The Whys/Whats/Hows of Proposal Writing Cindy Norris CS 5100

Why write a proposal? One’s research is only as good as one’s proposal Well-written proposal serves to define the work to be done and prepare the researcher to do the work

Types of Proposals Grant proposal – National Science Foundation (NSF) is a typical source of funding for CS research Business proposal – also contains complex legal forms PhD thesis proposal (mine was about 30 pages in length) ‏ MS thesis proposal (here we call it a prospectus) ‏

CS Dept: Project Track versus Thesis Track We can write a proposal for either one of these, but the “flavor” is somewhat difference Note that the project track eliminates the thesis altogether, but a proposal is still useful!

Project Track 36 hours total – 3 hours for a project (implementation) ‏ – Goal isn’t to answer questions, but instead to provide a useful tool (that may be used by someone else to answer questions) ‏ Project proposal – Background: related projects – Narrative: implementation details, clearly defined project – “Problem”: why is this a worthy project?

Thesis track 30 hours total – – Typically, but not necessarily, involves an implementation – Research answers questions that advance our understanding in some way Thesis Proposal – Background – information need to understand problem; related work – Narrative – clearly define the problems, what the work is expected to accomplish, the approach

Goal of the proposal All types of proposals have the same basic goal: Persuade the reader that you have a worthy project and the ability and the plan to get it completed.

What items should the proposal address? The problem – Proposal should describe in clear terms the problem, the impact of the problem and the causes of the problem Your hypotheses – If the project is being designed to answer some set of questions, what are those questions and what do you expect the answers to be?

What items should the proposal address? Worthiness of the project – How will the project contribute to the field under study? Will the body of CS knowledge be impacted? Will the project contribute to other fields? How will the contribution be measured? – How will the project positively impact your community? Will the software developed be widely used? How will the impact be measured?

What items should the proposal address? Research methods – How will you measure the contribution/success of your project? – What data will you be using? – How large is your data set? – What type of analysis will you perform?

General Tips Begin early – today! Answer (pre-empt) all questions Be explicit and specific. In other words, no hand-waving. Be realistic. (Can you really find a cure for cancer?) ‏ Make explicit connections between the problem and your objectives, and your objectives and your methods.

Elements of the Proposal Title Page Abstract (Project Summary) ‏ Introduction Literature Review Project Narrative Personnel Budget References

Title Page Brief/explicit title of the project Name(s) of the investigator(s) ‏ Institutional affiliation of the investigator(s) ‏ (Funding Agency) ‏ (Dates of the project – start/end) ‏ (Budget) ‏

Abstract/Project Summary First (and maybe last!) impression of the proposal Should contain the key elements of the proposal in future tense – Goals (What do you hope to achieve?) ‏ – Research methods (How are you going to get there?) ‏ – Significance! (Why is this important?) ‏ Be explicit

Introduction Describe the problem – Background and rationale for the project – Need and significance – How is project different from related projects What are the principle goals? – Save the subgoals for the project narrative What are the anticipated outcomes? – The anticipated outcomes should match up with the goals

Literature Review (Background)‏ Should indicate you’ve done the necessary preliminary research Should include an evaluation of the pertinent works (where did these fall short?) Works should be summarized and categorized – describe closely related works in the same section Literature review could be simply a review of similar software projects

Project Narrative Detailed statement of problem and significance of the project Detailed description of the goals and subgoals of the research Plan of attack – How is research to be performed? – What software/hardware is to be used? – What evaluation methods are to be used? – How will you measure the contribution of the work? – What is the project timeline? (You can assume work will start next spring or summer.) ‏

Personnel List the people that will be working on the project and describe their credentials The reader should be able to see that the credentials of the personnel are suitable for the proposed work

Budget Typically includes – Hardware expenses – Software expenses – Travel expenses – Personnel expenses – Indirect costs – Justification for items on the budget For our purposes, only include software/hardware expenses (if any)

References Cite all ideas, data, material that are not your own Everything in the list of references must be cited somewhere in the rest of the proposal (and vice-versa) ‏

Final Hints Don’t forget the HOOK A picture is worth a thousand words Poor grammar and spelling distract from the content Read it yourself multiple times – aloud Get your CS friends to read it

Resources How to Write a Thesis Proposal Preparing a Grant Proposal Grant Proposals Grant Proposal Writing Tips