effect of multiple interventions on a specific outcome, the best method of protecting against selection bias is random treatment allocation. Randomization balances known and unknown prognostic factors between groups. Additionally, you can use techniques like blocking and stratification in order to avoid random imbalances in small randomized trials. If you do not allocate treatment options randomly, you should account for imbalances in prognostic factors between groups, by matching the patients to the different treatment groups based on the known prognostic factors upon enrollment in your study or if that is not possible, account for it in the data analysis. However, the only way to balance unknown prognostic factors is randomization.

Blinding is another important technique for protecting against bias. Investigators should blind whoever they can: the patient, the physician (not possible in surgical trials), the outcome assessor and the data analyst. Lastly it is helpful to choose an objective outcome measure like a validated functional outcome scale. If the outcome parameter is subjective (e.g., union/nonunion), you should consider to have an adjudication committee to assess the outcome.

C ONCLUSION

Grants are critical for success in academic medicine. The key to a good grant is a good idea and the ability to “sell” your idea to the reviewers of the granting agency. In order to “sell” your idea, good background research, the appropriate study design and a well thought out methodology are imperative. It is also important to recognize that research is a team effort. Convincing the grant reviewer of your expertise is crucial; choosing experienced team members therefore improves the chances to obtain the desired grant. A successful pilot study and preliminary studies that serve as a justification for your study proposal can prove feasibility to the grant reviewers and be therefore a persuasive factor. You should propose an appropriate budget and a realistic timeline; otherwise failure is almost certain. Lastly, you should tailor their grant application towards the granting agency's goals and use the requested format for their application as that might differ from agency to agency. Targeting multiple government and industry-funded agencies increases the chance of getting funded.

Disclaimer: Michael Zlowodzki was funded by a clinical research fellowship grant of the Association Internationale pour l' Ostéosynthèse Dynamique (AIOD)

Source of Support: Nil

R EFERENCES

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Chapter I: Pre-Submission Information

Part I sets forth NSF's proposal preparation and submission guidelines. The coverage provides guidance for the preparation and submission of proposals to NSF. Some NSF programs have program solicitations that modify the general provisions of the PAPPG, and, in such cases, the guidelines provided in the solicitation must be followed.

Chapter I Table of Contents

NSF Proposal Preparation and Submission
NSF Programs and Funding Opportunities
Program Descriptions
Program Announcements
Program Solicitations
Broad Agency Announcements (BAAs)
Dear Colleague Letters (DCLs)
Concept Outlines
Letters of Intent (LOIs)
Invite/Not Invite Decisions
Encourage/Discourage Decisions
Full Proposals
Categories of Proposers
Target Dates
Deadline Dates
Submission Windows

Special Exceptions to NSF's Deadline Date Policy

Natural or Anthropogenic Events

Closure of NSF

Submission Instructions
Requirements Relating to Unique Entity Identifier (UEI)and Registration in the System for Award Management (SAM)
Proposal Receipt
Proposal Processing

A. NSF Proposal Preparation and Submission

Unless specified in an NSF program solicitation, proposals submitted to NSF must be submitted via use of Research.gov, Grants.gov, or the Broad Agency Announcement Management (BAAM) System. Further information on each system is provided below.

Proposal Preparation and Submission via Research.gov. Research.gov may be used for proposal preparation, submission, proposal file updates, and budgetary revisions. The policy and procedural guidance contained in Part I of the PAPPG pertains to proposals submitted via Research.gov.

Proposal Preparation and Submission in the NSF FastLane System is being decommissioned. During the transition, some parts of FastLane may be left open to support proposal review. Proposal file updates and budget revisions can be made for FastLane-submitted proposals for a limited period.

Proposal Preparation and Submission via Grants.gov. Grants.gov may be used for proposal preparation and submission. The policy and procedural guidance contained in the NSF Grants.gov Application Guide pertains specifically to proposals submitted via Grants.gov. Detailed information about Grants.gov is available from the Grants.gov website .

Proposal Preparation and Submission via NSF’s BAAM System. The BAAM system may be used for proposal preparation, submission, proposal file updates, and some select post-award administrative activities. Detailed information about the BAAM System is available from the BAAM website . The policy and procedural guidance for submitting to NSF’s BAAM System will be provided in the relevant solicitation or in the Broad Agency Announcement (BAA). (See also Section C. below for additional information).

B. NSF Programs and Funding Opportunities

The NSF website provides the most comprehensive source of information on NSF Directorates/Offices (including contact information), programs, and funding opportunities. See Section C below for more information on Categories of Funding Opportunities. Use of this website by potential proposers is strongly encouraged. In addition, " NSF Update " is an information-delivery system designed to keep potential proposers and other interested parties apprised of new NSF funding opportunities and publications, important changes in proposal and award policies and procedures, and upcoming NSF Grants Conferences. Subscribers are informed each time new publications are issued that match their identified interests.

C. Categories of Funding Opportunities

NSF utilizes a variety of mechanisms to communicate opportunities for research and education support, as well as to generate proposals. A brief description of each category of funding opportunity follows.

1. Program Descriptions

The term "program description" includes broad, general descriptions of programs and activities in NSF Directorates/Offices and Divisions. Program descriptions are posted on Directorate/Division websites to encourage the submission of proposals in specific program areas of interest to NSF.

Program descriptions utilize the generic eligibility and proposal preparation instructions specified in Part I of the PAPPG , as well as the NSB-approved merit review criteria. See Chapter III for additional information.

2. Program Announcements

The term "program announcement" refers to formal NSF publications that announce NSF programs. Program announcements utilize the generic eligibility and proposal preparation guidelines specified in Part I of the PAPPG and incorporate the NSB-approved merit review criteria.

3. Program Solicitations

The term "program solicitation" refers to formal NSF publications that encourage the submission of proposals in specific program areas of interest to NSF. They generally are more focused than program announcements, and normally apply for a limited period of time. Competition among proposals is more precisely defined than with program announcements, and proposals received compete directly with each other for NSF funding. Program solicitations are issued when the funding opportunity has one or more of the following features:

provides supplemental proposal preparation guidance or deviates from the guidelines established in Part I of the PAPPG;
contains additional review criteria relevant to the program;
requires submission of a letter of intent (see Chapter I.D.2) or preliminary proposal (see Chapter I.D.3);
deviates from (or restricts) the standard categories of proposers specified in Section E. below;
limits the number of proposals that may be submitted by an organization and/or Principal Investigator (PI) or co-Principal Investigator (co-PI); [3]
requires cost sharing;
requires a limitation in indirect (Facilities & Administrative (F&A)) costs;
specifies additional award conditions and/or reporting requirements; and/or
anticipates use of a cooperative agreement.

4. Broad Agency Announcements (BAAs)

The term "Broad Agency Announcement" refers to a type of funding opportunity used by NSF for basic and applied research, scientific study, and experimentation. Unless otherwise specified, NSF can choose to fund proposals submitted in response to a BAA as grants, cooperative agreements, contracts, or other arrangements. BAAs are broad in their subject matter and focus on advancing science rather than acquiring specific products. See Federal Acquisition Regulation Part 35.016 for additional information.

5. Dear Colleague Letters (DCLs)

DCLs are intended to provide general information to the community, clarify or amend an existing policy or document, or inform the NSF proposer community about upcoming opportunities or special competitions for supplements to existing awards. They also may be used to announce NSF’s interest in receiving proposals in specified topical areas for the following proposal types contained in Chapter II.E: Planning, Rapid Response Research (RAPID); Early-concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER); Research Advanced by Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering (RAISE); and Conference.

D. Types of Submissions

1. concept outlines.

Some NSF proposal types (see Chapter II.E for additional information) or funding opportunities may require submission of a Concept Outline prior to submission of a full proposal. A Concept Outline is a concise summary of a project idea that contains information about the prospective PI(s), potentially germane NSF organizational unit(s), project title, keywords, and brief narrative descriptions of the idea and fit to any special criteria required for the proposal type or funding opportunity. The primary purposes of requiring a Concept Outline are to ensure that the concept being proposed by the prospective PI is appropriate for the proposal type/funding opportunity, and to help reduce the administrative burden associated with submission of a full proposal. Concept Outlines are considered by cognizant NSF program officers to determine the appropriateness of the work to the proposal type/funding opportunity. The prospective PI will receive an email that specifies whether a full proposal may be submitted. Full proposals submitted without the requisite “Program Officer Concurrence Email” for proposal types/funding opportunities requiring a Concept Outline will be returned without review or not accepted. See Chapter II.E for additional information.

Concept Outlines also may be submitted at any time by prospective PIs seeking early feedback on the general appropriateness and potentially relevant funding opportunities for a project idea prior to developing a full proposal.

Concept Outlines are submitted either by email to a designated address or via the Program Suitability and Proposal Concept Tool ( ProSPCT ). An NSF funding opportunity that requires a Concept Outline will provide directions on use of email or ProSPCT and specific guidance on email formatting or the completion of the webform to facilitate consistent identification and consideration of the respective Concept Outlines.

ProSPCT consists of a dashboard and webform for prospective PIs to prepare, send, and track the status of their Concept Outline submissions. The ProSPCT webform uses drop-down selections, validations, and text entry fields with character count limits to ensure users have provided the minimal complete information and met consistent formatting requirements based on the selected proposal type prior to submitting the Concept Outline. ProSPCT users must have a valid Login.gov account to access the tool.

2. Letters of Intent (LOI)

Some NSF program solicitations require or request submission of an LOI in advance of submission of a full proposal. An LOI is not a binding document. The predominant reason for its use is to help NSF program staff gauge the size and range of the competition, enabling earlier selection and better management of reviewers and panelists. In addition, the information contained in an LOI is used to help avoid potential conflicts of interest in the review process.

An LOI normally contains the PI’s names, a proposed title, a list of possible participating organizations (if applicable), and a synopsis of one page that describes the work in sufficient detail to permit an appropriate selection of reviewers.

Proposers that plan to submit a collaborative proposal from multiple organizations must submit a single LOI for the entire project, given that NSF considers a collaborative proposal to be a unified research project. An LOI is not externally evaluated or used to decide on funding. The requirement to submit an LOI will be identified in the program solicitation, and such letters are submitted electronically to NSF. Failure to submit a required LOI identified in a program solicitation will result in a full proposal not being accepted or returned without review.

3. Preliminary Proposals

Some NSF program solicitations require or request submission of a preliminary proposal in advance of submission of a full proposal. The three predominant reasons for requiring submission of a preliminary proposal are to:

reduce the proposers' unnecessary effort in proposal preparation when the chance of success is very small. This is particularly true of exploratory initiatives when the community senses that a major new direction is being identified, or competitions that will result in a small number of awards;
increase the overall quality of the full submission; and
assist NSF program staff in managing the review process and in the selection of reviewers.

The NSF program solicitation will specify content and submission requirements when preliminary proposals are to be used. Preliminary proposals are prepared by the PI using the Proposal Preparation Module in Research.go v. On the Cover Sheet, the PI clicks on the "Preliminary Proposal" check box. The PI completes only the sections appropriate to the preliminary proposal. The PI then forwards the proposal to the appropriate office at the proposing organization, and the Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR) signs and submits the preliminary proposal via use of NSF’s electronic systems.

One of the following two types of decisions may be received from NSF upon submission of a preliminary proposal. The program solicitation will specify the type of decision to be rendered for a particular program.

a. Invite/Not Invite Decisions

This type of mechanism is used when the NSF decision made on the preliminary proposal is final, affecting the organization’s eligibility to submit a full proposal. Only submitters of favorably reviewed preliminary proposals are invited and eligible to submit full proposals. The PI and the organization's Sponsored Projects Office (SPO) (or equivalent) will be electronically notified of NSF's decision to either invite submission of a full proposal or decline NSF support.

b. Encourage/Discourage Decisions

This type of mechanism is used when the NSF decision made on the preliminary proposal is advisory only. This means that submitters of both favorably and unfavorably reviewed preliminary proposals are eligible to submit full proposals. The PI and the organization's SPO will be notified of NSF's decision to either encourage or discourage submission of a full proposal.

4. Full Proposals

The full proposal should present the (1) objectives and scientific, engineering, or educational significance of the proposed work; (2) suitability of the methods to be employed; (3) qualifications of the investigator and the recipient organization; (4) effect of the activity on the infrastructure of science, engineering, and education, if applicable; and (5) amount of funding required. It should present the intellectual merit and broader impacts of the proposed project clearly and should be prepared with the care and thoroughness of a paper submitted for publication. The requisite proposal preparation instructions are contained in Chapter II. Sufficient information should be provided to enable reviewers to evaluate the proposal in accordance with the two merit review criteria established by the NSB. (See Chapter III for additional information on NSF processing and review of proposals.)

NSF expects strict adherence to the rules of proper scholarship and attribution. The responsibility for proper scholarship and attribution rests with the authors of a proposal; all parts of the proposal should be prepared with equal care for this concern. Authors other than the PI (or any co-PI) must be named and acknowledged. Serious failure to adhere to such standards can result in findings of research misconduct. Research misconduct refers to fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism in proposing or performing research funded by NSF, reviewing research proposals submitted to NSF, or in reporting research results funded by NSF. Reporting results include but is not limited to: annual/final project reports and Project Outcomes Reports submitted to NSF, as well as the publication of results from the NSF-funded projects. NSF policies and rules on research misconduct are discussed in the Chapter XII.C, as well as 45 CFR Part 689.

NSF will not tolerate research misconduct. Allegations of research misconduct are taken seriously and are investigated by NSF’s Office of Inspector General (OIG). OIG refers completed investigations of research misconduct to NSF for action. Upon findings of research misconduct, NSF will take appropriate action against individuals or organizations.

The Metric Conversion Act of 1975, as amended, and E.O. 12770 of 1991 encourage Federal agencies to use the Metric System (SI) in procurement, award and other business-related activities. Proposers are encouraged to use the Metric System of weights and measures in proposals submitted to the Foundation. Recipients also are encouraged to use metric units in reports, publications and correspondence relating to proposals and awards.

E. Who May Submit Proposals

NSF welcomes proposals on behalf of all qualified scientists, engineers, and educators. The Foundation strongly encourages women, minorities, and persons with disabilities to participate fully in its programs. In accordance with Federal statutes, regulations and NSF policies, no person on grounds of race, color, age, sex, national origin, or disability shall be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under, any program or activity receiving financial assistance from NSF, although some programs may have special requirements that limit eligibility.

Scientists, engineers, and educators usually initiate proposals that are officially submitted by their employing organization. Before formal submission, the proposal may be discussed with appropriate NSF program staff. Graduate students are not encouraged to submit research proposals but should arrange to serve as research assistants to faculty members. Some NSF divisions accept proposals for Doctoral Dissertation Research Grants when submitted by a faculty member on behalf of the graduate student.

Categories of Proposers — The following describes the eligibility of specific categories of proposers. A program solicitation, however, may apply more restrictive eligibility criteria.

1. The following organizations in the following categories are eligible to submit proposals:

(a) Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) — Two- and four-year IHEs (including community colleges) accredited in, and having a campus located in the U.S., acting on behalf of their faculty members. IHEs located outside the U.S. fall under paragraph 6. below.

Special Instructions for International Branch Campuses of U.S. IHEs

If the proposal includes funding to be provided to an international branch campus of a U.S. IHE (including through use of subawards and consultant arrangements), the proposer must explain the benefit(s) to the project of performance at the international branch campus and justify why the project activities cannot be performed at the U.S. campus. Such information must be included in the project description. The box for “Funding of an International Branch Campus of a U.S. IHE” must be checked on the Cover Sheet if the proposal includes funding for an international branch campus of a U.S. IHE.

(b) Non-profit, Non-academic Organizations — Independent museums, observatories, research laboratories, professional societies, and similar organizations located in the U.S. that are directly associated with educational or research activities.

(c) Tribal Governments — The term " tribal government means the governing body of any Indian or Alaska Native tribe, band, nation, pueblo, village, or community that the Secretary of the Interior acknowledges to exist as an Indian tribe under the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 ( 25 U.S.C. 479a , et seq.)

2. The following organizations may be eligible to submit proposals:

(a) For-profit Organizations — U.S.-based commercial organizations, including small businesses, with strong capabilities in scientific or engineering research or education and a passion for innovation. An unsolicited proposal from a for-profit organization may be funded when the project is of special concern from a national point of view, special resources are available for the work, or the proposed project is especially meritorious. NSF is interested in supporting projects that couple industrial use-inspired challenges and research resources with those of IHEs; therefore, the Foundation especially welcomes proposals for cooperative projects involving both IHEs and industry. Specific NSF funding opportunities also may make For-Profit Organizations eligible for submission of proposals to the Foundation. US-based affiliates or subsidiaries of foreign organizations must contact the cognizant NSF program officer prior to preparing and submitting a proposal to NSF.

(b) State and Local Governments — As programmatically necessary and as provided for in a solicitation or BAA, State, and local governments may be eligible to submit proposals.

(c) Foreign Organizations — NSF rarely provides direct funding support to foreign organizations. NSF will consider proposals for cooperative projects involving U.S. and foreign organizations, provided support is requested only for the U.S. portion of the collaborative effort.

In cases however, where the proposer considers the foreign organization or foreign individual’s involvement to be essential to the project and proposes to provide funding through the NSF budget (through a subaward or consultant arrangement), the proposer must explain why support from the foreign counterpart’s in-country resources is not feasible and why the foreign organization or foreign individual can carry out the activity more effectively than a U.S. organization or U.S. individual. In addition, the proposed activity must demonstrate how one or more of the following conditions have been met:

The foreign organization or foreign individual contributes unique expertise, organizational capability, facilities, data resources, and/or access to a geographic location not generally available to U.S. investigators (or which would require significant effort or time to duplicate); and/or
The foreign organization or foreign individual offers significant science and engineering education, training, or research opportunities to the U.S.

Such information must be included in any proposal to NSF, including new and renewal proposals. The information must be included in the project description section of the proposal. The box for "Funding of a Foreign Organization or Foreign Individual" must be checked on the Cover Sheet if the proposal includes funding for a foreign organization or foreign individual.

(d) Other Federal Agencies — NSF does not normally support research or education activities by scientists, engineers or educators employed by Federal agencies or FFRDCs. Under unusual circumstances, other Federal agencies and FFRDCs may submit proposals directly to NSF. A proposed project is only eligible for support if it meets one or more of the following exceptions, as determined by a cognizant NSF Program Officer in advance of proposal submission:

Special Projects. Under exceptional circumstances, research, or education projects at other Federal agencies or FFRDCs that can make unique contributions to the needs of researchers elsewhere or to other specific NSF objectives may receive NSF support.
National and International Programs. The Foundation may fund research and logistical support activities of other Government agencies or FFRDCs directed at meeting the goals of special national and international research programs for which the Foundation bears special responsibility, such as the U.S. Antarctic Research Program.
International Travel Awards. To help ensure appropriate representation or availability of a particular expertise at an international conference, staff researchers of other Federal agencies may receive NSF international travel awards.

Proposers who think their project may meet one of the exceptions listed above must contact a cognizant NSF Program Officer before preparing a proposal for submission. In addition, a scientist, engineer or educator who has a joint appointment with an IHE and a Federal agency (such as a Veterans Administration Hospital, or with an IHE and a FFRDC) may submit proposals through the IHE and may receive support if the individual is a faculty member (or equivalent) of the IHE, although part of the individual’s salary may be provided by the Federal agency. Preliminary inquiry must be made to the appropriate program before preparing a proposal for submission.

3. Unaffiliated individuals

Unaffiliated individuals in the U.S. and unaffiliated U.S. citizens are not eligible to receive direct funding support from NSF. Recipients of Federal funds must be able to demonstrate their ability to fully comply with the requirements specified in 2 CFR §200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards. As such, unaffiliated individuals are strongly encouraged to affiliate with an organization that is able to meet the requirements specified in 2 CFR §200.

An individual submitting a proposal to an NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship solicitation is not considered an unaffiliated individual.

F. When to Submit Proposals

Proposers should allow adequate time for processing of proposals (see Chapter I.H for further information). Many NSF programs accept proposals at any time. Other programs, however, establish due dates for submission of proposals. The following types of due dates are utilized by NSF:

1. Target Dates : dates after which proposals will still be accepted, although they may miss a particular panel or committee meeting.

2. Deadline Dates : dates after which proposals will not be accepted or will be returned without review by NSF. The deadline date will be waived only in extenuating circumstances. Such a deviation may be authorized only in accordance with Chapter II.A.

3. Submission Windows : designated periods of time during which proposals will be accepted for review by NSF. It is NSF’s policy that the end date of a submission window converts to, and is subject to, the same policies as a deadline date.

These target dates, deadlines, and submission windows are published in specific program descriptions, program announcements and solicitations that can be obtained through the NSF website. [4] Unless otherwise stated in a program announcement or solicitation, proposals must be received by the specified date. If the deadline date falls on a weekend, it will be extended to the following Monday; if the date falls on a Federal holiday, it will be extended to the following business day. Proposals must be received by 5 p.m. submitter's local time on the established deadline date. Failure to submit by 5.p.m. submitter’s local time will result in the proposal not being accepted. See Chapter IV.B for additional information. Letters of intent or preliminary proposals also follow the 5 p.m. submitter's local time standard.

Special Exceptions to NSF’s Deadline Date Policy

In the occurrence of a natural or anthropogenic event, or when NSF is closed due to inclement weather or other reason that interferes with an organization’s ability to meet a proposal submission deadline, NSF has developed the following guidelines for use by impacted organizations.

Natural or Anthropogenic Event - Flexibility in meeting announced deadline dates because of a natural or anthropogenic event that impacts a proposer’s ability to submit a proposal to NSF may be granted with the approval of the cognizant NSF Program Officer. Where possible, such requests should be submitted in advance of the proposal deadline. Proposers should contact the cognizant NSF Program Officer in the Division/Office to which they intend to submit their proposal and request authorization to submit a proposal after the deadline date. Proposers must then follow the written or verbal guidance provided by the cognizant NSF Program Officer. The Foundation will work with each impacted organization on a case-by-case basis to address its specific issue(s). Generally, NSF permits extension of the deadline by up to five business days.

To submit the proposal after the deadline date, proposers must check the “Special Exception to the Deadline Date Policy” box on the NSF Cover Sheet, indicating NSF approval has been obtained. A statement identifying the nature of the event that impacted the ability to submit the proposal on time must be uploaded under Nature of Natural or Anthropogenic Event in the Single Copy Document section in Research.gov. If available, written approval from the cognizant NSF Program Officer also should be uploaded under the Additional Single Copy Documents in the Single Copy Document section in Research.gov.

Closure of NSF – When NSF is closed due to inclement weather or other reason [5] , deadline(s) that occurred during the closure automatically will be extended to the following business day after the closure ends.

G. How to Submit Proposals

1. submission instructions.

The same work/proposal cannot be funded twice. If the proposer envisions review by multiple programs, more than one program may be designated on the Cover Sheet. The submission of duplicate or substantially similar proposals concurrently for review by more than one program will result in the return of the redundant proposals. (See Chapter IV.B.)

In submission of a proposal for funding, the AOR is required to provide certain NSF-specific proposal certifications. (See Chapter II.C.1.d for a listing.) This certification process will occur concurrently with submission of the proposal. Submission of government-wide representations and certifications is addressed in Chapter I.G.2 below.

2. Requirements Relating to Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) and Registration in the System for Award Management (SAM)

All proposers must provide a UEI when applying for a new or renewal award. NSF requires that organizations registering to use NSF's electronic systems have a valid and active SAM registration and have a valid UEI. NSF will validate that each proposer's UEI and SAM registration are active and valid prior to allowing submission of a proposal to NSF. If a registration is not active, an organization will not be able to submit a proposal. Additionally, if the registration is not revalidated annually and is not valid, NSF will block any award approval actions. Organizations are responsible for maintaining their SAM registration and UEI information.

Any subrecipients named in the proposal also are required to obtain a UEI and register in Research.gov. Subrecipients named in the proposal, however, do not need to be registered in SAM. GSA has implemented a process by which an organization that will only be a subrecipient may receive a UEI without undergoing a complete SAM registration. See the SAM.gov website for additional information about registration and UEI assignment.

SAM is the primary registrant database for the U.S. Government. SAM collects, validates, stores, and disseminates data in support of agency acquisition missions, including Federal agency contract and Federal financial assistance awards. This SAM registration must be maintained with current information at all times during which an organization has an active award or a proposal under consideration by NSF. Failure to comply with SAM registration requirement prior to proposal submission may impact the processing of the proposal. Proposers are advised that entity registration will become active after three to five business days when the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) validates the Tax ID Number.

Organizations are responsible for maintaining the accuracy of their information in SAM and utilizing SAM to submit government-wide representations and certifications. Prior to proposal submission, all proposing organizations are required to have reviewed and certified compliance with the government-wide financial assistance representations and certifications maintained in SAM. Failure to comply with SAM certification and registration requirements will impact the submission and processing of the proposal. If a registration is not active, an organization will not be able to submit a proposal, nor will NSF be able to take approval actions on any submitted proposals or recommended awards. Additionally, payments will not be able to be processed and approved.

Organizations also are responsible for updating all SAM registration information as it changes. Once an award is made, failure to maintain current and complete information within SAM will impact receipt of funding. To maintain an active status in SAM, an organization's registration must be renewed and revalidated at least every 12 months from the date of the previous registration, including recertification of the government-wide financial assistance representations and certifications. If the registration is not renewed, it will expire. An expired registration will impact an organization's ability to submit proposals and/or receive award payments. Note that if an organization's registration lapses, it will take longer to reactivate the registration than if the registration is still active when doing the revalidation and recertification.

SAM is the NSF system of record for organizational information, including financial and address information. The Legal Business Name and Physical Address information are automatically pulled from SAM and used by NSF to validate organizational information. All name and address changes must be handled via SAM. NSF has no control over SAM and cannot override SAM data or statuses.

The NSF ID is a unique numerical identifier assigned to users by NSF. The NSF ID is used throughout NSF's electronic systems as a login ID and identification verification. Each individual user of NSF systems, (e.g., Research.gov) should not have more than one NSF ID. Users with more than one NSF ID should contact the Help Desk at 1-800-381-1532 or by e-mail to [email protected] for assistance.

Submission of Social Security Numbers (SSNs) only will be requested where it is necessary for business purposes, e.g., financial reimbursement. An SSN is solicited under the NSF Act of 1950, as amended.

4. Proposal Receipt

Once the proposal is submitted, PIs can check the status of the proposal via use of NSF's electronic systems. If a proposal number is not reflected in the electronic systems, contact the Help Desk at 1-800-381-1532 or by e-mail to [email protected] .

Communications about the proposal should be addressed to the cognizant NSF Program Officer with reference to the proposal number. Proposers are strongly encouraged to use NSF's electronic systems to verify the status of their submission to NSF.

H. Proposal Processing

Proposers should allow up to six months for programmatic review and processing (see Chapter III for additional information on the NSF merit review process). In addition, proposers should be aware that the NSF Division of Grants and Agreements generally makes awards within 30 calendar days after the program division/office makes its recommendation. Grants and cooperative agreements that are being made to organizations that have not received an NSF award within the preceding five years or involving special situations (such as coordination with another Federal agency or a private funding source), cooperative agreements, and other unusual arrangements may require additional review and processing time. Proposals that are time-sensitive (e.g., conference and group travel) will be accepted for review only if, in the opinion of the cognizant Program Officer, they are received in sufficient time to permit appropriate NSF review and processing to support an award in advance of the activity to be supported. Every effort is made to reach a decision and inform the proposer promptly. Until an award is made, NSF is not responsible for any costs incurred by the proposing organization.

Footnotes to Chapter I

[3] Unless otherwise specified, the term "organization" refers to all categories of proposers.

[4] A listing of upcoming target dates and deadlines, sorted by date and by program area is available on the NSF website.

[5] This policy is not intended to cover NSF closures due to lapses in appropriation. In such cases, specific guidance will be issued, as appropriate.

Yes, beavers can help stop wildfires. And more places in California are embracing them

A beaver complex in California, about an hour and a half north of Lake Tahoe, stayed green and healthy even as the Beckwourth Complex fire burned the surrounding landscape in 2021. (Emily Fairfax)

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A vast burn scar unfolds in drone footage of a landscape seared by massive wildfires north of Lake Tahoe. But amid the expanses of torched trees and gray soil, an unburnt island of lush green emerges.

The patch of greenery was painstakingly engineered. A creek had been dammed, creating ponds that slowed the flow of water so the surrounding earth had more time to sop it up. A weblike system of canals helped spread that moisture through the floodplain. Trees that had been encroaching on the wetlands were felled.

Aggressive and impactful reporting on climate change, the environment, health and science.

But it wasn’t a team of firefighters or conservationists who performed this work. It was a crew of semiaquatic rodents whose wetland-building skills have seen them gain popularity as a natural way to mitigate wildfires.

A movement is afoot to restore beavers to the state’s waterways, many of which have suffered from their absence.

“Beavers belong in California, and they should be part of our fire management plan,” said Emily Fairfax, assistant professor of geography at the University of Minnesota, who shot the drone footage of a series of beaver ponds along Little Last Chance Creek that remained green in the wake of the 2021 Beckwourth Complex fire.

Fairfax’s recent research found that beavers’ skills are useful even in the face of megafires like the Beckwourth — a 105,000-acre behemoth whose burn scar joined with that of the Dixie fire , which started weeks later and burned more than 960,000 neighboring acres .

Map locates Little Last Chance Creek in Northern California.

“They basically build up an ecosystem that’s resilient to fire through the vegetation mosaic, then keep it really well watered so it never dries out, never becomes easy to burn,” she said.

Native to much of California, beavers were hunted to near extinction throughout North America by fur traders in the 1800s. Their numbers have rebounded in some areas, with populations in the Sierra Nevada, northeastern California and along the Salinas River Corridor from San Luis Obispo to Monterey, but they’ve had a hard time recovering overall.

The roly-poly rodents chew up and move around large amounts of plant material, damming streams to create ponds where they can hide from predators. They dig channels stretching from those ponds deeper into forests so they can forage for food without leaving the water. These activities can convert narrow streams into massive wetland complexes.

“They are just trying to build themselves a mega shopping mart so that they can go and get the groceries all the time, in all four seasons,” said Kate Lundquist, co-director of the nonprofit Occidental Arts & Ecology Center Water Institute. “And the result of that is you have these really resilient oases that won’t burn in a fire.”

Beavers can also help restore burned areas: Their dams trap ash and debris, and their wetlands help rehydrate landscapes, supporting the growth of grasses and shrubs, Lundquist said.

This can improve water quality, store carbon and support habitat for endangered species, disproportionately benefiting the entire ecosystem, said Brock Dolman, co-director of the Water Institute.

“All of these issues that we have state or federal laws and programs we’re spending hundreds of millions of dollars on to address, in many cases, beavers are showing up as a partner that can help us mitigate some of those,” he said.

But the same skills that make beavers such keen ecosystem engineers have also gained them enemies among farmers, ranchers and other landowners. Beavers’ dam-building and tree-chewing can flood roads and pastures and damage or destroy crops, timber stores and landscaping plantings.

A member of the beaver family creating tension in Martinez, Calif.,

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Still, their reputation as nuisance pests has been turning around.

“Over the recent decades, there’s really been this major paradigm shift surrounding how beavers are perceived,” said Valerie Cook, manager of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s beaver restoration program, which got up and running roughly a year ago and now has five dedicated staffers.

Last year, the department adopted a new policy formally recognizing beavers as a keystone species — those that play an outsized role in maintaining the diversity of their ecosystem — and encouraging landowners to try nonlethal methods for living with them before seeking approval to kill them.

The state has made available roughly $2 million in grant funding to landowners for these nonlethal methods, which can include sand-paint mixtures to deter beavers from chewing through trees, devices to prevent them from blocking up water control structures and pond levelers that mitigate flooding by allowing water to flow through dams, Cook said. Tribes, public agencies and non-governmental organizations can apply to fund human-beaver coexistence projects.

Two beavers swim in Napa Creek in July 2023

Program staffers have also moved beavers from places where they’re coming into conflict with people and released them where they’re projected to do some good.

That kicked off in the fall with the reintroduction of a family of seven beavers into Tásmam Koyóm, a meadow on the ancestral land of the Mountain Maidu in Plumas County. One of the young beavers appears to have paired up with a resident beaver who already lived a bit downstream, Cook said.

More beavers are slated to be released this summer on the Tule River Reservation in the foothills of the southern Sierra, where the Tule River Tribe has long been a leader of beaver restoration efforts in the state.

Kenneth McDarment, former vice chairman, founded the tribe’s beaver project in 2014 as he watched the land grow parched and fire-prone amid years of drought.

“We were just trying to find another way to keep more water on the reservation for the people,” he said. “So that leads back to the tribe’s pictographs, where we have beavers.”

The roughly 1,000-year-old pictographs depict how various animals, including beavers, created the world. Beavers paddled in the waterways that wind through the reservation until several decades ago: A tribal elder recalls seeing them there when he was a boy, McDarment said.

“We thought, why not bring the beaver home?” he said.

Tribal members and partners have spent years preparing the area, building beaver dam analogues to create conditions conducive to their return, McDarment said. Meadows along those dammed riverscapes have already acted as wildlife safety zones during several fires that burned through the reservation over the past few years, he said.

They’ve also ensured there are plenty of plants for the beavers to eat and deep enough pools for them to escape from predators, he said. Those now include members of the Yowlumni wolf pack , which was discovered in the area last summer .

“We’ve been waiting to get to this point for a long time,” McDarment said. “It’s just a good feeling to finally receive them, to get to that point where we can watch them grow and watch them spread out and watch them do their thing on the creeks and river.”

The state’s beaver program is now soliciting proposals from other landowners who want beavers on their properties for restoration purposes, and staffers plan to select at least one additional project to tackle this year, Cook said. They are in the process of developing a scoring system for these proposals to triage where beavers can do the most good. One of the things they’ll be looking at is the probability of high-severity wildfire in the project area, she said.

Flames rise from the York Fire on Ivanpah Rd. on Sunday, July 30, 2023, in the Mojave National Preserve, Calif. Crews battled “fire whirls” in California’s Mojave National Preserve this weekend as a massive wildfire crossed into Nevada amid dangerously high temperatures and raging winds. (AP Photo/Ty O'Neil)

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Beavers aren’t a silver bullet for California’s wildfire problems, experts warn. The state’s chaparral-studded hillsides and thickly forested mountain slopes have also grown more flammable due to interlocking legacies of human extraction, development and climate change. Those ecosystems require different interventions to restore their resilience to fire, Fairfax said.

“Beavers are really powerful within the riverscape and the river corridors, but they are not going to walk up hill slopes and mountainsides and deal with forests up there,” she said.

Still, within river corridors, beavers can play a key role in creating natural fire breaks by rewetting meadows and reducing the encroachment of forests, researchers have found.

“It’s a pretty simple concept of: wet a bigger, broader area and you’re going to keep fires at bay — at least to some degree,” said Karen Pope, aquatic ecologist with the U.S. Forest Service’s Pacific Southwest Research Station.

Beavers belong in California, and they should be part of our fire management plan.

— Emily Fairfax, University of Minnesota

Pope’s research has estimated that there were once nearly three times as many meadows in the Sierra. But during the Gold Rush, colonizers altered vegetation and destabilized riverbanks with grazing, at times draining meadows to make way for different land uses. People eventually built roads with flow-constricting culverts and depleted aquifers with irrigation and groundwater pumping, making it harder for rivers to connect to underground water stores.

As a result, some streams became deeply incised channels that act as drains, lowering the water table and encouraging conifers to move in where meadows once were, Pope said.

“Basically what we’re saying is, if we can do this restoration and these areas will stay wet late into the dry season, that’s one place you don’t have to maintain as a fuel break,” she said. “Nature maintains it as a fuel break.”

Pope’s latest research, conducted in the Sierra and Plumas national forests, focuses on how people can rewet meadows in both burned and unburned areas by doing things like building beaver dam analogues. Preliminary results, which have not yet been published, are positive — after these structures were installed, some depleted meadows began storing groundwater pretty much immediately, she said.

The goals of these interventions are twofold: restore the wetlands, and entice beavers to move in and maintain them, Pope said.

“The ultimate endpoint is to have the beavers come back in and say, ‘We like what you did,’” she said.

MOJAVE NATIONAL PRESERVE,CA - JANUARY 5, 2024: Buds are retuning on some of the charred vegetation six months after the York fire destroyed 93,000 acres in July on January 5, 2024 in Mojave National Preserve, California. The blaze was largest in a series of wildfires that have become increasingly common as climate change brings hotter, drier summers and more extreme swings in precipitation, experts say. Since 2005, more than 200,000 acres have burned in and around the Mojave National Preserve, destroying lush pinyon pine and juniper woodlands, desert tortoise habitat and ancient petroglyphs. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Fairfax has become one of the nation’s top beaver evangelists, gaining fans with her stop-motion animation video showing how beaver wetlands can slow the intensity of wildfire, and for her concept of Smokey the Beaver as a counterpart to the Fire Service’s ursine poster child for fire suppression. She’s working with Google to build a machine learning model that can identify beaver dams in satellite imagery.

Her past research has found that beavers create wildfire refuges: unburned or lightly crisped islands where plants and animals are able to survive amid flames. But there was some question as to whether that would still be the case during megafires, which burn more than 100,000 acres and tend to have extreme, self-sustaining behaviors.

In their most recent study, Fairfax and fellow researchers used remote sensing to examine the burn severity of three megafires that burned in the Rocky Mountains in 2020. They found that 89% of the area around beaver ponds and dams qualified as fire refuges, versus 60% of riverscapes without beaver dams. These results are applicable to California, which also has coniferous forest and relies on snowpack to provide moisture during the relatively drier summer seasons, Fairfax said.

“Ecologically, this is like a bubble in the landscape that is what it was before the fire,” Fairfax said. “Even if everything else around it has been changed and is like a moonscape of burning, you have mature trees, grasses, living beavers, bobcats and other animals, and they can then go reproduce and repopulate that landscape after the fire.”

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At Pine Mountain Club in Kern County, home and vehicle break-ins by bears are a recurring source of stress, as well as community division.

March 18, 2024

Is California’s wildfire season finally over? Don’t bet on it, experts say

Sept. 29, 2023

Two beavers swim in Napa Creek, Wednesday, July 19, 2023, in Napa, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vasquez)

Baby beaver sighting brings hopes of comeback for California’s little climate superheroes

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Sequoia National Forest, CA - September 16,2021: Sierra Cobras fire crew member Gustavo Cisneros keeps an eye on a hillside as flames roil the Sequoia National Forest on the Windy fire near the Tule River Reservation on Thursday, Sept. 16, 2021 in Sequoia National Forest, CA. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Climate change boosts risk of explosive wildfire growth in California by 25%, study says

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Alex Wigglesworth is an environment reporter who covers wildfire and forestry for the Los Angeles Times.

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PDF Tips for Preparing the Prelim Proposal by Jonathan Raper
What to do in each section of the research proposal: Specific Aims You have three objectives in this section. The first is to focus the reader's attention on the ... In a real grant proposal, preliminary results show the reviewers that the applicant is able to do the experiments he or she proposes, and to present evidence that makes
How to write the expected results in a research proposal?
Writing about the expected results of your study in your proposal is a good idea as it can help to establish the significance of your study. On the basis of the problems you have identified and your proposed methodology, you can describe what results can be expected from your research. It's not possible for you to predict the exact outcome of ...
How to Write a Research Proposal
Research proposal examples. Writing a research proposal can be quite challenging, but a good starting point could be to look at some examples. We've included a few for you below. Example research proposal #1: "A Conceptual Framework for Scheduling Constraint Management".
11.2 Steps in Developing a Research Proposal
Key Takeaways. Developing a research proposal involves the following preliminary steps: identifying potential ideas, choosing ideas to explore further, choosing and narrowing a topic, formulating a research question, and developing a working thesis. A good topic for a research paper interests the writer and fulfills the requirements of the ...
Laying the Groundwork: Describing Your Preliminary Results
Preliminary data and results serve a number of purposes. First and foremost, they establish a pattern of work for the reader to consider - something tangible to associate with you as a researcher. Secondly, it establishes a project foundation for your proposed work. This gives your theoretical foundation something to which you can directly ...
How To Write A Research Proposal
Here is an explanation of each step: 1. Title and Abstract. Choose a concise and descriptive title that reflects the essence of your research. Write an abstract summarizing your research question, objectives, methodology, and expected outcomes. It should provide a brief overview of your proposal. 2.
PDF Tips For Organizing/Writing Your Prelim/Thesis
of preliminary results obtained; discussion of models/hypotheses to be tested. Include figures showing any preliminary data. 5. Proposed Research- Description of plans for future work, with clear discussion of why this work is important to achieve research goals. Include figures that help explain research goals or planned activities. 6.
Writing a Research Proposal
Your professor may assign the task of writing a research proposal for the following reasons: ... V. Preliminary Suppositions and Implications. ... the subject area under investigation. Depending on the aims and objectives of your study, describe how the anticipated results will impact future scholarly research, theory, practice, forms of ...
Research Proposals: Writing Strategies and Ethical Considerations
This post includes tips about writing qualitative proposals excerpted from Research Design by Creswell and Creswell. ... the need for preliminary results, and early evidence of practical significance focus a reader's attention on key elements often overlooked in discussions about proposed projects. Format for a Qualitative Proposal.
How to Write a Research Proposal
Research proposal examples. Writing a research proposal can be quite challenging, but a good starting point could be to look at some examples. We've included a few for you below. Example research proposal #1: 'A Conceptual Framework for Scheduling Constraint Management'.
PDF Writing a Research Proposal
A Research Proposal has several inter-related purposes: Writing an effective research proposal also trains you in a ... Preliminary Results: details any results that you may already have as a result of previous Honours or Masters research work, perhaps also from a pilot study. It is
Write a Research Proposal
Some proposals include. a research question, written as a question. or, a hypothesis as a potential response to the research question. or, a thesis statement as an argument that answers the research question. or, aims and objects as accomplishment or operational statements. Foreshadow the outcomes of your research.
PDF Guidelines for Writing Research Proposals and Dissertations
A typical dissertation/research proposal consists of three chapters or parts: the Introduction (Chapter 1), the Review of Related Literature and/or ... preliminary material. While both proposals and final dissertations contain a Title ... affect the results of the study or how the results are interpreted. Stating
How to Write a Research Proposal in 2024: Structure, Examples & Common
A quality example of a research proposal shows one's above-average analytical skills, including the ability to coherently synthesize ideas and integrate lateral and vertical thinking. Communication skills. The proposal also demonstrates your proficiency to communicate your thoughts in concise and precise language.
Guidelines on writing a research proposal
This is a guide to writing M.A. research proposals. The same principles apply to dissertation proposals and to proposals to most funding agencies. It includes a model outline, but advisor, committee and funding agency expectations vary and your proposal will be a variation on this basic theme. Use these guidelines as a point of departure for ...
Highlight Preliminary Data in Your Next Application
Get examples of how other investigators successfully presented their preliminary research at Sample Applications & More. For more advice, talk to a program officer about your application (but don't send a copy). He or she can advise you on whether your preliminary research seems sufficient to justify your Specific Aims.
How to write a research proposal?
A proposal needs to show how your work fits into what is already known about the topic and what new paradigm will it add to the literature, while specifying the question that the research will answer, establishing its significance, and the implications of the answer. [ 2] The proposal must be capable of convincing the evaluation committee about ...
PDF preliminary research proposal
The preliminary research proposal is usually between 1-2 typed pages, and should include the following sections: 1. A title that gives a clear idea of what your thesis may be about. 2. A statement of the research problem you have identified and wish to explore in the thesis. 3. A rationale that explains why the research problem arises or is of ...
Q: How do I write expected results in a research proposal
Answer: Welcome to the Editage Insights Q&A Forum, and thanks for your question. We have quite a few resources on writing the expected results for a research proposal on the Q&A forum. We have linked a few of these below. For more, you can search the forum/site using the relevant keywords.
PDF PhD Research Proposal template 3
Abstract. The abstract is a brief summary of your Ph.D. Research Proposal, and should be no longer than 200 words. It starts by describing in a few words the knowledge domain where your research takes place and the key issues of that domain that offer opportunities for the scientific or technological innovations you intend to explore.
17 Research Proposal Examples (2024)
The Effects of Mindfulness-Based Interventions on Stress Reduction in College Students. Abstract: This research proposal examines the impact of mindfulness-based interventions on stress reduction among college students, using a pre-test/post-test experimental design with both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods. Introduction: College students face heightened stress levels ...
How to write a grant proposal
The key elements of the study protocol are the executive summary, specific aims, background and significance, preliminary results and research design and methods [Table 2]. The research design and the methodology used in the process of planning and conducting the project should be described in detail.
Chapter I: Pre-Submission Information
The NSF program solicitation will specify content and submission requirements when preliminary proposals are to be used. Preliminary proposals are prepared by the PI using the Proposal Preparation Module in Research.gov. On the Cover Sheet, the PI clicks on the "Preliminary Proposal" check box. The PI completes only the sections appropriate to ...
Workshop on Methodology, Preliminary Results & Abstract Writing
Methodology chapter is a chapter where I will discuss on what kind of methods that I will use or apply for my research study. In this chapter, flow charts of our programs, block diagrams, data ...
Beavers can help stop California wildfires, research shows
Yes, beavers can help stop wildfires. And more places in California are embracing them. A beaver complex in California, about an hour and a half north of Lake Tahoe, stayed green and healthy even ...

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How to Write a Research Proposal | Examples & Templates

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11.2 Steps in Developing a Research Proposal

Choosing a Topic

Identifying Potential Topics

Narrowing Your Topic

Exploring Your Topic in Writing

Conducting Preliminary Research

Writing at Work

A Plan for Research

Formulating a Research Question

Constructing a Working ThesIs

Creating a Research Proposal

Writing Your Own Research Proposal

Key Takeaways

Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Assignments

How to Approach Writing a Research Proposal

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Broad topic and focus of study

Importance of topic/field of study

Problem within field of study

Gap(s) in knowledge

Research question or hypothesis

Purpose statement

Goals for proposed research

Background or context (or literature review)

Research question

Subsidiary questions (if applicable)

Thesis statement

Aims and objectives

Object(s) of study / participants / population

Theoretical frame or critical methodology

Materials and apparatus

Procedure and design

Data analysis and statistical procedures

Specific contributions

Impact and significance

Guidelines on writing a research proposal

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17 Research Proposal Examples

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Research Proposal Examples

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