Annex A

Guidelines for Preparing a Research Proposal

This should be in English

The first page should comprise:

- the heading of ‘Application for a (Faculty/Student) Research Award

- the name(s) of the applicant(s)

- the title of the proposed project; and the date of submission.

Thereafter, the proposal should comprise:

1. A Project Description – an abstract, which should state in clear but concise terms the following (although not necessarily in the order listed here): the broad objectives of the project; the hypothesis being tested and the specific aims of the project, its relevance and the proposed methodology for achieving the results.

2. A brief Biography of the applicant(s).

3. A Research Plan – this typically comprises three sections

(i) Research Objectives – what it is planned to do and why. Any hypotheses should be clearly stated.

(ii) Background and Significance – why it is considered to be a suitable topic. This should be a ‘mini-Literature Review’ to allow the Research Committee to assess the potential contributions of the proposed research project.

(iii) Research Design and Methods – how to achieve the desired ends. This should consider how the rationale for adopting a particular approach would accomplish the specific aims of the proposal, including the analytic techniques to be used.