how to write a research proposal edinburgh

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Research proposal guidelines

Your research proposal is an essential part of your application that will be used to assess your suitability for the PhD programme, and link you to an appropriate academic colleague who can support you throughout your studies.

Proposal requirements

When submitting your proposal please make sure it meets the following requirements so we can properly assess your suitability for the programme. It should:

• Have a title
• Explain your particular topic or question you wish to study
• Briefly summarise existing research on the topic, making reference to publications as appropriate
• Give a clear outline of the research you intend to do, with a timeframe where possible

Please ensure your proposal meets our word limit requirements. These are different depending on which PhD programme you are applying for, so please ensure you check this carefully.

For those applying to PhD with Integrated Study in Accounting/Finance/Management or to the MSc by Research in Management, the research proposal must be between 1,000 and 1,500 words (excluding references and appendices).

For those applying to PhD Business Economics/Financial Technology/Management Science and Analytics the research proposal must be between 3,000 and 5,000 words (excluding references and appendices).

If you have any questions about the proposal word limit please contact the PGR Admissions Team at [email protected]

Important points

• If accepted, you are not committed to following your research proposal exactly, although any major changes must be agreed with your supervisory team
• Applications received without a research proposal will not be considered
• A personal statement does not meet the requirements of a research proposal
• Your research proposal may be submitted to the Turnitin plagiarism detection system

Writing an effective proposal

A weak proposal can lead to an application being unsuccessful. To help you stand out from the crowd we have created a detailed guide on how to get started.

How to write a good research proposal

• Schools & departments

Writing your PhD research proposal

Find guidance on how to write your PhD research proposal and a template form for you to use to submit your research proposal.

By asking you for an outline  research proposal we hope to get a good picture of your research interests and your understanding of what such research is likely to entail.

The University's application form is designed to enable you to give an overview of your academic experience and qualifications for study at postgraduate level. Your outline research proposal then gives us an idea of the kind of research you want to undertake. This, together with information from your referees, will help us assess whether the Moray House School of Education and Sport would be the appropriate place for you to pursue your research interests.

At  the application stage, you are unlikely to be in a position to provide a comprehensive research proposal; the detailed shaping up of a research plan would be done in conjunction with your supervisor(s). But it is important for us to appreciate what you are hoping to investigate, how you plan to carry out the research, and what the results might be expected to contribute to current knowledge and understanding in the relevant academic field(s) of study. In writing your proposal, please indicate any prior academic or employment experience relevant to your planned research.

In your research proposal, please also ensure that you clearly identify the Moray House research cluster your proposal falls under, as well as two to three staff members  with expertise in this area. We also encourage you to contact potential supervisors within your area of proposed research before submitting your application to gauge their interest and availability.

How to write your research proposal

The description of your proposed research should consist of 4-5 typed A4 sheets. It can take whatever form seems best, but should include some information about the following:

• The general area within which you wish to conduct research, and why (you might find it helpful to explain what stimulated your interest in your chosen research field, and any study or research in the area that you have already undertaken)
• The kind of research questions that you would hope to address, and why (in explaining what is likely to be the main focus of your research, it may be helpful to indicate, for example, why these issues are of particular concern and the way in which they relate to existing literature)
• The sources of information and type of research methods you plan to use (for example, how you plan to collect your data, which sources you will be targeting and how you will access these data sources).

In addition to the above, please include any comments you are able to make concerning:

• The approach that you will take to analyse your research data
• The general timetable you would follow for carrying out and writing up your research
• Any plans you may have for undertaking fieldwork away from Edinburgh
• Any problems that might be anticipated in carrying out your proposed research

Please note: This guidance applies to all candidates, except those applying to conduct PhD research as part of a larger, already established research project (for example, in the Institute for Sport, Physical Education & Health Sciences).

In this case, you should provide a two- to three-page description of a research project you have undertaken, to complement information in the application form. If you are in any doubt as to what is appropriate, please contact us:

Email: Education@[email protected]

All doctoral proposals submitted as part of an application will be run through plagiarism detection software.

Template form for your research proposal

All applicants for a PhD or MSc by Research must submit a research proposal as part of their application. Applicants  must   use the template form below for their research proposal. This research proposal should then be submitted online as part of your application. Please use Calibri size 11 font size and do not change the paragraph spacing (single, with 6pt after each paragraph) or the page margins.

This article was published on 2024-10-07

• Schools & departments

Developing your Proposal

Information and resources to help you develop your proposal

Where to start?

When developing a project idea it's usually useful to start by speaking to colleagues in your School or Institute about how they develop their projects.  Speak to your manager, peers, other academics, your School research administrator or your Edinburgh Research Office Research Funding Specialist to get support.

School & College web and Intranet sites

Edinburgh Research Office

Find my Research Funding Specialist  [Your University Login required]

Identify Funding

Strategy and Planning [Your University Login required]

Writing a fundable research proposal takes time.  The more complex the application and the less experience you have, the more time it will take.  A fellowship application might take you 6 - 18 months depending on your work pattern, your other commitments, how developed your idea is, how complete your partnership network is and how available your pre-submission peer reviewers are.  

It's worth remembering that a good research idea is not the same as a good research proposal.  As well as demonstrating the strength of your research idea, a proposal has to show how you will deliver the project, how you will staff it and how you will adapt the delivery of the project over its lifetime.

Develop your Idea

At the Develop your Idea stage Edinburgh Research Office can help you think about what you need to do to grow your idea into a fundable proposal.

Develop your idea

Research Networks

Connecting with research networks and testing your research idea out with others can help you refine the idea and make links with potential collaborators.  Engaging with research networks that are influencing funding priorities can help you understand what your funder is looking for, as well as helping your peer reviewers and your funder become more open to your idea.

Coaching & Mentoring

The University and individual Schools and Institutes provide coaching and mentoring to staff.  Coaching and mentoring provide you with one to one and group support to help you develop in your role and career.  It can be useful to identify a network of experienced people, or a mentor to support you in developing research funding bids.  The Mentoring Connections programme is open to all staff and connections can be made through our online resource, Platform One.

Mentoring Connections

Platform One

Craft your application

At the ‘craft your application’ stage, Edinburgh Research Office work closely with colleagues in your local Research Office to provide you with the supporting roots that enable your idea to grow and blossom.

Thank you again for the really helpful comments.  They were by far the most insightful and useful we received, and were greatly appreciated.

Have you considered how you are going to store, preserve and share your data? Do you require special computing facilities for your research? Digital Research Services can support you in creating digital management plans and tailor funding proposals to account for all digital aspects of your project.

Digital Research Services

Example Successful Proposals

Edinburgh Research Office have gathered a database of successful proposal examples to support you in developing your proposal.  Even if the exact type of proposal you are aiming for isn't available read a few examples to see how others presented themselves and their work successfully.  There is a lot of flexibility in how you structure a proposal so use the example bids to take inspiration and use aspects that ring true to your style or research area.  

Successful research funding applications

Proposal Writing Support [Your University Login required]

Recording the Submission

Any proposal submitted by a staff member at the University of Edinburgh, where that grant is proposed to be administered and delivered at the University of Edinburgh, must be recorded and registered by the University at submission.  The project lead or team member must let their local research support team and their Edinburgh Research Office funding specialist know about the planned submission  at least 20 working days before the deadline .  

The finance and ERO teams will help you prepare the project budget to make sure the University agrees that your budget can deliver the research you propose.  The University has legal obligations associated with funded projects so you must ensure you are in contact with your research support team well in advance of the funder deadline.  Your local research support team will then approve the submission of behalf of the University. 

In many cases once the academic leading the bid has pressed "submit" in a funder proposal system, the system will then send the bid to ERO where ERO will actually make the final submission of the bid to the funder.  If you don't provide notice to ERO or sufficient time for University checks, your bid may not be submitted to the funder before the funders deadline.

Each School and Institute has their own research bid submission process, make sure you read about it in your induction pack or on your local web or intranet site.

This article was published on 2022-11-17

• Help & FAQ

Preparing a research proposal

• Moray House School of Education and Sport
• Child Protection Research Centre

Research output : Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter

Abstract / Description of output

Fingerprint.

• Funding Arts and Humanities 100%
• intentions Arts and Humanities 100%
• Researchers Arts and Humanities 100%
• Researcher Nursing and Health Professions 100%

T1 - Preparing a research proposal

AU - Taylor, Julie

N1 - This chapter explains how to prepare a research proposal.

N2 - This chapter outlines how a research proposal helps researchers clarify their intentions and communicate these to funding bodies and how to make a clear statement of the rationale for the study.

AB - This chapter outlines how a research proposal helps researchers clarify their intentions and communicate these to funding bodies and how to make a clear statement of the rationale for the study.

M3 - Chapter

SN - 978-0-470-68186-2

BT - The Research Process in Nursing

A2 - Gerrish, K

A2 - Lacey, A

PB - Wiley-Blackwell

CY - London

• Schools & departments

Writing a research proposal

A guide for writing a research proposal for all MScR, MPhil and PhD degrees in the School of GeoSciences. 

If you are applying with your own project, you need to include a research proposal with your application. The proposal should not exceed four (4) pages in length for PhDs and two (2) pages for MScR.

Your proposal should contain the following headings:

Please upload a PDF document in A4, font size 11, Arial or another sans serif font equivalent in size. 

Further guidance

The University has provided a comprehensive guide on writing a proposal.  

You can view or download it as a PDF:

This article was published on 2024-07-01

• Schools & departments

Writing your PhD research proposal

Find guidance on how to write your PhD research proposal and a template form for you to use to submit your research proposal.

By asking you for an outline  research proposal we hope to get a good picture of your research interests and your understanding of what such research is likely to entail.

The University's application form is designed to enable you to give an overview of your academic experience and qualifications for study at postgraduate level. Your outline research proposal then gives us an idea of the kind of research you want to undertake. This, together with information from your referees, will help us assess whether the Moray House School of Education and Sport would be the appropriate place for you to pursue your research interests.

At  the application stage, you are unlikely to be in a position to provide a comprehensive research proposal; the detailed shaping up of a research plan would be done in conjunction with your supervisor(s). But it is important for us to appreciate what you are hoping to investigate, how you plan to carry out the research, and what the results might be expected to contribute to current knowledge and understanding in the relevant academic field(s) of study. In writing your proposal, please indicate any prior academic or employment experience relevant to your planned research.

In your research proposal, please also ensure that you clearly identify the Moray House research cluster your proposal falls under, as well as two to three staff members  with expertise in this area. We also encourage you to contact potential supervisors within your area of proposed research before submitting your application to gauge their interest and availability.

How to write your research proposal

The description of your proposed research should consist of 4-5 typed A4 sheets. It can take whatever form seems best, but should include some information about the following:

• The general area within which you wish to conduct research, and why (you might find it helpful to explain what stimulated your interest in your chosen research field, and any study or research in the area that you have already undertaken)
• The kind of research questions that you would hope to address, and why (in explaining what is likely to be the main focus of your research, it may be helpful to indicate, for example, why these issues are of particular concern and the way in which they relate to existing literature)
• The sources of information and type of research methods you plan to use (for example, how you plan to collect your data, which sources you will be targeting and how you will access these data sources).

In addition to the above, please include any comments you are able to make concerning:

• The approach that you will take to analyse your research data
• The general timetable you would follow for carrying out and writing up your research
• Any plans you may have for undertaking fieldwork away from Edinburgh
• Any problems that might be anticipated in carrying out your proposed research

Please note: This guidance applies to all candidates, except those applying to conduct PhD research as part of a larger, already established research project (for example, in the Institute for Sport, Physical Education & Health Sciences).

In this case, you should provide a two- to three-page description of a research project you have undertaken, to complement information in the application form. If you are in any doubt as to what is appropriate, please contact us:

Email: Education@[email protected]

All doctoral proposals submitted as part of an application will be run through plagiarism detection software.

Template form for your research proposal

All applicants for a PhD or MSc by Research must submit a research proposal as part of their application. Applicants  must   use the template form below for their research proposal. This research proposal should then be submitted online as part of your application. Please use Calibri size 11 font size and do not change the paragraph spacing (single, with 6pt after each paragraph) or the page margins.