how to write research project proposal

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HOW TO WRITE RESEARCH PROJECT PROPOSAL

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Page 4: How to write Research project Proposal

What is a scientific project proposal?

A request for financial assistance to implement a scientific project (inspired from [Belmain, 2012])

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1. To maintain the quality of teaching programs.

2. Provide the basis for undergraduate and graduate

thesis research projects.

3. Universities should be more than degree

delivering institutions.

4. Universities should be the basket for new

knowledge and developments.

Why is the development of research within universities a must ?

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What to investigate in a project?

• A new idea, e.g., a first solution to an impacting problem

• A better solution to a known problem

– E.g., a better‐performing algorithm (accuracy,

speed, etc.)

• Multidisciplinary ideas

• Knowledge gaps

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What makes a good scientific project proposal?

Key questions (adapted and extended from [Cardoso,2012)

1. Is the research new?

2. Is the research significant to the field of research?

3. Does it clearly motivate and clearly formulate the research question?

4. Does it outline the current knowledge of the problem domain, as well as the state of existing solutions?

5. Does it present clearly any preliminary ideas, the proposed approach and the results achieved so far?

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What makes a good scientific project proposal?

Key questions;

6. Does it sketch the research methodology that will be applied?

7. Does it point out the contributions of the applicant to the problem solution?

8. Does it state in what aspects the suggested solution will be different, new or better as compared to existing approaches to the problem?

9. Does it state how the expected results will be evaluated or compared to existing approaches to the problem?

10.Does it state how and by whom the expected results can be applied?

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Budget Your Time

80% planning the project 20% writing the proposal

Solid partnerships

Innovative

project

Communicate

Define your

budget

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Preliminary Work

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Sections of the Proposal

Summary Hypothesis Bakcground

Methods Budget Management

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Research Topic

Selection of research topic is based on

the SMART concept:

S = Specific.

M = Measurable.

A = Achievable.

R = Realistic.

T = Time specific

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Title of Research Project

Good

Concise title that gives reviewer a general sense of what you are investigating.

For example:

Understanding the role anti-cell death protein BNIP3 plays in brain cancers.

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Title of Research Project

Reject

Too long and technical of a title will not gain the reviewer’s attention or interest.

Too short and broad a title will make the reviewer too critical of grant.

Example:

Determining the mechanism of action of Bcl-2 family members in regulating apoptotic signaling complexes within the mitochondria leading to a cure in cancers.

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Non-Scientific Summary

Good

This is used for press releases.

Avoid acronyms

Clearly state why this project is important.

Declare the impact this research will have on cancer or other diseases.

Give it to a non-research friend to read.

Reject

Using technical language is a negative.

Do not use acronyms even if you define them.

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Summary of Research Proposal

Good give a short but informative background to

justify the research hypothesis and objectives. Clearly state the hypothesis. State the objectives and/or aims of this

proposal. State the impact, significance and innovation in

this proposal. Define acronyms as much as possible.

Reject Technical and condensed phrasing of the

project. No clear statement of what is the purpose of

this study.

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Tip

Ask a colleague to read the

abstract. If the abstract is well

written, they should be able to

understand the essence of the

project from the abstract.

Summary of Research Proposal

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Details of Research Proposal

Order of Proposal:

Goals or objectives of proposal

Background

Rationale and hypothesis.

Specific Aims

Rationale

Hypothesis (optional)

Approach

Expected Results

Pitfalls or Alternative approaches.

Significance and/or Impact of this proposal.

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Goals and/or Objectives of Research

Good

This is usually one paragraph telling the reviewer everything they need to know about this research proposal.

This provides the opportunity to gain the reviewers interest and excitement about this proposal.

It should contain the background on why this research is important, hypothesis, and objectives.

Should state the innovation of this proposal.

Finally it should in a clear statement demonstrate why this project is significant and what impact it will have.

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Reject

No goal or objective statement at the start of the proposal.

Too technical and condensed will make it hard to read and understand.

Too short will not give the reviewer the needed information to understand the proposal.

Too long will make the reviewer skip to the background and makes the reviewer search for what is important.

Goals and/or Objectives of Research

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Background

Good

Give the reviewer the needed information to understand the objectives and approaches in this proposal.

Structure the background to go from broad information such as cancer kills Canadians to specific information such as my protein is increased in solid tumors.

Build up the background towards answering a specific question that is unknown.

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Background

Good

There should be section within the background to discuss preliminary data.

Connect preliminary data to background.

If limited preliminary data, spend time on the innovation such as using unique resources at CCMB for this proposal.

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Background

Reject

Do not expand background to unnecessary information that does not support the hypothesis.

Background should not exceed one third to one half of proposal.

No preliminary data generally negatively impacts the proposal in two ways.

No indication that the proposal will feasible.

No indication the applicant can do the proposed work.

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Rationale and Hypothesis.

Good

Clearly state the hypothesis or number of hypotheses that will be addressed in the proposal.

Give a rationale why this hypothesis is important to investigate.

Reject

Avoid combining the two together. It could be confusing to the reviewer.

Too long of a hypothesis makes it hard to understand the aim of the research.

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Specific Aims

Good

Limit specific aims to 2-3.

Make sure controls are added to approaches taken.

Always give what your expected results will be.

Always give alternative approaches since pitfalls happen.

Address feasibility if you have not demonstrated that you can do the experiments proposed.

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Specific Aims

Address innovation wherever possible.

Justify the use of specific reagents or animal models.

For example:

If you use a cell line why that cell line

If you use an animal model why that animal model.

Confirm results with multiple approaches.

Make aim 1 less risky compared to other aims.

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Specific Aims

Reject

Many specific aims is bad. This is a two year proposal and if it is too ambitious, will negatively impact on reviewers.

Avoid to many specifics on experiments.

Structure aims so that aim 2 is not dependent on aim 1.

Do not avoid issues within the field of research

Using cell lines for genetic studies is not the same as primary cancer cells and might yield misleading information. Tell the review you understand the limitations and how to address it.

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Methods

This section of your proposal has multiple parts Design

Sample/Sample size

Setting

Protocol

Analysis Plan

Detailed enough so that the reviewers could conduct the study

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Methods - Design

Describe your study design Design examples

Prospective vs. Retrospective Descriptive Observation Intervention clinical trial Surveys, interviews, questionnaires Focus groups, field studies Others

Example We plan a prospective randomized controlled

trial of meditative music vs. no music

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Methods – Sample/Sample Size

Who are the study participants?

Describe inclusion criteria

Example: Adult men and women inpatients with stage IV heart disease

Who is excluded?

Example: Patients who do not speak English

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Methods – Sample cont’d

How will participants be recruited?

Convenience sample

Flyers in research offices

Advertisements

Electronic Records search

How many participants are needed?

How will you justify the sample size?

Has there been a power analysis?

Do you have a comparison or control group?

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Definition of variables

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Measurement of observations

Describe how, when and where the observations are made? Describe instruments used!

Questionaire (attach to the protocol)

Type of interview (describe structure of the interview)

Laboratory test (refer to literature or personal knowledge, if established test, or describe in detail, if not established)

Clinical examinations (describe gadget/procedure)

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Data management and analysis

Based on objectives consider:

Coding for variables/ type of variables

Analysis plan depending on type of variables

Statistical tests implicated

(Style of presentation i.e. tables, graphs)

Data safety and storage

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Significance and Impact

Good Last chance to impress the reviewer on the

importance of what you are proposing.

Give a sense of future directions for this research.

Why is this proposal innovative?

Impact on the field and/or on the disease being studied should be stated.

Reject

No significance statement.

Superficial such as this will cure cancer.

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References/Bibliography

Use of standard referencing system: Harvard style

Name and publication year in text Alphabetical bibliography

Vancouver style Numbered references Continous referencing in text

Make use of software Reference Manager Endnote software

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Budget:

Good

Give a detailed account of where you will be spending the money.

Approximately one third of the budget should go to supplies.

Reject

Graduate students should not be used in budget support since it is an easy target for reduction due to alternative funding sources.

Do not justify spending all the budget on personnel.

Page 47: How to write Research project Proposal

All other Operating Grants

Good

Declare all operating grants.

Declare 0% or 100% overlap.

In this granting environment it is reasonable to apply from multiple sources to get funding.

Reject

Do not state 25-50% overlap with operating grant.

The review committee going to treat this grant as 100% overlap.

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Setting

Describe the sites where you plan to conduct the study

Do you have support from the administration of the site to conduct the study?

Letters of support from site

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Protocol

What are you going to do to study participants?

Detailed, step by step explanation

Include how you will identify participants, obtain consent, and collect data

If there is an intervention, describe it in detail

Will you use measurement tools? Describe the tools, including reliability and validity and include a copy of the tools with your proposal

Include the time frame for implementing the study

Page 50: How to write Research project Proposal

Timeline

Describe how long it will take to do your study

Provide timeline benchmarks

Example:

Months 1 – 3 Prepare study tools

Months 4-10 Collect data

Months 11-12 Analyze data

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Example Project

STDF format

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Common pitfalls to avoid

Missing aims or purpose

Not enough detail about protocol

Write your proposal so anyone reading it can understand your plan

Is your study significant?

Does it answer the larger “So what” question? Why should researchers care about this work?

Underpowered sample size

Describe why you are using the sample size and justify it

Invalid or unreliable instrumentation

Has your instrument been tested with the population you are studying? If not, will you test it within your study?

Improper statistics

Are you using the appropriate statistical analysis?

Page 67: How to write Research project Proposal

Resources Page

Summary of physical space, equipment, personnel, & other resources essential to study completion

Letters of support required for shared resources critical to proposed work

Justify reliance on external resources

Page 68: How to write Research project Proposal

http://stdf-egypt.org/ for STDF of egypt

http://www.kacst.edu.sa/ar/Pages/default.aspx kind abdulaziz city for science and technology

Page 69: How to write Research project Proposal

Further reading

• A. Yavuz Oruc (2011). “Handbook of Scientific Proposal Writing”,

Chapman and Hall/CRC

– A. Yavuz Oruc (2011). “Handbook of Scientific Proposal

Writing”,Chapman and Hall/CRC

– FP7 (2012). “Template for Description of Work”, Microsoft Word

document

– Belmain S. (2012). “How to write a scientific proposal: Responding

to competitive calls”, Presentation, URL:

http://www.nri.org/projects/adappt/docs/McKnight/WritingGrantPr

oposals.pdf

– TURBO (2010). “How to start a successful proposal under FP7?”,

Presentation, Turkish Research and Business Organizations, URL:

http://www.turboppp.org/home.do;jsessionid=298565811203FFEA0

FB0326BE9D8598F?ot=5&rt=10&sid=0&pid=0&cid=9429