research proposal sample in chemistry pdf

Written Thesis Proposal

Introduction

The goal of this article is to help you to streamline your writing process and help convey your ideas in a concise, coherent, and clear way. The purpose of your proposal is to introduce, motivate, and justify the need for your research contributions. You want to communicate to your audience what your research will do ( vision ), why it is needed ( motivation ), how you will do it ( feasibility ).

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Before you start writing your proposal

A thesis proposal is different than most documents you have written. In a journal article, your narrative can be post-constructed based on your final data, whereas in a thesis proposal, you are envisioning a scientific story and anticipating your impact and results. Because of this, it requires a different approach to unravel your narration. Before you begin your actual writing process, it is a good idea to have (a) a perspective of the background and significance of your research, (b) a set of aims that you want to explore, and (c) a plan to approach your aims. However, the formation of your thesis proposal is often a nonlinear process. Going back and forth to revise your ideas and plans is not uncommon. In fact, this is a segue to approaching your very own thesis proposal, although a lot of time it feels quite the opposite.

Refer to “Where do I begin” article when in doubt. If you have a vague or little idea of the purpose and motivation of your work, one way is to remind yourself the aspects of the project that got you excited initially. You could refer to the “Where do I begin?” article to explore other ways of identifying the significance of your project.

Begin with an outline. It might be daunting to think about finishing a complete and coherent thesis proposal. Alternatively, if you choose to start with an outline first, you are going to have a stronger strategic perspective of the structure and content of your thesis proposal. An outline can serve as the skeleton of your proposal, where you can express the vision of your work, goals that you set for yourself to accomplish your thesis, your current status, and your future plan to explore the rest. If you don’t like the idea of an outline, you could remind yourself what strategy worked best for you in the past and adapt it to fit your needs.

Structure Diagram

Structure your thesis proposal

While some variation is acceptable, don’t stray too far from the following structure (supported by the Graduate Student Handbook). See also the Structure Diagram above.

• Cover Page. The cover page contains any relevant contact information for the committee and your project title. Try to make it look clean and professional.
• Specific Aims . The specific aims are the overview of the problem(s) that you plan to solve. Consider this as your one-minute elevator pitch on your vision for your research. It should succinctly (< 1 page) state your vision (the What), emphasize the purpose of your work (the Why), and provide a high-level summary of your research plans (the How).
• You don’t need to review everything! The point of the background is not to educate your audience, but rather to provide them with the tools needed to understand your proposal. A common pitfall is to explain all the research that you did to understand your topic and to demonstrate that you really know your information. Instead, provide enough evidence to show that you have done your reading. Cut out extraneous information. Be succinct.
• Start by motivating your project. Your background begins by addressing the motivation for your project. If you are having a hard time brainstorming the beginning of your background, try to organize your thoughts by writing down a list of bullet points about your research visions and the gap between current literature and your vision. They do not need to be in any order as they only serve to your needs. If you are unsure of how to motivate your audience, you can refer to the introductions of the key literatures where your proposal is based on, and see how your proposal fits in or extends their envisioned pictures. Another exercise to consider is to imagine: “What might happen if your work is successful?”  This will motivate your audience to understand your intent. Specifically, detailed contributions to help advance your field more manageable to undertake than vague high-level outcomes. For example, “Development of the proposed model will enable high-fidelity simulation of shear-induced crystallization” is a more specific and convincing motivation, compared to, “The field of crystallization modeling must be revolutionized in order to move forward.”

• Break down aims into tractable goals. The goal of your research plan is to explain your plans to approach the problem that you have identified. Here, you are extending your specific aims into a set of actionable plans. You can break down your aims into smaller, more tractable goals whose union can answer the lager scientific question you proposed. These smaller aims, or sub-aims, can appear in the form of individual sub-sections under each of your research aims.
• Reiterate your motivations. While you have already explained the purpose of your work in previous sections, it is still a good practice to reiterate them in the context of each sub-aim that you are proposing. This will inform your audience the motivation of each sub-aim and help them stay engaged.
• Describe a timely, actionable plan. Sometimes you might be tempted to write down every area that needs improvement. It is great to identify them; at the same time, you also need to decide on what set of tasks can you complete timely to make a measurable impact during your PhD. A timely plan now can save a lot of work a few years down the road.  Plan some specific reflection points when you’ll revisit the scope of your project and evaluate if changes are needed.  Some pre-determined “off-ramps” and “retooling” ideas will be very helpful as well, e.g., “Development of the model will rely on the experimental data of Reynold’s, however, modifications of existing correlations based on the validated data of von Karman can be useful as well.”
• Point your data to your plans. The preliminary data you have, data that others in your lab have collected, or even literature data can serve as initial steps you have taken. Your committee should not judge you based on how much or how perfect your data is. More important is to relate how your data have informed you to decide on your plans. Decide upon what data to include and point them towards your future plans.
• Name your backup plans. Make sure to consider back-up plans if everything doesn’t go as planned, because often it won’t. Try to consider which part of your plans are likely to fail and its consequence on the project trajectory. In addition, think about what alternative plans you can consider to “retune” your project. It is unlikely to predict exactly what hurdles you will encounter; however, thinking about alternatives early on will help you feel much better when you do.
• Safety. Provide a description of any relevant safety concerns with your project and how you will address them. This can include general and project-specific lab safety, PPE, and even workspace ergonomics and staying physical healthy if you are spending long days sitting at a desk or bending your back for a long time at your experimental workbench.
• Create the details of your timeline. The timeline can be broken down in the units of semester. Think about your plans to distribute your time in each sub-aims, and balance your research with classes, TA, and practice school. A common way to construct a timeline is called the Gantt Chart. There are templates that are available online where you can tailor them to fit your needs.
• References. This is a standard section listing references in the appropriate format, such as ACS format. The reference tool management software (e.g., Zotero, Endnote, Mendeley) that you are using should have prebuilt templates to convert any document you are citing to styles like ACS. If you do not already have a software tool, now is a good time to start.

Authentic, annotated, examples (AAEs)

These thesis proposals enabled the authors to successfully pass the qualifying exam during the 2017-2018 academic year.

Resources and Annotated Examples

Thesis proposal example 1, thesis proposal example 2.

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35911 Overview of the Research Proposal

• Published: August 2008
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In this module, we focus on writing a research proposal, a document written to request financial support for an ongoing or newly conceived research project. Like the journal article (module 1), the proposal is one of the most important and most utilized writing genres in chemistry. Chemists employed in a wide range of disciplines including teaching (high school through university), research and technology, the health professions, and industry all face the challenge of writing proposals to support and sustain their scholarly activities. Before we begin, we remind you that there are many different ways to write a successful proposal”far too many to include in this textbook. Our goal is not to illustrate all the various approaches, but rather to focus on a few basic writing skills that are common to many successful proposals. These basics will get you started, and with practice, you can adapt them to suit your individual needs. After reading this chapter, you should be able to do the following: ◾ Describe different types of funding and funding agencies ◾ Explain the purpose of a Request for Proposals (RFP) ◾ Understand the importance of addressing need, intellectual merit, and broader impacts in a research proposal ◾ Identify the major sections of a research proposal ◾ Identify the main sections of the Project Description Toward the end of the chapter, as part of the Writing on Your Own task, you will identify a topic for the research proposal that you will write as you work through this module. Consistent with the read-analyze-write approach to writing used throughout this textbook, this chapter begins with an excerpt from a research proposal for you to read and analyze. Excerpt 11A is taken from a proposal that competed successfully for a graduate fellowship offered by the Division of Analytical Chemistry of the American Chemical Society (ACS). As is true for nearly all successful proposals, the principal investigator (PI) wrote this proposal in response to a set of instructions. We have included the instructions with the excerpt so that you can see for yourself how closely she followed the proposal guidelines.

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A Practical Guide in Writing a Medicinal Chemistry Research Proposal for Students Entering Research

The aim is to give an overview summary of the research and discuss the merits and broader impacts of the research project. The quality of the research proposal depends not only on the quality of the research you proposed but also included the writing of your project. Research proposal help assist students in a different way to fulfill their academic goals. Some students that have lack of subject knowledge feel it challenging to feed the readers with sufficient information in the proposal, so there is a consultation PhD proposal writing service with the expert help supply all the central details on the project. The role of new researchers while writing a medical chemistry research proposal is to make the readers that the solution for the research question is practical and appropriate. Students find it challenging to write a quality PhD research proposal by considering the organization format. When you Order any reflective report at Tutors India, we promise you the following; Plagiarism free, Always on Time, Outstanding customer support, Written to Standard, Unlimited Revisions support, High-quality Subject Matter Experts. Contact: Website: www.tutorsindia.com Email: [email protected] United Kingdom: +44-1143520021 India: +91-4448137070 Whatsapp Number: +91-8754446690 Read more: https://bit.ly/32U6O8J

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An research proposal examples on chemistry is a prosaic composition of a small volume and free composition, expressing individual impressions and thoughts on a specific occasion or issue and obviously not claiming a definitive or exhaustive interpretation of the subject.

Some signs of chemistry research proposal:

• the presence of a specific topic or question. A work devoted to the analysis of a wide range of problems in biology, by definition, cannot be performed in the genre of chemistry research proposal topic.
• The research proposal expresses individual impressions and thoughts on a specific occasion or issue, in this case, on chemistry and does not knowingly pretend to a definitive or exhaustive interpretation of the subject.
• As a rule, an essay suggests a new, subjectively colored word about something, such a work may have a philosophical, historical, biographical, journalistic, literary, critical, popular scientific or purely fiction character.
• in the content of an research proposal samples on chemistry , first of all, the author’s personality is assessed - his worldview, thoughts and feelings.

The goal of an research proposal in chemistry is to develop such skills as independent creative thinking and writing out your own thoughts.

Writing an research proposal is extremely useful, because it allows the author to learn to clearly and correctly formulate thoughts, structure information, use basic concepts, highlight causal relationships, illustrate experience with relevant examples, and substantiate his conclusions.

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Examples List on Chemistry Research Proposal

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Original Research Proposal – Polymer/Materials

Stage 1: white paper.

A half-page white paper (Abstract, specific aims, figure optional) will be required first. The topic of proposal must be unrelated to the research projects ongoing in their group (students are encouraged to consult with their advisor).

D ue date: Nov. 1st of the student’s fourth year. Must be sent to the P/M division rep.

The P/M division rep will send the white papers out to two faculty per proposal to review these and indicate by Nov. 30 th if the proposal idea is reasonable or not. If a resubmission is required, it is due on December 15 th .

Stage 2: Full proposal

The full proposal will have two components: a 2-page written document , and a PowerPoint presentation .

The written document must have the following sections and formatting:

A short paragraph (4–5 sentences) providing the context of the proposed research, the key problem/question the research will address, and summarizing the approach.

• Specific Aims (typically 2-3 aims)

A sentence per aim, describing what you seek to accomplish within its scope. All together, the aims constitute the proposed approach. Note: a figure that summarizes these aims must be included in this section.

• Background and Significance

This section is meant to provide a more detailed context for the significance/impact of the problem/question, as well as what has already been accomplished to address it. Precedents relevant to your proposed research should be included here as well. The literature overview presented here should be as comprehensive as possible, but not be a “laundry list” of reported results—you need to give the reader a clear understanding of why they should care about your area of research and what makes your proposal original. Typically, this section will take up 1/3 to 1/2 of a page.

• Approach (separate sections for each aim)

This section will detail the research you propose to do. Key aspects to include in this section are insightful , well-informed and testable hypotheses, and how you plan to test them. Figures showcasing crucial data that you might expect could also be helpful. Also, what you’re going for is strategic originality and tactical feasibility. The former will be established in the Background section; the latter can be best established by describing your approach in detail, with proper citations. Typically, this section will take up ~1 page.

A few sentences that describe the broader significance of the research being proposed. What are some fields/applications that could be impacted? What are some further directions/branch-points that this research will present?

Provide citations in the following format:

• Zhukhovitskiy, A. V.; Mavros, M. G.; Queeney, K. T.; Wu, T.; Voorhis, T. V.; Johnson, J. A., Reactions of Persistent Carbenes with Hydrogen-Terminated Silicon Surfaces. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2016 , 138 , 8639–8652.
• 2 pages double spaced, not including references
• Margins ½ inch
• Font: Arial, 11—12 pts,
• Roughly 1 figure per page; make sure the figures are legible—avoid shrinking them to fit more text—e.g., font sizes in the figure should be ≥10 pts.
• References: see above
• Alignment – Justified (i.e. straight edges like in journal articles).
• Figures: organized, legible , and ideally prepared using Adobe Illustrator and/or Chemdraw (both accessible at UNC for free).
• Chemical structures: use ACS 1996 Template in Chemdraw, avoid unrealistic bond angles and lengths, and ensure that all are scaled similarly throughout the text.
• For the ORP White paper: Last Name_WP_Year.pdf
• For the ORP document: LastName_ORP Year.pdf
• Examples: Zhukhovitskiy_WP_2020.pdf; Zhukhovitskiy_ORP_2020; Zhukhovitskiy_ORP_2020_Re-1.pdf

Due date: 5PM on March 1 st , sent to the P/M division rep.

The PowerPoint presentation component will be completed by all the students on or after March 1 st . The specific d ate of the presentations is TBD . Before the faculty panel, each student will deliver a 15 min presentation (~10 slides) that cover the Motivation, Background/Precedents, Aims, Approach, and Future Directions/Outlook—essentially, mirroring the written document.

Stage 3: Review / revision

A lead faculty will be assigned to each student, and this faculty will compile the feedback for each student from the panel at the presentation, which will be returned within 1 week of the presentation.

Rubric for reviewers:

• White paper (WP):
• A Yes or No for the student to move forward with the proposal or change course, with a few sentences of feedback about what the student should think about to strengthen the proposal.
• Full proposal:

Potential for Overall Impact : Will the proposal result in a sustained, powerful influence on a research field involved?

• General summary and comments on the proposal go here .

Significance : Does the project address an important problem or a critical barrier to progress in the field? Is the prior research that serves as the key support for the proposed project rigorous? If the aims of the project are achieved, how will scientific knowledge, technical capability, and/or clinical practice be improved? How will successful completion of the aims change the concepts, methods, technologies, treatments, services, or preventative interventions that drive this field?

Originality/Innovation : Does the application challenge and seek to shift current research or clinical practice paradigms by utilizing novel theoretical concepts, approaches or methodologies, instrumentation, or interventions? Are the concepts, approaches or methodologies, instrumentation, or interventions novel to one field of research or novel in a broad sense? Is a refinement, improvement, or new application of theoretical concepts, approaches or methodologies, instrumentation, or interventions proposed?

Approach : Are the overall strategy, methodology, and analyses well-reasoned and appropriate to accomplish the specific aims of the project? Have the investigators included plans to address weaknesses in the rigor of prior research that serves as the key support for the proposed project? Have the investigators presented strategies to ensure a robust and unbiased approach, as appropriate for the work proposed? Are potential problems, alternative strategies, and benchmarks for success presented? If the project is in the early stages of development, will the strategy establish feasibility, and will particularly risky aspects be managed? Have the investigators presented adequate plans to address relevant biological variables, such as sex, for studies in vertebrate animals or human subjects?

Writing and Presentation Style : Spelling, grammar, clear figures, conciseness, academic rigor.

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