BE Board:Thesis proposal
Tips from those who have come before
help! Jasonk 17:52, 23 May 2005 (EDT)
A few of us have posted our proposals on bionet: (Insane Projects/Documents/thesis proposals). These should be a useful reference. --Jgritton 11:11, 24 May 2005 (EDT)
Thesis Proposal Guidelines
This information comes from the MIT Biological Engineering Graduate Student Handbook.
A doctoral thesis proposal is required by the month of June following the spring semester in which the Written Exam is successfully completed. This proposal consists of a document submitted to an approved Thesis Committee at least one week prior to an oral presentation of the proposal to the Committee and a general audience. The document should not exceed 20 printed pages. Exceptions can be made by prior agreement with the thesis committee. The Thesis Committee must approve the thesis proposal but no letter grade is given.
Title Page (One page)
Include the title, the date, your name and signature, the advisor's name and signature, and the notation "Thesis Proposal". Note that you also require a signature from the academic office to confirm that your proposal adheres to the format described here.
Abstract (Under 300 words on One page)
State the significance of the proposed research. Include your long-term objectives and specific aims. Describe concisely the research design and methods for achieving these goals. Highlight the specific hypotheses to be tested or technology to be developed which are intended to be your original contributions. Avoid summaries of past accomplishments.
Overall Objective & Specific Aims (Under One page)
Articulate the overall objective of your thesis project, and outline a set of specific aims by which your work is intended to accomplish this objective. Be sure to clearly state the hypotheses to be tested or technology to be developed.
Background & Significance (Four to Five pages)
Sketch the background leading to the present research, critically evaluate existing knowledge, and specifically identify the gaps, which your research is intended to fill. State concisely the importance of the research described in this proposal by relating the specific aims to the broad, long-term objectives.
Research Design & Methods (Six to Eight pages)
Along with the Objective & Aims section, this is the most important part of the proposal. The majority of your time should be spent making this part of your proposal as strong as possible and as clear and concise as possible. Describe the research design and the procedures to be used to accomplish the specific aims of the project; it is generally most effective to do this according to the same outline as in the Objective & Aims section. Include how the data will be collected, analyzed, and interpreted. Describe any new methodology and its advantage over existing methodologies. Discuss the potential difficulties and limitations of the proposed procedures and alternative approaches to achieve the aims. As part of this section, provide a tentative timetable for the project. Point out any procedures, situations or materials that may be hazardous and the precautions to be exercised.
Preliminary Studies (Three to Four pages)
Use this section to provide an account of your preliminary studies that are pertinent to your research project and that support your specific aims. Note: it is not necessary to have obtained preliminary data in order to submit or defend the proposal, although it will be expected that you have begun to undertake some of the methods to assess their feasibility.
Literature Cited (No page limits)
List all references. Each reference must include the title, names of authors, book or journal, volume number, page numbers, and year of publication. References should be limited to relevant literature. References are not included in the page limits. However, only references pertinent to the proposed research should be included.
Appendix (No page limits)
You may include copies of published or submitted articles pertinent to the proposed research for which you are an author. Such publications are neither expected nor required at the time of Thesis Proposal presentation.
Format and Page Limitations
Proposals must be single spaced using 12 pt font and 1 inch margins. Figures may be embedded into the text, but they must be readable. The font within figures must be at least 9 point and the figure captions must be at least 10 point. Devote one page each for the title page, abstract and specific aims. Use between 13-17 pages for the remaining sections (Background & Significance, Preliminary Results, and Research Design & Methods). Note that although the maximum recommended page limits for these sections add up to a total of 17 pages, you are expected to expand and contract these sections as you see fit so that the total is no more than 17 pages (for example, the preliminary results section may be shorter for some than for others). Page limits include both text and figures. References are not included in the page limits. Total of NO more than 20 pages (including 3 pages for the title page, abstract and specific aims; not including references or appendices).
