engineering thesis proposal example

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The EECS Department requires that students submit a thesis proposal during their first semester as MEng students, before they have begun substantial work on the thesis. Thesis proposals are brief documents (1500-2500 words) which focus on the ultimate, novel goals of your research project. While it is nearly impossible to extrapolate exactly what could (or will) happen during the course of your research, your proposal serves as a thoughtful approximation of the impact that your project could have as new work in the field, as well as an agreement between you and your thesis research advisor on the scope of your thesis.

Finding a Thesis Research Advisor

MEng thesis research advisors are not required to be EECS faculty members; however, research advisors from other departments, or non-faculty research advisors, must be approved by the EECS Undergraduate Office .

It is the sole responsibility of a student in the MEng program to find a thesis research advisor. There are many ways to go about this process:

• If you are still an undergraduate, look for UROP or SuperUROP opportunities . Many MEng projects stem from UROPs.
• Consider what areas you might be interested in working in, and search relevant lab webpages for people working in those areas. Many EECS MEng students work in RLE, CSAIL, MTL, LIDS, or the Media Lab, but you don’t need to limit your search to these labs. If you find a person whom you think might be a good match, reach out to them with a short email explaining why you’d be interested in MEng opportunities with their group.
• Attend seminars held by research labs that interest you.
• Reach out to instructors you know who teach in the area you’re interested in, as they may be able to point you in a useful direction. Instructors that you’ve gotten to know well (even if they don’t work in your area of interest) as well as your advisor are also useful resources, for the same reasons.
• Keep an open mind to opportunities that are outside of your area. Many students do very interesting MEng projects with faculty from other departments.
• Subscribe to the EECS Opportunities List , which often has advertisements for MEng projects.

Writing Your Proposal

Once you’ve found a thesis research advisor, you should get to work proposing a thesis. Your thesis proposal should be completed while you are in continual conversation with your research advisor. The proposal itself should be divided into five sections:

• The introduction, to introduce the reader to the topic of your thesis.
• Related work, which describes previously-published work that is relevant to your thesis.
• Proposed work, which describes the work you will be doing for your thesis.
• Timeline, which breaks down your proposed work into concrete steps, each with an approximate due date. At a minimum, you should describe what you plan to do each semester of your MEng, but many students give a timeline that is broken down by months, not semesters.
• A bibliography

The EECS Communication Lab provides additional support for thesis proposal writing. You can see more detailed guidelines, as well as examples of previous MEng thesis proposals, here .

Submitting Your Proposal

The thesis proposal, and research advisor approval of the proposal, are typically due on the last day of classes each semester (see here for official deadlines) and there are no formatting requirements for the thesis proposal. When you are ready to submit, you can do so here . If you change your topic or research advisor, you should submit a new proposal.

6-A students must also submit a thesis proposal release letter. These letters can be sent to [email protected] and should follow one of the two templates below.

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PhD Thesis Proposal

Each student who successfully completes the PhD qualifying examination is required to write a PhD thesis proposal, and present and defend the proposal orally before a committee.

As indicated on the Schedule for Timely PhD Completion , ECE doctoral students are expected to achieve candidacy before the end of their fifteenth month of studies.

• May starters must complete the PhD thesis proposal by July of the following year.
• September starters must complete the PhD thesis proposal by November of the following year.
• January starts must complete the PhD thesis proposal by March of the following year.

Format and Content of the Proposal

Please review the following guidelines and suggestions for the format and content of the PhD thesis proposal. The PhD thesis proposal should contain two fundamental components:

• review of the “state of the art” in a reasonably focused contemporary area of electrical and computer engineering research;
• outline of known problems to be solved or original developments that might be anticipated, accompanied by a line of approach to these problems or developments.

The “state of the art” review must refer explicitly to the relevant literature, with all references listed at the end of the proposal. The list of references need not be long, but it should be carefully considered. The list and review should show clear evidence that the student has sufficient knowledge to continue immediately into doctoral level research that will potentially lead to new results, without needing to do further background preparation in the area.

The outline of problems or developments must show that the student can formulate a line of research, including initial methodologies to be used, which should lead to significant contributions and new knowledge.

It is neither necessary nor expected that the PhD thesis proposal contain new research results, though such would be welcome. It is only necessary to be convincing that the chosen proposed area and topic of research has a very good chance of leading to new results.

PhD Thesis Proposal Committee

The supervisor will select professors to serve on the PhD thesis proposal committee according to the following regulations:

• The committee must consist of at least three professors, including the supervisor.
• Ideally, all committee members will hold a graduate faculty membership in ECE.
• One of the committee members may hold a graduate faculty membership in a unit other than ECE, where appropriate for the thesis topic.

PhD Thesis Proposal Presentation

• The supervisor will schedule the presentation. All members of the PhD thesis proposal committee must attend the presentation.
• The written proposal must be submitted to the committee at least two weeks prior to the presentation.
• The student will make a presentation at the meeting and orally defend the PhD thesis proposal.
• If the committee does not consider the proposal to be satisfactory, the student must present and defend a new PhD thesis proposal within four months. If the new proposal is also unsatisfactory, the student’s registration in the PhD program will be terminated.
• The supervisor must submit the PhD Thesis Proposal Report to the ECE Graduate Office within one week of the presentation.
• Upon the successful completion of the PhD thesis proposal, the student will have achieved “PhD candidacy.” The date of PhD candidacy will be recorded on the student’s U of T transcript.

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Aerospace Engineering

Sample project/thesis proposal.

AE295A - Master’s Project Proposal Presented to Dr. Nikos Mourtos by Joshua Benton

September 1, 2011

Miniaturization, Integration, Analysis, and High-Altitude Flight Testing of a Scalable Autonomous GPS-Guided Parafoil for Targeted Payload Return

Background and context.

A parafoil is a special type of airfoil that is non-rigid and relies on dynamic pressure in flight to retain its shape. Due to their being non-rigid (and therefore foldable/packable), parafoils lend themselves very well to applications where controlled descent is required, but limited stowage is available for any sort of traditional wing structure. Also, compared to a traditional round parachute, parafoils have much greater directional control, improved glide performance, and the ability to adjust rate of descent by deforming the shape of the airfoil via control (or “toggle”) lines. These attributes of parafoils have made them very popular for human aerial descent, where the entire parafoil as well as a redundant backup can be stowed in a backpack and deployed rapidly when necessary.

In addition to manned applications, parafoils provide an attractive means to deliver a variety of payloads (e.g. military supplies, emergency equipment, food packages) to remote or inaccessible locations with a moderate degree of accuracy. This accuracy can be further improved by including an autonomous control system on the payload, which can effectively steer the parafoil in the same fashion as a human would, guiding it with a higher degree of precision to its landing point. In the last decade, several independent research efforts have focused on doing exactly this, providing complete, “intelligent” parafoil systems which autonomously steer themselves to a pre-defined landing point to deliver payloads (typically military supplies). Recent research efforts have improved accuracy of these systems from a few kilometers landing error to orders of magnitude less, depending on prevailing winds and initial drop altitude.

In my work at NASA Ames Research Center, we have identified a need to return small payloads (such as biological samples and small science experiments) from the International Space Station when desired or necessary, independently of the larger manned or supply vehicles which visit the Station with relative infrequency. Our proposed solution to this problem requires a means to guide the payload on the final leg of its journey to a selected landing point, with a high degree of precision, to aid in simple and immediate retrieval. The volumetric space available in the proposed return system eliminates rigid wing structures as a solution, and the gliding device for atmospheric descent must remain stowed until post-reentry. For these reasons, a parafoil system appears to be a very attractive solution.

In addition to ISS return applications, a well-developed autonomous parafoil system could be scaled larger and used for a number of other applications of interest to us, including the return of experiments from sub-orbital sounding rocket flights, which currently relies on slow, expensive, and frequently- unsuccessful water recovery from rented boats.

We have identified and worked with researchers at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterrey, California, on a GPS-guided parafoil device they are developing. From our collaboration, we have built our own version of their GPS-guided return device, and have drop-tested it several times from low altitudes (~3000 ft. AGL) from an autonomous UAV. We have also collaborated with colleagues and a student team at the University of Idaho in 3 high-altitude balloon drops of the device, but two of these drops resulted in failures: the first, failure to separate from the balloon due to tangling; and the second, failure for the parafoil to fully inflate.

Problem Definition and Approach

Though we have already fabricated a prototype version of the autonomous parafoil return device we wish to use for the ISS, there are still many problems to solve to make it a practical and feasible solution:

• Miniaturization of the autonomous control system : At present, the autonomous steering system that hangs below the parafoil is much too large volumetrically to fit within the confines of the ISS sample return system. A design of the physical structure and a more efficient packaging scheme are required to miniaturize the control system while still maintaining reliability and functionality. Smaller steering servos, more efficient line rigging and tensioning, and a smaller battery (while still maintaining design margin) are necessary to achieve this.
• Characterization of high-altitude parafoil aerodynamics : Due to the nature of the application we wish to use this device for, it is advantageous to attain steering authority at as high an altitude as possible. In doing so, the maximum achievable ground range of targeted landing is improved. Unfortunately, the functioning of a parafoil relies on dynamic pressure to maintain its structural shape, and high-altitude use is problematic due to collapse and “nose-diving” of the parafoil over its payload. To understand the maximum glide capability we can achieve with a parafoil return device, the aerodynamics of the parafoil at high altitude/low pressure need to be characterized and validated, through analysis and testing. CFD, vacuum chamber testing, and another high-altitude balloon test in April 2012 will be used to analyze and validate the performance of the parafoil at high altitude.
• Semi-rigidization of the parafoil structure : To eliminate the problem of parafoil collapse in low dynamic pressure, a method of self-deployment while maintaining packable stowage capability will be developed. A system of lightweight spring-like material will be added to the parafoil to make the structure “semi-rigid” and capable of maintaining its shape in a low pressure environment. Vacuum chamber testing will provide a means of validation prior to balloon flight testing of the integrated system.
• Software porting of advanced guidance code to a newer control board : At present, our version of the Naval Postgraduate School’s GPS-guided parafoil device uses a different microprocessor board than their device. Previously, I have only programmed our board to steer the device to a specified heading, rather than to a specific set of landing coordinates. A ported version of the advanced code exists, but is written for an older version of our control board, and has yet to be tested/de-bugged. As part of the development effort, the ported code requires modification for compatibility with the new version of the control board, debugging, and ground-testing.

As noted above, an opportunity exists to flight-test the entire system from a high-altitude balloon in April 2012 with the collaboration of the University of Idaho’s RISE balloon team. This is the same team we have worked with in the past and have developed an excellent working relationship and understanding of all necessary procedures and protocols for safe flight testing of the parafoil system. During flight, the payload and balloon are tracked via redundant GPS transponders on the APRS radio network (amateur HAM band), enabling precise recovery of the payload systems.

Data returned from the flight testing includes HD video (one camera up-looking to the parafoil and another looking 45 degrees to the ground); a GPS flight track including time and altitude via the APRS network as well as the data-logging control board of the parafoil device; and three-dimensional component velocity and acceleration of the parafoil payload via an on-board IMU.

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1 Introduction

2 course overview, 3 weekly status reports, 4 assignments, 5 final thesis proposal and presentation, 6 class participation, 7 evaluation, 8 summary and conclusions, acknowledgment, a thesis proposal development course for engineering graduate students.

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Tanaka, M. L. (September 11, 2020). "A Thesis Proposal Development Course for Engineering Graduate Students." ASME. J Biomech Eng . November 2020; 142(11): 114704. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4047925

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Helping engineering graduate students to write their thesis can be a difficult and time-consuming undertaking for a thesis advisor. Efficiency can be gained by having an experienced graduate student thesis advisor help multiple students at the same time. This article describes the philosophy, methods, and course design details used to develop and conduct a graduate level course on “thesis proposal development” for engineering students. The course provides structure to encourage students to engage in research and write their thesis proposal. The thesis proposal contains the student's detailed research plans and serves as the foundation for the student's final thesis. Each element of the course is described in detail with enough information that readers can implement the course at their own institution using this article as a guide. It includes detailed descriptions of individual assignments, reasons for including the assignment in the course, and Supplemental Material on the ASME Digital Collection which is downloadable from the journal. Since implementing this at our university, we have observed improvements in graduate student research projects, better written theses, and earlier thesis defense dates. The changes were implemented without altering the number of credit hours needed to graduate and we believe that the change has been beneficial.

Burke has described research as joining an “‘unending conversation’ that is going on at the point in history when we are born” [ 1 – 5 ]. Because students are entering in the middle of this “conversation,” it can be difficult for new graduate students to understand how their research ties into existing research in the field [ 6 , 7 ]. It can be particularly difficult for students studying engineering whose research is often focused on engineering design [ 8 – 11 ] or understanding of physical phenomenon [ 12 – 15 ] rather than performing a detailed examination of literature, an approach more common in the humanities. For this special education issue of the Journal of Biomechanical Engineering , this article describes the philosophy, methods, and course design details used to develop and conduct a graduate level course on “thesis proposal development” for engineering students. The goal of this article is to provide one example of how a graduate program's curriculum can be slightly modified to improve graduate student research projects and the outcome of this effort, the thesis. It is not intended to be a comprehensive solution that is suitable for all graduate engineering programs.

Whether in industry or academics, engineering research projects usually begin with a well-developed plan. For the graduate student, this can be a detailed thesis proposal. Writing this proposal requires the student to perform research to develop an understanding of the topic area, develop plans to conduct the research, and document these plans. It compels the student to select a specific approach among multiple research options, provides a means to communicate their ideas and align them with the goals of their thesis advisor, and provides the foundation for the final thesis.

When writing a thesis proposal and the final thesis, my observation is that engineering students have difficulty in two main areas, (1) structure and flow of the manuscript and (2) grammar and writing style. It is not uncommon for a student's initial draft to have information scattered throughout the document in seemingly random locations. Students may seek writing assistance from university support services, but this may yield less than adequate results when sought in the early stages of thesis development. The writing tutors who are skilled in the use of the English language may lack the engineering knowledge needed to help a new graduate student organize his or her ideas. This is not to say that resources are unavailable for engineering students. Some writing centers have taken additional measures to support engineering students. At the University of South Carolina, Walker [ 16 ] describes how a writing center was established within the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. The center provides services to the entire college of engineering and students work with consultants who have been specifically trained in technical writing. Writing centers at Stanford University [ 17 ] and Western Carolina University [ 18 ] are located within the engineering building and provide easy access for engineering students. Students can also obtain assistance by enrolling in writing courses. Some universities have developed writing courses specifically designed for graduate-level engineers. Examples of these can be found at Princeton University [ 19 ], North Carolina State University [ 20 ], and the University of Toronto [ 21 ]. Even if courses are not available at the student's institution, engineering graduate students can still obtain free writing assistance through Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) like the one offered at Colorado State University [ 22 ]. For graduate students needing immediate assistance, writing assistance websites for engineers also exist. Some examples include sites at Penn State University [ 23 ], Rowan University [ 24 ], and Purdue University [ 25 ]. However, even with these services, many engineering faculty members spend a significant amount of time helping each of their graduate students to write her or his thesis [ 26 , 27 ].

Thesis advisors usually begin to assist their students by providing one-on-one suggestions on how to improve the structure and flow of the thesis. Once sections are organized in a logical order, they can be flowed together, the grammar corrected, and the writing style improved. The experience/skill level of the thesis advisor can have a large impact on the writing experience for the students and the quality of the resulting document. In summary, it is my observation that (1) engineering graduate students need help writing their thesis, (2) this help must be provided by someone who is knowledgeable in the field of engineering, (3) it takes a great amount of time to help each student one-on-one, and (4) some people are better at helping students write their theses than others.

Efficiency can be gained by having an experienced graduate student thesis advisor help multiple students in the program at the same time. Implementing it as a required course in the curriculum provides rigor, encourages compliance, and assignments may be given to ensure that students make progress throughout the semester. In addition, because it is a regular course, the time that faculty spend reading student's work and providing individual feedback is formally captured in the faculty member's teaching load. Another benefit is that this course can replace existing graduate research credits in the program, so no additional program hours are needed. For students, the assistance provided should make the thesis-writing process easier and it will not add much additional effort beyond what is already required for graduation. In addition to benefits to students, implementing the course can reduce the workload on the faculty member serving as the student's research/thesis advisor.

At Western Carolina University (WCU), the thesis proposal development course was added and one of the thesis research courses was removed, so the number of credit hours required to earn the degree remained unchanged. Initially, these changes implemented informally by redesigning an existing course. The formal course has several advantages for thesis advisors and students. The characteristics of a well-written thesis proposal can be explained to multiple students at the same time. Details can be discussed, and students' questions answered in a group setting rather than individually. Students benefit from being able to ask questions specific to their thesis project and all students benefit from hearing the faculty member's response. Talking through each student's project in class provides multiple examples of how a particular section of the thesis can be written. In addition, when a student makes a mistake feedback can be given to the entire class in an anonymous way so that all students can learn from it. At WCU, the section is limited to 15 students. This small group setting is large enough for students to learn from each other, but still small enough to discuss individual projects and provide project-specific advice.

The design of each portion of the course is described in this article. Motivation for each section and learning objectives are also included. For those interested in implementing a course of this type, see Supplemental Material on the ASME Digital Collection (free to those with access) including an example course syllabus, lecture schedule and the sample assignments.

The course titled “Thesis Proposal Development” is designed to guide students through the preparation and development of their master's thesis proposal. It should be taken during the first or second semester of the student's graduate education. The main product of the course is the thesis proposal, a detailed document (roughly 15–20 pages) that includes the introduction, literature review, methods, and expected results. Once written, the thesis proposal serves as a detailed research plan that, upon approval of the thesis committee, the student will begin to execute the following semester. During the course, students learn how to search existing literature, techniques to critically evaluate journal articles, and how to write a logical and well-developed thesis proposal. The learning objectives for the course are shown in Table 1 . The course contains four major elements, weekly status reports, assignments, a final presentation, and class participation. Each of these elements is discussed in Secs. 3 – 6 .

Course learning objectives

The course is designed to encourage progress toward completing the graduate student's research project and their thesis. One tool utilized is the weekly status report. The weekly status report is designed to ensure that activity is performed each week toward the completion of the student's research project. As part of the course, students are required to meet with their thesis advisor each week to discuss research tasks to be completed the following week. The student writes these tasks on the weekly report form under the category “Activity to complete by next week” (Fig. 1 ). Both the student and the thesis advisor sign or initial the document to indicate agreement with the plan. A scanned copy of the report is uploaded to the learning management system (Blackboard) by Friday of each week. This becomes the weekly research assignment for the student. Before the next weekly meeting, the student copies the assigned task from the previous week's “Activity to complete by next week” into the “Research assignments” section of the report for the new week. Also before the meeting, the student reports on the status of each assigned task in the “Status of assignments at time of meeting” section of the report. This partially completed report is taken to the meeting with the thesis advisor and used to guide the discussion. After discussing the status of each assignment, the final section is completed by the advisor and the student to define the tasks to be completed the next week. This process is repeated each week throughout the term. Weekly status reports are easy for a motivated student to complete. It is suggested that full credit be awarded for on-time submissions (no grading by the course instructor) and the quality of the work be monitored by the thesis advisor. This aspect of the course makes up 10% of the final grade.

Schematic of weekly status report

In some cases, the student's thesis advisor may not be available to meet with the student during a certain week. This may be due to travel, illness, or other conditions. In these instances, it is recommended that the student communicates by email with their thesis advisor and the course instructor. Documentation supporting this communication can be uploaded instead of the weekly report to obtain course credit. This activity still meets the goal of the weekly report.

Assignments are provided to develop research skills and to encourage writing of each section of the thesis proposal. These assignments make up the majority of the work in the course and a value of 60% of the total grade is suggested for this activity. Research assignments are used to keep the students actively engaged in developing research skills and writing sections of their thesis proposal (Fig. 2 ). Well-written sections of the thesis proposal may easily be converted to corresponding sections of the student's final thesis. Each assignment is described in detail in Secs. 4.1 – 4.10 .

List of assignments

4.1 Thesis Proposal Outline (Assignment #1).

One of the biggest challenges with any large project is getting started. This assignment is specifically designed to make this first step easier. The assignment is to choose the format that each student will use to create her or his thesis and to create a thesis proposal outline. Two common options at WCU are MS Word® and LaTeX (Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA, USA; LaTeX Project Public License, Mainz, Germany). Each has its advantages and disadvantages (see Supplemental Material on the ASME Digital Collection for details). Once students have selected a format, they are instructed to generate an outline for their thesis proposal. This outline guides the development of the thesis proposal and it will eventually evolve into the student's final thesis. For the thesis proposal, the outline should include the following: a cover page, introduction, literature review, methods, and anticipated results. No explicit instructions on how to format the cover page are provided in the assignment. Instead students are given the following information, “I have not told you how to do this. How will you approach the problem? Figure this out for yourself. How will you find the information that you need? Do some research!” For many students this is the first course that requires independent research. In undergraduate courses, detailed instructions are generally provided on how to complete a project. As students move toward independent thinking, they need to learn how to acquire information from different sources and solve problems on their own. Eventually, they will be the experts that other people at their business come to for instructions and guidance.

The course includes an in-class discussion where the students are asked how they plan to approach the problem of creating the cover page. Some students will volunteer answers. Other students need to be called upon to obtain 100% participation. Common approaches used by students include asking the course instructor, looking up a past student's thesis and copying the format, asking other graduate students who are further in the program, and looking up official documents published by the graduate school. There is not a single correct answer. Some approaches are better than others and using multiple approaches usually leads to the correct answer. Overall, two objectives are addressed with the first assignment: (1) the students get started writing their thesis and (2) the students get practice to solving problems without explicit instructions.

4.2 List of References (Assignment #2).

Week 2 consists of a visit to the library and a presentation from the reference librarian on how to find reference information on a technical topic. One component of this assignment is for students to find and read journal articles on their thesis topic. This list of articles will be used later in the course as the students write various sections of their thesis proposal. Most students have little experience in their thesis topic prior to beginning graduate school. Furthermore, they are also new to research in general. They are unaware of what other researchers have tried, what worked well, and what did not. Reading journal articles on their research topic will help them to develop a better research plan. Although no research will be problem free, it will be much more enjoyable executing a well thought out plan than an uninformed plan with multiple problems from the onset. The assignment includes compiling a list of at least ten references related to your thesis project, properly citing each article, and writing a paragraph summarizing the content of each reference. After documenting each journal article, students are instructed to generate a table showing the article title and the type of research involved (for details, see Supplemental Material on the ASME Digital Collection). The two main student learning objectives for this assignment are to acquire skills to find reference material and to understand how their research project can be integrated with the published literature.

4.3 Graduate Research Symposium Abstract (Assignment #3).

An important part of any graduate education program is to acquire presentation skills. As part of the thesis development course all students are required to submit an abstract to the Graduate Research Symposium at WCU. The Graduate Research Symposium is a local event that provides students with an opportunity to present research in a relatively low-pressure environment and at no cost to the engineering department. Because the students taking the course are first year students, they are encouraged to present a poster on their research topic rather than an oral presentation. Overall, the objective of this assignment is to provide students with experience creating and submitting and abstract, creating a poster, and presenting the poster at a public event. This assignment helps students to develop presentation skills, an overall objective of the graduate program.

4.4 Evaluating a Research Paper (Assignment #4).

Critically evaluating a research paper is another way to learn more about a topic and engineering research methods. In this assignment each student finds a technical paper related to their topic and writes a detailed report evaluating the work. They are instructed to capture and critically evaluate several key components of a paper including the following:

Describe the research performed. What was done? How was it done? Why was it done?

Evaluate the methods. Were they rigorous? Were they appropriate to examine what was being studied?

Describe the findings. What was discovered? How was it presented?

Describe why the results are important and to whom. Why should anyone care about this research? Who will it impact? Why is it significant?

Understand how the results integrate with other research in the field. Was this original research or have others evaluated it or something similar in the past? Were the results obtained in this study similar to results reported previously by other researchers? Does this paper change the way that we understand the world?

Evaluate the conclusions and the author's interpretation of the results. Are the conclusions supported by the data? Were there limitations to the usefulness of the results that were not acknowledged?

The overall objective of this assignment is to (1) learn how to critically evaluate a research paper to develop an appreciation for a paper's strengths and weaknesses and (2) be able to identify shortcomings in the student's own research proposals and opportunities for improvement.

4.5 Introduction Section (Assignment #5).

The introduction is the first chapter of the student's thesis proposal. Standards for writing an introduction are explained to the students. They are informed that an introduction normally begins with a general introduction to the topic and ends with a specific thesis statement (Fig. 3 ). Each student is asked to tell the class about his or her specific thesis topic. One of the student's topics is selected for discussion. The course instructor creates an outline of the introduction and presents it to the class as an example. Student are then instructed to take a few minutes to develop an introduction outline for her or his specific thesis topic. Assistance is provided to students who have difficulty. Each student presents the outline for his or her introduction section in class and feedback is provided by the instructor. Next, taking a different perspective, the instructor presents a different outline for one of the student's thesis statements. This is done to show that there is more than one way to introduce a topic and there is not just one right answer.

Typical structure of an introduction section

The importance of the introduction section is also emphasized. It is the initial content used to engage the reader and it makes the first impression about what may follow if the reader continues to read the thesis. Another discussion point is to show how the introduction links with other parts of the thesis. The introduction poses the questions that should be addressed later in the results and discussion sections. It can also be used to identify a specific area in which the scientific community lacks knowledge. Thus, identifying an opportunity for research prior to stating the specific thesis statement.

Although the description of activities above is presented in a linear fashion, in class the conversation is less structured and free flowing. All topics are generally covered, but the order may vary. The class is often taught in a conference room where the students and course instructor sit around a big table. This setting enhances the comfort level of the students and encourages sharing of thoughts and ideas. Little formal instruction is provided in the assignment so the students must engage in the discussion in order to understand what is expected. By the conclusion of the 75 min class period, the students in the class have a good understanding of the structure of the introduction section and a plan to develop their own introduction. The main objective of this assignment is to teach students the structure of an introduction section and to give them experience writing one.

4.6 Literature Review Section (Assignment #6).

Engineering students tend to focus their effort on completing their research project. There is less emphasis upon understanding how their specific project relates to other research in the field. Students often have trouble determining whether a block of information should be in the introduction, the literature review or the methods section. The answer to this question has been conveyed to students in the following way. Background information in the topic may be included in the introduction section, but it is usually described only briefly, to a degree necessary to lead the reader from the general topic to the specific thesis statement. A detailed review of published literature on the topic is contained in the literature review section. Simply stated, items that belong in the literature review section include work done by others. This differs from the methods section which can be simply described to the student as “work done by you”. However, like the introduction it is also possible to have citations to existing literature in the methods if it is used to describe what was done in the current research. In summary, the Literature Review Section has two main purposes, (1) to demonstrate an understanding of the work that already exists in the specific topic area, and (2) to provide background information on foundational topics necessary to understand the information that will follow later in the thesis [ 28 – 30 ].

The Literature Review Section tends to take longer to complete than other sections because the information needed to write it is acquired through research. In the class, students are given two weeks to complete this assignment. Developing an outline for the topics within the section can be helpful. Overall, the objective of this assignment is (1) to develop an understanding of important research performed by others on the topic and (2) to create a first draft of the literature review that will eventually be included in the final thesis.

4.7 Methods Section (Assignment #7).

The Methods Section tends to be the easiest section to write. In the thesis proposal stage, students are instructed to simply identify what they plan to do. What makes writing this section more challenging is that the plans should be highly detailed. Because most new graduate students lack experience with testing methods, they tend to oversimplify their plans. For example, a student may propose the following test protocol: Perform a tensile test on the newly developed biomaterial to determine its elastic modulus. Although this protocol describes the test and the objective, the testing details need to be determined before the student is fully prepared to conduct the test and obtain useful results. Raising and answering questions and finding answers will help the student to develop their plan. For this specific case, the following questions are pertinent. Will the test be uniaxial or biaxial? What is the shape of the specimen? Does the biospecimen have fibers that will alter the test results if a dog-bone shape is tested? Will stress concentrations at the grips alter or invalidate the results of the test? What is the loading rate? Does the material exhibit viscoelastic or poroelastic properties? Does the specimen need to be sprayed with water to remain moist? Is water fine or should it be sprayed with saline? At what temperature will the test be performed? These are just some of the many questions that need to be answered prior to running a relatively simple test.

In addition to questions about the testing conditions, it is important to think about what data is being collected. Is one of the objectives to determine the stress? If only load data is collected prior to destroying the specimens during the test, and the specimens are slightly different in size (which is common in biological specimens), the stress cannot be accurately calculated. Will displacement be measured in addition to load so that strain can be calculated? If displacement is measured, will it be displacement of the cross-bar of the universal testing machine, or displacement within the sample measured with a physical or optical measuring system? These factors can also influence the accuracy and validity of the test results.

Providing students with an example like the one above during the in-class discussions will give students an appreciation for the level of detail needed to conduct a test properly. It should become clear to the students that good planning will increase the likelihood that the desired data will be collected and reduce the chance that testing will need to be repeated.

Asking each student to describe her or his test plans during in-class discussions will help students to identify areas that need further development. The course instructor can also provide suggestions at that time if the research is within her or his area of expertise. This is also an opportunity to discuss human subjects testing and the process to obtain Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval. Testing is only one type of activity included in the Methods Section of a thesis. In addition, some students will have projects that include designing and building devices or test apparatuses, developing mathematical models and simulations, and/or the application of analysis techniques. The feasibility of each project can be discussed in class and suggestions on how to reduce the scope or add depth can be presented to the student. Overall, the objective of this assignment is to teach students how to develop a detailed research plan that can be reviewed by the student's thesis committee and executed the following semester.

4.8 Expected Results Section (Assignment #8).

The final section of the thesis proposal is the expected results. Although it is not possible to determine the results of an experiment before it is conducted, it is useful to predict what those results will be and how data will be analyzed. Generating figures based on anticipated results can help students to determine problems in their methods prior to performing the research. Furthermore, small modifications to the study design can often be made that enhance the richness of the information obtained. For example, a student project may be to develop an orthotic device to reduce wrist pain by providing passive stiffness. The study may include a force–deflection test on the orthotic and an experimental study monitoring people using the device to treat a wrist injury. Results of the experimental study could be obtained by surveying study participants to determine if their wrist felt better at the end of 8 weeks.

Presenting this scenario in class can lead to an interesting discussion that uncovers problems in the study design that may not be apparent to students. One problem that students may notice is that most people will feel better after eight weeks even if the orthotic is not used. Thus, the anticipated results could be that 100% of study participants indicated that they felt better by the end of the study (Fig. 4(a) ). Although this is good, it only implies that the device did no harm. Through this discussion, the need for a control group often emerges. Tracking similarly injured people who do not use the device will enable the student to evaluate the device's effectiveness. This may lead to the conclusion that it is better to use the device than to not use it. This outcome will have a much greater impact. Plots of these data could be expressed as bar graphs showing the number of positive respondents in each group (Fig. 4(b) ). Taking it a step further, additional information can be obtained by asking the study participants to scale their pain from 1 to 10 rather than submitting a binary answer of yes or no. Analysis of these data could lead to a much better understanding of the effectiveness of the device. Because ordinal data is collected, the mean and standard deviation for each group could be calculated and statistical significance evaluated (Fig. 4(c) ). Data could also be collected weekly rather than only at the end of the study. The effectiveness of pain reduction could be plotted over time (Fig. 4(d) ), enabling the student to determine how long the device needs to be worn before pain is reduced.

Examples of expected results. Simple results ( a ) were enhanced by adding a control group ( b ). Switching to ordinal data enabled statistical analysis ( c ) and collecting data over time further expanded results ( d ).

By asking students to generate graphs of their data using fictitious values it causes them to evaluate the potential outcomes of their study and helps them to improve their research plans. In the example above, changing the question from a binary scale (yes versus no) to a Likert scale (1–10) is easy. Similarly, collecting data over time instead of only at the end is also not much additional effort when compared to the time needed to design, build and test the orthotic and to setup and conduct the experimental study. However, knowledge about the device's performance capability is greatly enhanced.

Similar enhancements can be realized in computer simulations. Students develop mathematical models of engineering systems to predict performance. If the original plan is to run a single simulation and present the result, much of the potential of developing a mathematical model is left untapped. Performing a sensitivity analysis to determine how variations in the model's input parameters affect overall system performance can provide great insight into the behavior of the system. The system may be insensitive to changes in certain parameters while other parameters cause the output to change dramatically with only minor changes in the input parameter value. Holding these discussions with students can help them to develop a better understanding of research methods and lead to higher quality thesis projects. As before, the vast majority of student effort will be developing the initial model. Running the simulation with varying input parameters and collecting output data to graph is easy in comparison.

In-class discussions with students on the topic of expected results will help them to appreciate the potential within each of their research projects. Students will gain a better understanding of methods they proposed in the previous assignment and gain insight into how they can be improved. Overall, the objective of this assignment is to encourage students to think beyond the methods and consider how the results will be processed.

4.9 Brief Oral Presentation (Assignment #9).

It is important for graduate students to develop the ability to present information without the assistance of visual aids such as MS PowerPoint®, Prezi®, or Google Slides® (Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA, USA; Prezi, Budapest, Hungary; Alphabet Inc., Mountain View, CA, USA). In this assignment, each student presents his or her research to the class orally. The presentations are five to seven minutes and students may use index cards to help remember content. The objective of this assignment is to give students experience presenting information without the assistance of visual aids. This is an important skill to develop because in a professional environment people are commonly asked to summarize work orally, and often without prior notice.

4.10 Complete Draft of Thesis Proposal (Assignment #10).

The final regular assignment in the course is to integrate the previous sections into a completed document. It involves more than simply pasting all previously written sections together (although that will be the first step). Once the sections are connected, they must have a logical flow. Each section must integrate with the next section. For example, the introduction describes the problem, the literature review provides needed background information to prepare the reader for content presented in the methods, and the methods section describes the approach that will be used to solve the problem originally described in the introduction. The expected results section anticipates the findings that may be obtained when the methods are executed, and it should also address the original hypothesis presented in the introduction. Overall, the thesis proposal must tell a single logical story.

Students can be challenged by this activity. Ensuring that the document flows from one section to another is more than just adding transition sentences. A logical flow must exist. Sometimes the flow may be improved by adding an additional topic to the literature review or changing the order which the topics are presented. This is the point where the thesis proposal either comes together or fails to develop. Outcomes are influenced by the amount of time invested and the student's willingness to seek assistance. The student's thesis advisor, the course instructor, and other students are helpful resources. The overall objective of this assignment is to complete the thesis proposal. It will serve as a detailed plan for the research that will begin the following semester and a first draft of the student's thesis.

During the last week of regular classes, students submit the final draft of their thesis proposal to their course instructor and thesis advisor. This is a refined version of the document submitted for assignment #10. The final thesis proposal will be graded by the course instructor. The thesis advisor is also expected to read the thesis proposal, but no evaluation from the advisor is included in the student's grade for the course. This approach is used because it reduces the burden on thesis advisors who may have many students who are at this stage of their graduate education.

Also during the last week of regular classes, each student prepares and presents their thesis proposal to their advisor. This presentation should be assisted by visual aids. Part of the assignment is to arrange the meeting time, reserve a meeting room, and invite attendees. The thesis advisor evaluates the presentation and provides feedback on the quality of the research proposal to the course instructor. This feedback will be used to determine 20% of the student's final grade.

The purpose of the final presentation is to give the student experience arranging a formal presentation and presenting technical work. It also informs the thesis advisor of the student's plans if these were not well communicated throughout the semester. There is opportunity for the advisor to provide feedback and for the student to modify her or his plans if necessary. It is also practice for the thesis defense.

Through experience, we have made the decision not to include the student's committee in the final presentations. In addition to their own graduate students, some faculty members were on the thesis committee of multiple other students. This led to an overwhelming number of presentations to view at an already busy time of year. People at institutions with a higher faculty to graduate student ratio, may choose to include the committees in the thesis proposal review, especially if approving the proposal is a formal requirement in the program.

The last component of evaluation is class participation, contributing 10% of the student's final grade. It is based on both attendance and participation in class discussions. When class size is small it is possible to ask a question and to obtain a response from every student in the class. Making attendance and engagement in class discussions a component of the student's grade encourages participation, a critical component of this course.

Students benefit from discussing their research in a group environment. It helps them to organize their thoughts on their research topic which can be complex and difficult to understand. In addition, students benefit from listening to other students describe their research. Although their projects differ, there are similarities in research approaches, problem solving methodology, and avenues to seek help. Engaging in technical discussions help the students to develop public speaking skills. The ability to communicate technical information and to express one's thoughts in a professional environment are crucial skills an engineer needs for career advancement.

Evaluation of student work for this course can be difficult. The course instructor will not be an expert in the content area of each student's work because student projects span the knowledge base of the entire faculty. Even though the instructor may not know the technical details well enough to assess their accuracy, content can be evaluated in a more general way. Consideration may include the depth of detail that the student presents, appropriateness of information to the specific assignment, and readability. After trying multiple component evaluation criteria and rubrics I settled upon using a simple method which I borrowed from colleagues in the English department. A grade of A+ (100%) is assigned for exceptional work, A (90%) for work that is very good, B (80%) for work that is good but has some weaknesses, and lower grades for work that has more serious problems. On an assignment, most students will earn a grade of A+ or A and occasionally a B. Written formative feedback is provided to each student pointing out strengths and weaknesses of the submission. Feedback is specific to the individual submission and is not constrained by a predefined rubric. This more flexible method enables the assignment of higher grades for student submissions that are overall outstanding but may have some minor problems in one of the categorical areas. Unfortunately, it is still subjective and based on the interpretation of one person.

The weekly status reports are objective with full credit awarded for any on time submission. As stated previously, the thesis advisor is responsible for ensuring the quality of the reports, not the course instructor. These reports are the only truly objective assessment criteria in the course.

However, class participation can also be somewhat objective. Full credit can be awarded to students in attendance who participate in the discussion. By calling on students who are contributing less, all students can be encouraged to fully participate. Students who arrive late or leave early may have lower participation grades for that class meeting. Those who miss class cannot participate in the discussion and should not receive participation credit. Class participation can be a difficult, but important component of course design. Providing credit for class participation encourages students to attend class and actively engage in learning activities. How an individual instructor manages class participation will depend on the student body, institutional standards and policies, and instructor preference.

The final dimension of evaluation is for the thesis advisor to assess the student's final thesis proposal. Both the technical aspects and the presentation can be evaluated. The thesis advisor determines a score and sends it to the course instructor to be entered directly into the grading system. Although this score is also subjective, it is evaluated by a different person.

In my experience these evaluation methods are effective at motivating students to improve their writing, however, it is not ideal. When grades are based largely on subjective measures it can make receiving an imperfect grade difficult for some students to accept. Engineering students are more familiar with solving objective problems (especially at the undergraduate level) and more easily accept a lower grade when their answer is clearly wrong. I have found providing detailed feedback describing steps that a student can take to improve his or her grade to be helpful.

A graduate level course design to help students engage in research and write their thesis proposal is presented in this document. Each element of the course is described in detail with enough information that readers can implement the course at their own institution using this article as a guide. In addition, the reasons for including each assignment in the course and lessons learned at my own institution are provided. Since implementing this at our institution, we have observed an increase in the quality of graduate research projects, better documentation of these projects through higher quality theses, and earlier thesis defense dates. These findings are observational in nature and may be influenced by a variety of different confounding factors. The results have not been validated by a scientific study that analyzes outcomes before and after implementation. Readers should consider the guidance provided in this paper as work in progress and use their own judgment when considering implementation at their own institutions.

There are some conditions that may make this approach more effective at WCU than at other institutions. At WCU we only select faculty members who are experienced with mentoring graduate students to teach this course. It is not taught by junior faculty or teaching assistants. This is possible because WCU is a small-medium size university with just over 12,000 students, and it has a relatively small graduate program in the School of Engineering and Technology. Thus, the course can be taught by a single instructor. It may be impractical to teach this course at institutions with large graduate programs.

In addition, trust and alignment must exist between the course instructor and the thesis student's advisor. Like most institutions, the student's thesis advisor is primarily responsible for guiding each student through his or her research project. However, at WCU we also take a group approach to guiding students where other faculty members provide assistance and guidance. Good alignment reduces the likelihood of conflicting information being presented by the course instructor and the thesis advisor. Trust enables any differences to be managed in a productive manner without negatively impacting students. The author acknowledges that this may not be the case at all institutions so the interpersonal environment among faculty members should be considered before implementation.

Furthermore, this course is designed for a master's program with a two-year completion time. People who wish to implement this course in a Ph.D. Program may need to make adaptations. Students who start a Ph.D. Program directly after earning a bachelor's degree will likely need a full year of graduate experience before taking a thesis/dissertation proposal development course. The expectation on the novelty of the research and the depth of the literature review will be much greater for a Ph.D. student. Conducting laboratory research, reading journal articles and acquiring knowledge in graduate level courses will help the student prepare for a dissertation proposal. I believe that the course can still be conducted in a single semester, but the thesis advisor and course instructor should consider the dissertation proposal developed by the end of the course as preliminary. The literature review will probably be weak and require additional work and the proposed research plan may only include the first component of a multicomponent dissertation. Despite these weaknesses, a course of this type can still be highly beneficial to students in Ph.D. Programs. As in the master's program, the course requires the student to research the topic, developed detailed plans, and write. One of the most difficult tasks with any new activity is getting started. Providing students with the motivation to begin, a cohort of students in a similar situation, and an experienced guide could provide students with the conditions necessary for success. At WCU, the modifications were made without changing the number of credit hours needed to graduate which made implementation easy and we believe the overall result to be beneficial.

The author acknowledges the writing assistance that he received over the years from his wife, Dana, and colleagues that he now passes on to the engineering students in the program.

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• Honors Undergraduate Thesis
• Program Resources

Thesis Proposal Examples

The Honors Undergraduate Thesis program requires students to submit a research proposal to the Office of Honors Research prior to advancing to the Thesis semester.

Generally, a scientific research proposal will include a brief introduction to the research topic, a literature review, and a methodology that will explain how the student plans to meet the objectives of the research. A proposal in the Arts and Humanities will generally include an introduction and a creative work (e.g. screenplays, short stories, artwork) or theoretical analysis.

Students will create a signature cover page for the thesis proposal that will list the entire committee and HUT Liaison. The Thesis proposal cover page template can be found here .

The following are examples of substantially researched, properly formatted research proposals and their respective signature pages. These examples should be used for reference only and not necessarily as templates. Students should his or her Thesis Chair and committee regarding the structure of the proposal, information that should be present, and documentation style.

What is a Thesis Proposal?

A thesis proposal is a document that outlines the thesis topic, defines the issues that the thesis will address, and explains why the topic warrants further research. It should identify a problem and provide a proposed solution to that problem.

Proposals representative of the sciences (both hard sciences and social sciences) should generally include the following:

• A brief introduction, which will define the thesis topic and explain the purpose of the thesis.
• A literature review that outlines the most relevant readings and theories which pertain to the thesis topic.
• A methodology section, which should include the research questions, hypotheses, participants, materials, and procedures.
• A bibliography or reference list. Most of the sources should be from peer reviewed articles or books. As with other academic papers, the use of internet sources should be limited.

For students conducting more theoretical or comparative analyses, the structure could also take the form of chapters that define and specify each concept, and a concluding chapter that brings all of these ideas together.

For students in the arts, a proposal and thesis may take the form of a creative project. In this instance, the proposal may include:

• A brief introduction, which includes the thesis statement, general intent of project, what the project should accomplish, and justification for considering the project a legitimate endeavor.
• A literature review, which includes any supporting literature that justifies the intention of the project.
• A method for accomplishing the project. Include any necessary background or equipment needed for the project, where the project will be conducted, and a proposed timeline for completion.
• A bibliography or reference list.

An alternative structure would be for students who are writing their own short stories, novellas, or screenplays.

Here, the thesis should include a clear mastery of the skill set by producing chapters of the novella, poetry selections, or the working/final screenplay. [/accordion-item][/accordion]

Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences Biomedical Sciences

College of Arts and Humanities Art History History English-Creative Writing English-Literature Philosophy

College of Business Administration Finance

College of Nursing Nursing

College of Education and Human Performance Elementary Education English Language Arts Education

College of Engineering and Computer Science

Computer Engineering Mechanical Engineering

College of Health and Public Affairs Legal Studies Sports and Exercise Science 

College of Nursing Nursing -->

College of Sciences Anthropology Chemistry Mathematics Physics International & Global Studies Psychology Sociology

Oral Thesis Proposal

The oral component of your thesis proposal is your opportunity to present your research plan to your committee, receive their feedback on your ideas, and consult their expertise to improve your overall vision. You should seek to present your plan in a clear, concise way such that your committee understands your proposal thoroughly and you can make the most of their knowledge. While they should have read your written proposal, you cannot assume that they understood everything.

Be mindful that the presentation is not just a reformulation of your written document and it will take you a significant amount of time to convey your plan in a different medium. Indeed, it is a common misconception that preparing the presentation will be quick and easy. For example, content that may have been explained extensively in the written proposal may be better condensed to a figure. Logistically, you have an extra 3 weeks to prepare your oral presentation after you submit the written document. While the overall concept will be the same, with so much extra time to think, it is typical for the specific content in your proposal to change – maybe you learn about a new technique to apply to your research or recognize a flaw in your original plan.

In this article, we hope to provide some tools and tips for best preparing the oral presentation and what to expect on the day of your thesis proposal.

Understand your audience

Know your committee’s behaviors. Similar to your written document, you have the advantage of tailoring your presentation to a group of people whose expertise and style you either know already or can learn well in advance. Specific to your thesis proposal, your committee members will each have different ways of receiving information. For example, some people will better understand processes and science through detailed graphics while others better understand by seeing the math. In addition, consider whether or not they have seen this information before; if an older student in your group has this person on their committee, chances are they are already familiar with the research area and you can be more concise in your introduction. You will also want to get a sense of what questions your committee members are notorious for asking.

Out-of-department committee members may have different expectations. The thesis proposal process varies from department to department. For some, the thesis proposal is treated as an exam while for others, it is meant to serve only as a committee meeting. Research their home department’s thesis proposal and consider reaching out to students in their lab or in that department to getter a better idea for what their thesis proposal process is like.

Return to ToC

Structuring your presentation

Planning and execution. The entire thesis committee meeting will be an hour and a half. You should plan for approximately 45 minutes of discussion, questions, and deliberation of your thesis committee, leaving about 45 minutes for your presentation. Ensure that you allow time for questions so that you are not forced to rush through important parts of the proposal.

• Background : Only provide the background information that is absolutely necessary to motivate your project – you want to reserve as much time as possible for your research plan. After all, that is what the committee is there for – to provide feedback on this plan.  
• Research plan : Your research plan should be consistent with your written proposal, pending any potential new developments. We recommend starting with your specific aims and using these as a roadmap to cover the details of your research plan. Design a graphic around your project’s overall goals to serve as an outline that you can continue to reference throughout your presentation.
• Safety : This is important to discuss and is a requirement for the thesis proposal, regardless of your research area. Safety both in the lab and in the office are paramount for our overall success. Your committee will care about this section and you should give it ample thought.

Timing. Your presentation should be ~35-45 minutes long without questions, however questions can easily derail time. Keep track of time and make sure you have a plan if you are running over.

Slide design. Keep your slides uncluttered, ensuring information is clear and easy to interpret. Check out other CommKit articles on designing effective slides .

References. These should be included throughout your presentation in the footer of relevant slides. Use these where you are including figures or information from literature. Always include slide numbers so the audience can reference them when they have questions or comments. In addition, you may also consider using a graphic to illustrate the current section of the presentation (see examples).

Addressing committee questions

How to prepare. Your committee will ask you questions throughout your presentation, and you should expect to be interrupted. This will go beyond asking for clarification – they will challenge you on your ideas and be sure you have thought about the problem from multiple angles.   Have backup slides ready and anticipate what questions you may get from your committee and have slides ready to answer these questions. Maybe it does not help your story to include certain data sets, but you should have them ready in case your committee is not convinced. Practicing will help you get an idea of what questions a representative audience will have and therefore what questions your committee members might ask.

How to respond. Remember, it is ok to:

• Repeat questions to ensure understanding,
• Say “I’ll address that question in a couple slides,”
• Take time to reason out an answer (out loud),
• Say “I don’t know the answer to that, but I will follow up” (they may still push you to suggest an answer).

However, try to avoid making something up, reading too deeply into the question, or saying “I’m doing it this way because that’s what my advisor said.”

Sample committee questions – technical

• Referring to the microbial conversion of glucose to acetate: “What is the exact stoichiometry of that conversion?”
• “How does your problem scale: How much does your model accuracy increase for each computational hour you spend on the overall problem?”
• Pertaining to safety: “How do you know the GC’s in your lab are configured properly?”
• A classic among committee members: “Is there an alternative hypothesis that fits those data?”

Sample committee questions – high level

• “How feasible is this project from an engineering perspective?”
• “What do you anticipate being the hardest/least likely to succeed part of this proposal?”
• “What if the proposed experiments do not lead to expected results? Is there still anything to be learned?”

Practice, practice, practice

Most people practice their presentation at least once in front of their group. This is great as your group is likely the most intimately engaged with your research and can offer critical scientific feedback. However, your group may not represent the more general audience that makes up your thesis committee. Whereas your group may easily understand jargon and specific concepts, these may be confusing to your committee. Therefore, you should also practice at least once in front of a more general audience such close friends (inside or outside the department) and Comm Lab Coaches . If possible, it helps to practice your presentation in the same room you will be using for your meeting.

Day of the presentation

Preparing for the meeting. Send reminder emails to your committee about the meeting, both in advance and the morning of the presentation. While not required, it is common and courteous to provide coffee and/or snacks for the meeting – we all enjoy a meeting with snacks and this is one way to show your appreciation for your committee members’ advice and feedback. If you need projectors and laser pointers, they can be borrowed from ChemE headquarters.

Day of the meeting. Remember to dress professionally – you want to look your best and show you are serious about your work. Try to arrive to the room and set up ~30 minutes early to make sure everything is working and you are comfortable in the space. Have some way of writing down question/comments so you can refer back to them later. Finally, you will be talking a lot, so bring water for yourself.

Meeting structure. The meeting will typically be an hour and a half. At the beginning, the committee will ask you to leave the room for ~15 minutes while they discuss your written proposal. After this, you will return to the room and give your presentation. Finally, after you have given your presentation and answered any questions, you will leave the room again while the committee discusses your presentation and decides your grade.

After your thesis proposal

After your proposal, follow up with your committee members individually. Thank them for their time and for any insight they provided to your project. Also take the time to follow up on any unanswered questions or resources discussed during your presentation. Second, do not forget to fill out your thesis proposal form on the ChemE website ( http://cheme-forms.mit.edu ). The information on this form will be approved by your committee and sent to the student office for confirmation that you completed your thesis proposal.

Research Proposal Example/Sample

Detailed Walkthrough + Free Proposal Template

If you’re getting started crafting your research proposal and are looking for a few examples of research proposals , you’ve come to the right place.

In this video, we walk you through two successful (approved) research proposals , one for a Master’s-level project, and one for a PhD-level dissertation. We also start off by unpacking our free research proposal template and discussing the four core sections of a research proposal, so that you have a clear understanding of the basics before diving into the actual proposals.

• Research proposal example/sample – Master’s-level (PDF/Word)
• Research proposal example/sample – PhD-level (PDF/Word)
• Proposal template (Fully editable) 

If you’re working on a research proposal for a dissertation or thesis, you may also find the following useful:

• Research Proposal Bootcamp : Learn how to write a research proposal as efficiently and effectively as possible
• 1:1 Proposal Coaching : Get hands-on help with your research proposal

FAQ: Research Proposal Example

Research proposal example: frequently asked questions, are the sample proposals real.

Yes. The proposals are real and were approved by the respective universities.

Can I copy one of these proposals for my own research?

As we discuss in the video, every research proposal will be slightly different, depending on the university’s unique requirements, as well as the nature of the research itself. Therefore, you’ll need to tailor your research proposal to suit your specific context.

You can learn more about the basics of writing a research proposal here .

How do I get the research proposal template?

You can access our free proposal template here .

Is the proposal template really free?

Yes. There is no cost for the proposal template and you are free to use it as a foundation for your research proposal.

Where can I learn more about proposal writing?

For self-directed learners, our Research Proposal Bootcamp is a great starting point.

For students that want hands-on guidance, our private coaching service is recommended.

Psst… there’s more!

This post is an extract from our bestselling short course, Research Proposal Bootcamp . If you want to work smart, you don't want to miss this .

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I am at the stage of writing my thesis proposal for a PhD in Management at Altantic International University. I checked on the coaching services, but it indicates that it’s not available in my area. I am in South Sudan. My proposed topic is: “Leadership Behavior in Local Government Governance Ecosystem and Service Delivery Effectiveness in Post Conflict Districts of Northern Uganda”. I will appreciate your guidance and support

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I am at the stage of writing my thesis proposal for a masters in Analysis of w heat commercialisation by small holders householdrs at Hawassa International University. I will appreciate your guidance and support

please provide a attractive proposal about foreign universities .It would be your highness.

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Kindly guide me through writing a good proposal on the thesis topic; Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Financial Inclusion in Nigeria. Thank you

Kindly help me write a research proposal on the topic of impacts of artisanal gold panning on the environment

I am in the process of research proposal for my Master of Art with a topic : “factors influence on first-year students’s academic adjustment”. I am absorbing in GRADCOACH and interested in such proposal sample. However, it is great for me to learn and seeking for more new updated proposal framework from GRADCAOCH.

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Thesis Proposal Exam

The Thesis Proposal Examination consists of the preparation of a written research proposal (15 pages maximum) and an oral presentation and defense of the same before a faculty committee. The purpose of the examination is to judge the student’s apparent ability to plan and conduct high-quality, PhD-level research in chemical engineering. The topic, magnitude and significance of the proposed research should be suitable for the ensuing doctoral program.

There are no restrictions on candidate/advisor consultations, but the extent of these interactions must be disclosed to the examining committee and the graduate office.

The examination will be taken no later than May 31 in the year after passing the Doctoral Candidacy Exam (DCE). For most students, this thesis proposal exam will be taken during their second year in the graduate program. Failure to take the thesis proposal exam in a timely fashion, absent approval of a petition to the faculty for special consideration, constitutes a lack of satisfactory progress toward the PhD degree and constitutes grounds for removal from the PhD program.

The examination date must be chosen in consultation with the candidate’s advisor and the other committee members at least three (3) weeks in advance of the proposed examination date. After scheduling the exam, the candidate informs the graduate program office by completing and submitting the  Request for Thesis Proposal Examination Form (PDF).

A one-page  Project Summary  (PDF)for the written research proposal must be submitted with the Written Proposal. The Written Proposal and Project Summary must be distributed to the Graduate Program Office and the committee members at least one week in advance of the scheduled examination date.

A reminder of the various due dates will be sent to the student and committee after the examination is scheduled.

Examining Committee

The Thesis Proposal Examination Committee consists of at least three faculty members from chemical engineering (including the proposed Dissertation Committee Chair(s)) and at least one cognate faculty member from outside the Chemical Engineering Department. Most students use the Thesis Proposal Exam Committee members as their Dissertation Committee members as well.

The examination consists of the preparation of a written research proposal and an oral presentation and defense of the same before the Thesis Proposal Examination Committee. At the oral examination, the candidate will present a 20-30 minute summary of the research proposal and subsequently be asked questions on the proposal and related matters. The total time for the examination is typically 60–90 minutes. The committee may be expected to pose any question relating to the substance and background of the proposed research and the applicant’s preparation for conducting the research.

Immediately before the oral examination, the advisor shall inform the other committee members of the extent of the collaboration with the candidate and also give an impression of the candidate’s performance in research already conducted.

In evaluating the thesis proposal examination, the primary criterion will be the applicant’s apparent ability to plan and conduct high-quality, PhD-level research in chemical engineering, as measured by the scholarly and technical breadth and depth displayed in the examination.

The examining committee will rate the written proposal and oral presentation as Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair or Poor and provide a few comments to explain the basis for the rating. A rating of Good signifies a proposal and presentation that just meets minimum standards and is the lowest possible passing score. These ratings and comments will be shared with the student and given to the graduate office.

Success on the examination fulfills one of the requirements for the PhD degree. A student who does not pass the thesis proposal exam in their first attempt may take it a second time but no later than October 15. Failing twice to pass the thesis proposal examination is considered sufficient reason to terminate the applicant’s enrollment in the Department’s Doctoral Program.

Thesis Proposal Exam Results Report

Guidelines for Preparing for the Thesis Proposal Examination

• The applicant should read the  Proposal Writer’s Guide  (Office of Research and Sponsored Projects of The University of Michigan). The discussion of the Introduction, Background and Description of Proposed Research sections will likely be the most useful.
• The  written proposal (WP)  may be organized in any form that the applicant feels is most appropriate but should include the items listed below. Some suggestions for suitable preparation for the  oral examination (OE)  are also indicated.

Introduction  (including a statement of the problem, purpose and significance of the research).

Background  (including a literature survey and a description of research already performed by the applicant).

WP:  The literature review should be selective and critical.

OE:  The applicant is expected to be intimately familiar with the relevant literature, the opinions of previous workers in the subject, and to be critical of shortcomings in earlier work.

Description of Proposed Research  (including method or approach and expected difficulties). This must constitute about 50% of the text of the written proposal. The Project Description should provide a clear statement of the work to be undertaken and must include: objectives for the period of the proposed work and expected significance; relation to the present state of knowledge in the field and to work in progress at Michigan and elsewhere. The Project Description should outline the general plan of work, including the broad design of activities to be undertaken and, where appropriate, provide a clear description of experimental methods and procedures.

WP:  A specific research program should be put forth (e.g., identify variables to be studied and their levels); the expected research program sequence; decision points expected during the course of the research; the methods of data reduction, evaluation, interpretation and presentation, etc.

OE:  The applicant is expected to display a thorough grasp of the physics, biology, chemistry, mathematics, etc., relevant to the conduct of the theoretical or experimental research program. The methods used by others or proposed to be used should be thoroughly understood.

A  timetable  for conducting and reporting the research: The timetable should be clearly based upon the scope of the work described in the description of the proposed research.

List of references . Each reference must include the names of all authors (in the same sequence in which they appear in the publication), the article and journal title, book title, volume number, page numbers and year of publication.

Curriculum Vitae .

The written research proposal must not be longer than 15 pages of text (including figures, excluding title page, list of references, and CV), of which about 50% must be the description of the proposed research.

Use one of the following typefaces: Arial, Times, Times New Roman, Palatino (if using a Mac), Courier New, Palatino Linotype, Computer Modern family of fonts at a font size of 11 points or larger. A font size of less than 11 points may be used for mathematical formulas or equations, figure, table or diagram captions and when using a Symbol font to insert Greek letters or special characters.

No more than six lines of text within a vertical space of one inch.

Margins, in all directions, must be at least an inch.

While line spacing (single-spaced, double-spaced, etc.) is at the discretion of the proposer, established page limits must be followed.

The  project summary  (pdf) is not more than one page, and it should be a self-contained description of the activity proposed. The summary should include a statement of objectives and methods to be employed. It must clearly address the intellectual merit of the proposed activity. It should be informative to other persons working in the same or related fields and, insofar as possible, understandable to a scientifically or technically literate lay reader. Potential hazards and safety precautions should be identified. The members of the proposed dissertation committee should be included on the Project Summary.

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Thesis Proposals

All students should give serious consideration to electing to write a thesis. A thesis involves original research and is a proven method for developing specialized knowledge and skills that can enhance an individual’s expertise within a substantive area of study. A thesis is recommended for students who intend to continue study toward the PhD degree or plan research-related employment. If the thesis option is elected, the student must write the thesis and pass an oral examination on a report of research initiated by the student under the guidance of the major professor. A faculty committee, chaired by the major professor, will evaluate the written report and conduct an oral examination of the candidate.

Thesis Proposal Outline

This sample outline may not be appropriate for some studies. You should decide, in consultation with your major professor, whether to follow the sample outline below or modify it to suit the needs of your particular study. Proposals from former students are available on the department website and can be reviewed to assist you in developing your proposal.

• General background of the subject area
• Specific background for the topic of investigation
• Review of the literature
• Definitions of all key terms
• The hypotheses or questions to be addressed
• Identify and justify the choice of general approach and specific research method
• Subjects (if applicable; describe them and your rationale for their selection)
• Limitations
• Outline of Projected Results
• Potential Conclusions and Implications
• “Working” Bibliography of Sources & Materials

Sample Thesis Proposals

•   Sample 1
•   Sample 2
•   Sample 3

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Overviews, curriculum guides, requirements:

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• Graduate thesis guide
• Graduate exit survey

Last modified: Mon, Nov 21, 2022, 09:29 by Melissa Kinney