preparing proposal for Phd

positivenote

hi all,
just looking for a bit of advice. Having had a meeting with my potential supervisor about 6 weeks ago, she said that she would be available to supervise me as a research based p/time Phd student. I have know been told to get my proposal together by the 31st of july for the forthcoming academic year. Im just wondering what should be included within this document? the reason i ask is that i cant get in touch with the supervisor as i feel she may be away for the summer or something and im a little unsure as to what should be included in the document or is there a particular formatt which i need to follow?
Im applying to DCU, but im also wondering if i dont get a proposal into them by this deadline can I apply later in the year having had further advice from my supervisor...
I have been reading and researching the content for over 12 months, but im presuming that the likes of this shouldn't be included in the proposal?

sorry if this sounds a bit scattered but its the state my brain is in at the min regarding this?
thanks in advance all the same

brianthebard

Do you have to apply through the PAC system, or direct to DCU?

positivenote

hi,
yes the registry office in DCU told me to fill out the application form and attach my proposal...
any advice would be welcomed.
Thanks

El Siglo

How long does your proposal have to be?
I submitted a proposal last February that had to be in no more than 250 words, that was tough. Once you have a set of research questions, possibly a hypothesis (depending on the nature of your topic) and a set of methodologies outlined then you should be fine. Depending on length, I'd start off with the problem at hand, elaborate slightly but not too much, go into what you intend to do and how so, what contribution your research will make, explain why it's 'original' and then go into you research questions and methods.
I might be wrong but this is more or less what I had to do last time.

positivenote

thanks,
we have had only one meeting but that went on for over an hr and a half and she (my potential supervisor) told me that she thought it was a good idea for a research based PhD study and that she would be willing to supervise it.
During this meeting we did close in on a Hypothesis and she has sent me some reading material, which i have read. The thing is that i have been researching this topic off my own back for approx a year already, using secondary research and primary research (questionaires, interviews which have formulated potential case studies) so its more a case of how much detail should i go into... as there is a fair bit of reading that i have done already (scores of articles all book marked) which has resulted in alot of ideas abllut the topic being generated.

just als as apoint of note, is there always an interview panel, even if the supervisor has said that she would be available and willing to have me as a research student within her dept?

thanks again for the feedback

El Siglo

positivenote wrote: »

thanks,
we have had only one meeting but that went on for over an hr and a half and she (my potential supervisor) told me that she thought it was a good idea for a research based PhD study and that she would be willing to supervise it.
During this meeting we did close in on a Hypothesis and she has sent me some reading material, which i have read. The thing is that i have been researching this topic off my own back for approx a year already, using secondary research and primary research (questionaires, interviews which have formulated potential case studies) so its more a case of how much detail should i go into... as there is a fair bit of reading that i have done already (scores of articles all book marked) which has resulted in alot of ideas abllut the topic being generated.

Man, you're getting into this way too deep.;) I did my proposal in my spare time (when I should've been studying for MSc work) and literally didn't even understand half of the topic but managed to submit something! Don't worry first thing.
As a former lecturer of mine used to say; "the devil is in the detail!" Regarding details, only go into as much as is needed i.e. what is relevant details to what you're doing and don't go on any further.
We'll say your proposal is 1,500 (most funding applications are around this benchmark) so that's about 1,250 words to play around with (minus the intro and conclusion). You've indentified potential case studies, this is good, most of proposals if not all are based on someone elses research already so don't fret about this, you're research is intending to expand on this "already rich body of research by etc..." So talk about the context of your research, where yours will 'fit in' so to speak, and how you are differing from the existing research.
So say for example (off the top of my head), "everyone to the present in this field uses foraminifera as a method of reconstructing sea levels, your research will reconstruct sea levels using stable isotopes", explain why you're using this technique and the uniqueness of this technique. If it's more on the location, explain how all of the research present has covered the US and UK, so there's nothing in Ireland etc... The basic principle you should remember is that you're building on what's there, and how you go about this will add to the originality of the project.
Keep it succinct, to the point, it's not an essay you're writing. The format should be; what was done, give citation and then what will you do different or what will you add to this field.

just als as apoint of note, is there always an interview panel, even if the supervisor has said that she would be available and willing to have me as a research student within her dept?

thanks again for the feedback

It depends on the university and department. I know in UCD when I applied the first time, the lecturer pretty much wrote my proposal and I used this for submission to the college as well as the funding. I didn't do it in the end because it was a shit project and I was inclined on staying in crappy Belfield for another four years.
With Queen's, I had to apply formally to the university, and submit an application to the department as well, the university offered me the PhD off the mark on condition I secured fees funding, this was where I had to go into the pit of lions... the interview. It was tough, five lecturers, I had to give a 10 minute presentation on research I've done (I haven't done a whole lot of research either)... then take questions ranging from my understanding of the topic, what I would add new to the topic and any personal experience that had an effect on me (house fire a month before my finals). What I would say is know your proposal or more importantly, know what you've submitted because this is all that they'll usually ask you on. In which case you can through your extra research take it up a notch and expand on it further (so what you don't get a chance to write in the proposal, you can say at an interview so long as it's relevant).
It's all dependent on the department and university, you might be lucky and avoid a lot of this and just submit the application through the usual channels.

Good luck in any case!