THE PROPOSAL OVERVIEW and PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The proposal should present the:

(1) objectives and scientific or educational significance of the proposed work;

(2) suitability of the methods to be employed;

(3) qualifications of the investigator;

(4) effect of the activity on science, engineering and/or education; and

(5) special needs (equipment concerns, etc.).

It should present the merits of the proposed project clearly and should be prepared with the care and thoroughness of a paper submitted for publication. Sufficient information should be provided so that reviewers will be able to evaluate the proposal. We suggest making a "checklist" of items needed in order to be certain your proposal is complete.

Proposal Due Date: Final proposals are due, completed and turned-in no later than 5:00 p.m., on the date defined in the Schedule. No extensions will be granted without the written consent of your Scientific Process (SP) instructor(s). Note: First drafts of proposals are due on an earlier date.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR PROPOSAL PREPARATION

It is important that all proposals conform to the instructions provided. Conformance is required and will be strictly enforced unless a deviation has been approved. Proposals that are not consistent with these instructions will be judged deficient in very basic structure and will result in rejection of the proposal and failure for the course. Particular attention is given to proposal length, content and formatting, including the page limitation of the Project Description and other proposal sections, such as the use of Appendices and required content of the Biographical Sketches.

Your SP instructor(s) must authorize any deviations from these instructions in writing in advance.

Proposals must be stapled in the upper left-hand and have 2.5-cm margins at the top, bottom and on each side. The type size must be clear and readily legible, in standard size, which is 10 to 12 points. (No smaller than 10-point font size will be accepted.) Line spacing should be double-spaced for all sections of the proposal (except the Reference Cited); established page limits must be followed (see below). You must provide two copies of your proposal to the instructor(s). Two-sided printing is requested, but not required. You are also required to include your edited first draft.

Pages submitted must be of standard size. 8½" x 11" (216 mm x 279mm) is preferred, however, metric A4 (210 mm x 297 mm) may be used.

SECTIONS OF THE PROPOSAL

The proposal must be assembled in the following sequence, with page number on the bottom center of each page. Failure to follow this format results in a rejection of the proposal:

1. Cover Sheet for Proposal (one separate page)

2. Abstract (Max 100 words - one separate page)

3. Table of Contents (one page - one separate page)

4. Project Description

5. References Cited (no limit- single spaced)

6. Curriculum Vitae

First Submission:
Will include the revised first submission proposal as well as the statistical analyses within the Methods and the Broader Implications.You will also need a timeline and equipment and resources needs as part of your proposal.

IN DEPTH INSTRUCTIONS

Cover Sheet

Complete the linked form for the cover sheet. No substitutions are acceptable. The cover sheet is available as an HTML document or an MS Word document. Type in the material and then print the page. Do not print the page and hand-write the content. Note: The title of the project should be brief, scientifically or technically literate reader and suitable for use in the public press.

HTML Cover Sheet

MS Word Cover Sheet – downloadable to disk

Abstract
The proposal must contain a summary of the proposed activity, 100 word maximum. It is an abstract of the proposal; a self-contained description of the activity that would result if the proposal were funded. The summary should include an introduction to the problem you are addressing, a statement of objectives, methods to be employed and the potential impact of the project on advancing knowledge, science and mathematics education, and/or human resource development. It should be understandable to a scientifically or technically literate lay reader.

(Max 100 words)

Keywords: Provide 3-5 keywords for your proposal immediately after your abstract

Table of Contents

The proposal must contain a Table of Contents with all relevant sections of the proposal noted and clearly defined with respect to location.

(1 page)

Project Description: Detailed Explanation

The organization of a proposal's Project Description can vary considerably from funding agency to agency. Despite this variability, each proposal should have the essential elements, regardless of the subheadings used (see below). This is the organization required for this course; you must include each of the following sections in your proposal. You will see that many of the subheadings and their content mirror the structure of a scientific journal article. The two types of writing, however, have very different purposes. While a primary journal article provides data to evaluate a hypothesis and is intended to convince the reader that the work was sound, a proposal is designed to entice the reader and demonstrate the feasibility of the work.

A proposal must NOT bore the reviewer. It is of great importance, no matter how technical the section you're writing, to relate your enthusiasm for the project. However, relating this enthusiasm and maintaining a professional tone to your writing is an art form that takes practice to develop. You may also find that reading past successful proposals from colleagues or advisors gives you insight into this delicate balancing act.

A scientific proposal is a tool in science. However, the skills that you will develop in this exercise are critical to any professional field. You will learn how to construct and communicate an argument that will help you throughout life.

Project Description

The main body of the proposal should be a clear statement of the work to be undertaken and should include: objectives for the period of the proposed work, relation to the present state of knowledge in the field, and the proposed methods. The project description should outline the general plan of work, including the broad design of activities to be undertaken, an adequate description of experimental methods and procedures and, if appropriate, plans for preservation, documentation, and sharing of data, samples, physical collections and other related research products. The statement should also indicate any broader impacts of the proposed activity. Brevity will assist reviewers in dealing effectively with proposals. Pay close attention to word limits. Visual materials, including charts, graphs, maps, photographs and other pictorial presentations may be included. Conformance to the word limitation will be strictly enforced. (more detailed instructions on the Project Description).

Introduction: (Why is this important?)

This section introduces the research problem, its significance, and importance. The introduction is meant to build your case that this project is important enough to be funded. You will want to cast your project that presents the context of your study beyond the narrow focus of your specific quesition. For example, what are the potential scientific or societal justifications for your study. Make sure that you identify the work previously done in the field that helps illustrate the uniqueness of your research question. Be careful, do not add methods into this sections. You will have the opportunity to discuss the methods in the next section. Usually, though not always, this section concludes identifies the hypotheses to be tested and your predictions near the end of the section.

(Max 500 words)

Research Objectives: (What you intend to do?)

The author explicitly defines what the project's objectives within this section. The author will specifically identify the questions and/ or hypotheses that will be examined in the study. The specific methods used to accomplish the objectives, however, are left for the next section.

(Max 100 words)

Methods: (How you will conduct the study?)

This is where you detail how the work will be accomplished from a practical standpoint. This section will describe the study design, data collection, and data analyses. Authors may also want to include such things as a description of the facilities or study area and specialized equipment. This should be more than a simple description of your methods. You will need to explain/ justify each component of your study. Do not recreate the wheel. You will want to develop methods based on accepted procedures and equipment. Make sure that you cite where appropriate.

(Max 700 words)

Broader Implications: (Besides the persons identified in your introduction, who else would be interested in the proposed study?)

In your introduction, you designed a line of thinking to justify your project. What are some other possible justifications of your work. How might your work have applied significance, or how might your study have broader implications of your study to basic science."What is the broader significance of this research?"

(Max 100 words)

Time Table and Project Management: (Timing and overview)

The reviewer also must be convinced that the project can be successfully completed in a finite amount of time. This section is used to set-up a schedule for the research. This is particularly important to Scientific Process students who are anticipating conducting their research as a senior thesis. In any case, the project must be feasible in the time you can reasonably be expected to have to complete it. The concept of project management includes keeping to timetables but also includes other facets of managing research projects. In this section you might see detailed explanations of which scientist is responsible for which objective in a collaborative project. If you're working independently, you might expect to explain the level of support you have in the way of clerical assistance or assistance with data collection. For a senior thesis, most of you will be working independently, though your advisors might be helping conduct some portion of the project. If so, you would need to detail that information here.

References Cited

Reference information is required. Each reference must include the title, names of all authors in the same sequence in which they appear in the publication, book or journal, volume number, page numbers and year of publication. Specific format of listing references is at the discretion of the proposer, but should follow an excepted format (see instructions in Bibliography assignment). There is no established page limitation for this section of the proposal. However, at least 90% of your references must come from peer-reviewed sources.

This needs to be complete.There is no minimum or maximum number of citation. You must adequately support your proposal.

Curriculum Vitae: (Biographical Information)

You will want to develop a curriculum vitae describing your professional career to date. You will be provided supplementary guidance for this section.

(Biographical Sketches) (more detailed instructions)

Biographical sketches are limited to two pages. The following minimal information must be provided:

· Vitae (resume), listing professional and academic essentials and mailing address

· The names of previous institutions attended with degrees completed or in progress

· employment history if relevant to the proposal

· skills/experiences relevant to the proposal

Expected Equipment and Special Resource Needs

Provide a list of any specialty equipment or other resources you expect to need for the completion of this project with explanations of why these are needed. A table may be used to fulfill this requirement. In addition, describe any licensing, permit, or authorizations required, such as Institutional Review Board (IRB) or Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) approval - see Office of Sponsored Research Programs - Compliance page

First Submission:
Will include the revised first submission proposal as well as the statistical analyses within the Methods and the Broader Implications.

* Substantial potions of these guidelines have been adapted from the National Science Foundations 1998 Grant Proposal Guide\

© Meers, Savarese, Demers, Barreto, Kakareka, Volety, Everham, Cruz-Alvarez, Loh, Goebel, Fugate, Bovard, Hartley, Mujtaba, & Gunnels 2009.

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Last updated February 16, 2011