Research proposals

Archaeology 

Applicants to our Archaeology PhD courses are asked to submit a clear, well-structured research proposal as part of this process.

It should usually be about 1,000 to 2,000 words. It can be useful to formulate your proposal in consultation with the staff member who might supervise the work, if this is known).

Your proposal should include:

• provisional title of research
• summary of the topic to be investigated
• previous research in this sphere
• your broad aims, and specific questions within this
• information about methods to be used, data sources to be mined, their quality/accessibility etc. (as far as you can at this stage).

Arts and Creative Technologies

You are asked to submit a clear, well-structured research proposal as part of your application.

Your proposal should be around 1,500 to 2,000 words. It can be useful to develop your this proposal in consultation with the staff member who might supervise the work, if this is known.)

Your proposal should include:

• provisional title of research
• summary of the topic to be investigated
• indications of relevant previous work in the field by others: key theoretical research or creative practice
• an overview of your own experience to date, relevant to the proposal
• your broad aims and specific questions within this
• provisional information about the likely methods to be used: will the work take place primarily through artistic/creative practice research, empirical processes of experimentation and/or theoretical investigation?

Biology

You don't normally need to submit a research proposal for Biology research degrees.

For the PhD in Biology you should be specify a research project and member of academic staff in your application. We strongly advise you contact the member of academic staff directly to discuss your suitability for the project.

For MSc Biology (by research) you should state the area you wish to work in and name two to three academic staff you'd like to work with. You may wish to contact the members of staff you wish to work with, who may provide you with a research outline or ask you to submit a research proposal.

Business and Society

Management (PhD)

As a guideline, a proposal should be around 4,000 words and contain the following principal headings:

• working title of the project
• general overview of the research area
• identification of the relevant literature (including a bibliography of cited references), to indicate you're familiar with the key academic debates within your proposed research 
• overview of the key research questions/hypotheses you wish to address/test
• justification for the proposed methodology to be employed, eg quantitative/qualitative or mixed methods
• an indication of the timescale involved, eg in the design, dissemination and analysis of questionnaires; gathering of quantitative data and checking for outliers.

Social Policy and Social Work (PhD)

Research proposals should be between 2,000 and 3,000 words (including references) and should contain:

• A concise review of relevant literature
• A clear statement of the research question, hypothesis or objective and of how this fits within the existing literature
• A clear outline of the research methods to be used and how they will be applied
• An accurate list of references.

Computer Science

For both our PhD and MSc (by research) in Computer Science, your proposal needs to outline the nature of your proposed study and give some indication of how you'll conduct your research. This is to ensure you and your potential supervisor(s) have matching research interests.

Your proposal can build on your chosen supervisor's area of work and may be prepared with the help of your chosen supervisor. It should be about 500 to 1,000 words in length. It must be in English and be your own words.

• You may wish to use this Research Proposal Template (MS Word , 9kb).

Economics

Economics (iPhD)

Your research proposal should provide details on:

• your main research question
• the relevant literature and your planned contribution to the current research in the area
• the econometric and/or theoretical modelling methods that you plan to use
• the data source (only if you envisage empirical work).

The proposal should be of about 1,000 to 2,000 words.

Make sure that your research interests are aligned with the Department's. The Department has six main areas of research (clusters):

• Economic Theory
• Macroeconomics and Finance
• Econometrics
• Applied Microeconometrics
• Health Economics
• Political Economy.

Find out more about the research interests of the academic staff.

Education

Your research proposal should be about 1,500 words. It should focus on your proposed area or study and the type of data and sample you envisage using for your data collection.

Pay careful attention to our guidelines on applying of a PhD.

You should also tailor your application as close as possible to a specific member of staff in the Department to increase your chances of acceptance. You can read up on our research profiles and read up on the kinds of PhDs we would supervise.

English and Related Literature

Please provide a brief summary of your project below (250 to 300 words) as well as a separate research proposal.

Typically, PhD proposals are between 1,000 and 1,500 words. We ask you not to exceed 1,500 words including referencing.

Describe any previous work you've done in this area, with reference to relevant literature you've read.

You are asked to state the academic factors, eg facilities, resources or staff, which have led you to apply to York.

Health Sciences

Your proposal should:

• be about 500 to 1,000 words in length and may include up to 10 relevant references
• outline your research question and/or the hypothesis you wish to investigate
• describe the possible methodology that you will use to conduct your research
• explain why your research is important and/or original, and its potential.

The aim of this is to ensure you and your potential supervisor(s) have complementary research interests. You may wish to contact the member of academic staff you'd like to work with to discuss your proposal.

History

Submit a research proposal of up to 1000 words outlining your proposed topic. This should include:

• a brief literature review
• an outline of your research question(s)/hypothesis and methods
• a short list of primary sources.

You should also specify how your dissertation will make a contribution to historical debates. Footnotes including sources will not count against your word limit.

History of Art

Your research proposal should provide a clear and well-structured proposal of 1,000 to 2,000 words in length and contain the following elements:

• a clear statement of the topic and the question(s) that your research will address (argument)
• an explanation as to why these questions are important and a description of the value of the project in terms of the contribution it aspires to make to knowledge and understanding
• a discussion of existing scholarship and debates relevant to your field and research topic
• an indication as to how your project will draw upon, engage with and contribute to these debates
• a discussion of your methodological approach or approaches
• a preliminary a chapter outline (structure of the thesis)
• a preliminary bibliography (this can include creative works as well as books and articles).

Language and Linguistic Science

Linguistics (PhD)

Include 100 words outlining your topic in your main application form.

Upload your complete research proposal in a separate document. This should be between 1,500 and 2,500 words and should contain at least the following:

1. Title of proposed research project
   This should allow the reader to place the research, at a glance, within an academic sub-field, as well as identifying the main issue to be addressed. It should not be more than 20 words long.
2. Background
   Outline the linguistic area in which you propose to conduct research. Why is it important and interesting? What is the need for further research in this area? You should provide a context for your research. Do this by referencing and briefly reviewing a number of key works in your chosen field, showing how your work is built on this prior research.
3. Research questions
   You should give at least one overarching research question, plus a number of more specific sub-questions. Make sure these questions all emerge from and are firmly grounded in the literature you have reviewed. Ensure that these questions - particularly the sub-questions - are researchable; that is, they should not be too broad or too general. You should also explain how these research questions can be considered original.
4. Data and data analysis
   All projects will involve the collection of data of some kind. In some cases, this will be based on native-speaker judgements. Other projects will require experimental data, the use of existing or specially-created corpora, longitudinal observation, or sociolinguistic interviews - to name but a few data sources. Will you be able to gain access to the data in the quantities required? Are there ethical concerns which need to be overcome? You should also be as specific as you can at this stage about the kinds of analysis you will perform. What specific techniques will you use? What statistical analyses will you be performing (if any)? Mention any software you envisage using.
5. Fit with Departmental research interests
   Before formulating your proposal, look through the our department web pages to identify people who might be able to supervise your research. You may mention the person or people by name. You're encouraged (but not obliged) to contact staff members to see if they think your ideas are viable, and if they would in principle be interested in supervising your project.
6. References
   You should provide a list of the works you have referred to in your proposal. Don't list other works which may be relevant: this is to assure the reader that you have read and understood the literature you have cited.

Language & Communication (PhD)

In addition to the 250 to 350 word summary which you should provide as part of your main application form, please upload a fuller research proposal. The proposal should be between 1500 and 2000 words in length, and should contain at least the following:

1. Title of proposed project
   This should allow the reader to place the research, at a glance, within an academic sub-field, as well as identifying the main issue to be addressed. It should not be more than 20 words long.
2. Background
   Outline the area in which you propose to conduct research. Why is it important and interesting? What is the need for further research in this area? You should provide a theoretical (linguistic, psychological), social or pedagogical context for your research. Do this by referencing and briefly reviewing a number of key works in your chosen field, showing how your work is built on this prior research.
3. Research Questions
   You should give at least one overarching research question, plus a number of more specific sub-questions. Make sure these questions all emerge from and are firmly grounded in the literature you have reviewed. Ensure that these questions - particularly the specific sub-questions - are researchable; that is, they should not be too broad or too general. You should also explain how these research questions can be considered original
4. Data and data analysis
   All projects will involve the collection of data of some kind. Most projects in Language and Communication use naturally occurring data, such as everyday conversations, classroom interactions, clinical encounters, or online interaction. Will you be able to gain access to the data in the quantities required and within an appropriate timescale? Does your data have particular technical requirements such as video? Are there ethical concerns which need to be overcome? You should also be as specific as you can at this stage about the kinds of analysis you will perform. What specific techniques will you use? Mention any software you envisage using.
5. Fit with Departmental research interests
   Before you formulate your proposal, you should look carefully through the Language & Communication web pages to identify staff members who might be able to supervise your research. You may mention the person or people by name. You are also encouraged (though you are not obliged) to contact individual staff members to find out if they believe your ideas to be viable and if they would in principle be interested in supervising your project.
6. References
   You should provide a list of the works you have referred to in your proposal. Don't list other works which may be relevant: this is to assure the reader that you have read and understood the literature you have cited.

Law

Your proposal for any of our law research courses should be around 1,500 to 2,000 words (excluding bibliography). It should include the working title of the project, the key words associated with your research and an idea of the original aspects of the project.

• Introduction: This section should briefly delimit the area of research, and identify the major issue, problem, or gap in knowledge which forms the background to your proposal, including any recent literature.
• Key research questions: You need to explain the issues you are addressing which have not been studied before, or not in the way that you intend to address them. Identify existing literature: candidates need to identify the main literature in the area and to demonstrate awareness of the major existing debates.
• Methodology: You should show awareness of different methodological tools that could be used to answer your research questions.
• An outline and timescale for the research: This schedule should attempt to break down the work required into manageable segments, which will often be based on sections of the thesis.
• Indicative bibliography (does not count towards the word limit proposed above): The bibliography should include work that you have cited in the rest of the proposal as well as references to literature that will be followed up or used in the research project.

Medicine (Hull York Medical School)

All research degrees

Your research proposal should:

• clearly outline of the questions or problem you wish to research
• say how this will contribute uniquely to the current research in this area
• identify the research methods you intend to employ to achieve this.

Your proposal should be 500 to 1,000 words, and include:

• background/introduction to your research interests
• main research aims
• methodology
• ethical considerations
• key literature references.

Medieval Studies

Describe, in at least 1,500 words, your proposed research topic, including the questions or hypotheses to be addressed, the sources to be consulted and the methods to be used.

We're looking for your ability to articulate the problem or the area on which you are intending to focus. What challenges do you anticipate? What do you expect to find? Above all, how does your research fit with and add to what has already been done by other scholars in this field?

Philosophy

You should provide an outline of your proposed research topic using between 1,000 and 2,000 words.

Physics, Engineering and Technology

Music Technology (by research) (MSc), Music Technology (PhD), Electronic Engineering (by research) (MSc), Electronic Engineering (PhD), Physics (by research) (MSc), Physics (PhD)

Provide a summary of your research interests or an outline of your proposed research topic.

Advertised research projects

If you are applying for an advertised research project, which gives full details of the project, you don't normally need to submit a research proposal but you must include the project name. You should contact the project leader, who may ask you to submit a research proposal.

Research proposals

If you're not applying for a specific research project, contact the member of academic staff you want to work with, who may provide you with a research/project outline.

Your proposal needs to describe the nature of your proposed study and indicate of how you'll conduct your research. The purpose of this exercise is to ensure that you and your potential supervisor(s) have matching research interests. The proposal should be 250 to 350 words in length. It must be in English, and be your own words.

Plasma Science and Fusion Energy (PhD)

You should use this section of the application form to:

• Provide a preference-ordered list of the projects advertised on the Fusion CDT website that you're interested in, and explain in one or two sentences what interests you about each of the projects
• Explain, with justification, your relative interest in analytical theory, computational simulation, data modelling and experiment. It might be that you are interested in all these areas or only one - either is fine - but it's important that we understand your interests as clearly as possible.

Regardless of the preferences you express here, you will be considered for all available plasma strand projects.

This section should be no more than 500 words. It must be in English and be your own words.

Politics

PhD in Global Development

Provide 1,000 words outlining the project and its importance. You should include the proposed interdisciplinary methodology and the project's contribution to the Interdisciplinary Global Development Centre (IDGC) research themes.

Psychology

Psychology (PhD ) and Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging (PhD)

The only written work you need to upload is your full research proposal (two to three pages).

Attach a full research proposal (word document)

This should cover a summary of the topic that you propose to address that includes:

• key previous research in the area
• a statement of your broad aims and specific questions
• some information on the methods that you propose to use to tackle the questions.

Research proposals are typically two to three pages in length. We expect applicants to formulate this proposal in consultation with the staff member who will potentially supervise the work. For this reason, it is important that you contact a potential supervisor to discuss your research plans before submitting a formal application.

Research proposal summary

The research proposal summary (200 to 250 words) should be an abstract of your full research proposal, ie cover the same broad areas, much more concisely.

While your potential supervisor should help you formulate the full research proposal, this summary should be entirely your own work. The clarity and quality of this summary will be assessed as part of your application.

Specific advertised research project

We expect you to have developed your research proposal in collaboration with your potential supervisor. You need to name your potential supervisor in the preferred supervisor or research group, or field of research; not a more general research group or field of research.

If you're applying for a specific advertised project, you don't need to attach a proposal. Instead, you should:

• state that you're applying for an advertised project in the research proposal summary box, in the research proposal section
• on this page, upload a short personal statement explaining why you are interested in and suitable for the advertised research project.

Social Policy and Social Work

Your research proposals for any of our Social Policy and Social Work research courses should be between 2,000 and 3,000 words (including references) and contain:

• a concise review of relevant literature
• a clear statement of the research question, hypothesis or objective and of how this fits within the existing literature
• a clear outline of the research methods to be used and how they will be applied
• an accurate list of references.

Sociology

Your proposal when applying for any of our sociology research degrees should be around 1500 to 2000 words and contain at least the following elements:

• A provisional title: this should indicate the focus of the PhD. It should include any key concepts, empirical focus, or lines of inquiry that you aim to pursue.
• An overview of the research: in this section, you should provide an overview of your research. What questions are you trying to answer, or what hypothesis/ argument are you trying to explore? What are the main research objectives? What are the key aims of the research?
• A rationale: key literature and identify a gap in the literature: you need to ground your research in existing literature. In this part of the proposal, you should include the most important texts related to the research, in order to demonstrate your understanding of the research issues. You should highlight how your research will contribute to the existing literature. How does your work relate to the expertise within the department you are applying to?
• Research design and methodology: you need to explain how you are going to conduct your research; what information you would need, how you would collect it and how you are going to analyse it. You will rework on this with your supervisor(s) should you have been successfully admitted to the PhD course
• Timetable: You need to provide a realistic timetable for the completion of your research.
• References: You need to list the main published literature that you use to guide your research, as well any available data sources you may draw on.

Women’s Studies

When applying for any of our Women's Studies research courses please supply a draft research proposal of about 1,000 to 1,500 words to include:

1. Aims of your research
2. Main research questions
3. Rationale for research
4. An indication of existing research in the field
5. Proposed research methodology/methods
6. Timetable to completion
7. Bibliography.