Proposal Guidelines

Adapted from Martha Davis, Scientific Papers and Presentations,Academic Press:New York, 1997

Introduction

A written proposal is the way a researcher communicates with a grantor, advisor or committee asking for approval and support for carrying out some project. Once your proposal has been approved, it forms the agreement between you and the entities that approved it. The proposal also provides the researcher with a plan of action for the work to be done throughout the project. During the course of writing the proposal, you review the work that has been done previously which helps you plan the work you will do and anticipate problems that might occur.

The content of a proposal will vary with the nature of the project and the audience to which it is directed. Funding sources such as government agencies and private or corporate foundations will require a specific format which specifies the sections the proposal must have and the information that should be included in them. They also often specify style elements such as font size, line spacing and proposal length. If you do not follow the guidelines, your proposal will be rejected no matter how scientifically important your project is. It is essential that you anticipate the questions your audience will ask and answer them in your proposal. The following is a list of criteria typically used in evaluating proposals:

1. Scientific merit or benefit
2. Importance to the scientific discipline or relevance to the immediate problem
3. Feasibility
4. Rationale and methodology
5. Ability of the investigators to conduct the work
6. The budget and time required
7. Adherence to guidelines

The proposal should address fundamental questions about the project such as:

• Is it worthwhile?
• Are the odds good that it will be successful?
• What benefits will be derived?
• Is the funding request realistic?
• Is the timeline realistic?
• Are the investigators qualified to do the work
• Are the appropriate tools available to do the work?

The answers to these questions form the rationale or justification section of your proposal.

Your proposal will contain the following sections:

1. Title page and abstract
2. Introduction
3. Discussion of significance (justification)
4. Review of previous work (literature)
5. Materials and methods
6. Discussion of possible outcomes (conclusions)
7. Budget and timeline

The Sections

Title

The title should identify the subject specifically and concisely using key words. Remember that the title forms the reviewer's first impression of your proposal.

Abstract

Often the abstract makes the most important impression on the reviewer. When your proposal is vying for funding with a large pool of other investigators, the abstract may be the only section of the proposal read before a cut reducing the total number of proposals is made. The abstract should describe the purpose (or hypothesis), objectives, and expected outcomes. You should begin with a sentence or two of justification followed by your objectives, a concise description of the methods to be used and a conclusion to remind the reviewer of the justification or benefits. The abstract should be written after you have completed the body of your proposal.

Introduction

The introduction immediately shows the reviewer the subject which will be investigated with a rationale for pursuing it. The introduction may include some literature review and a statement of benefits. It will define the hypothesis and list the objectives of the project. Here, the term hypothesis means the purpose of the study, the assumption you expect to prove, the question to be answered or the problem to be solved. The objectives are your specific goals. You need to distinguish between the hypothesis and the objectives.

Consider the proposal that Columbus might have written to secure funding for his explorations. Queen Isabella and Ferdinand would have been the audience. His proposal might have been titled "An Alternate Trade Route to the Orient". His hypothesis would be that the world is round and that he could reach the East if he sailed westward establishing a new trade route for Spain. His objectives might have been (1) to sail west and chart a route which would be compared to other routes and (2) to bring home three ships full of spices. Comparing the hypothesis to the objectives, you can see that the hypothesis is a general supposition and contains an unproven concept. The objectives are specific goals that can be achieved if the hypothesis is true. The objectives must be appealing to Queen Isabella, or she would probably not fund his proposal.

Justification

The justification describes what can and should be done to obtain a beneficial outcome. You should show how the objectives help to achieve the goals, and how the methods to be used accommodate the objectives. You can also use the timeliness, economic significance and access to resources as part of your justification if applicable. The justification should be based on:

• Scientific principles
• Previous work (literature)
• Feasibility
• Use of or potential benefit from the results
  

Literature Review

The literature review should summarize publications pertinent to your project including any controversies surrounding the subject, gaps in knowledge you expect to fill and methods that make your work possible. You should only discuss information directly relevant to your specific objectives.

Methods

This is the foundation of the feasibility of your project. You should include detailed information on materials, sampling techniques, analysis methods, potential problems you might encounter and how they will be addressed. All materials and the timeline should be justified. If you were submitting your proposal to a granting agency, you would justify your budget here.

Budget and Timeline

Both the monetary and temporal budgets can make or break a proposal. Both must be reasonable for the work proposed. For your proposal, you only need to be concerned with whether the materials needed for your analysis are affordable and how much time the procedure should take to carry out.

References

Your references indicate how well you explored your subject. You will use the ACS Style Guide for correct reference format.

Proposal Formatting

Your proposal may not exceed six double-spaced pages exclusive of the coversheet (title/abstract page) and reference page. Your proposal must be typed in 12 pt font with margins of 1" on all sides. Footnotes are to be placed in a separate reference section at the end of the proposal and numbered sequentially in the text of the proposal.

Get the proposal coversheet.

The coversheet is a Microsoft Word document. All you have to do is down load the template, type your information where the instructions in brackets are located, and add the page to your proposal.