FutureLearn

How to Write a PhD Research Proposal (FutureLearn)

Offered by University of Oslo,
How to Write a PhD Research Proposal (FutureLearn)

Understand and harness the key elements of a succinct research plan while preparing your PhD proposal. Learn how to develop a successful PhD proposal. Successful PhD research requires preparation, planning, critical thinking, and dedication. On this course, you will explore the key elements in a research proposal and solve common planning and writing challenges.

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You will learn how to structure, define, and present your research idea in writing. You will develop your own research objectives and sub-questions and outline the context of the study. You will also learn how to manage a project. This course focuses on health sciences, but the content of the PhD proposal and the planning process of a research study is relevant to other disciplines.

What topics will you cover?

  • Defining the research idea, writing a research statement with objectives and sub questions
  • Identifying and writing a literature summary and review
  • Empirical, conceptual or theoretical foundations of a research study
  • Research ethics, fraud and plagiarism in research
  • Research design and methodological approaches
  • Data collection strategies, sampling, instruments and biases
  • Fieldwork and contingency planning
  • How to organize your PhD project

What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you'll be able to...

  • Develop your research statement with objectives and sub-questions
  • Discuss sample, data collection strategies, and analysis of the empirical material that you will collect
  • Asses what you can do to ensure that the proposed PhD-study will follow conventions that help ensure reliability, validity and ethical conduct
  • Evaluate and use what you have learned by submitting and recieving feedback on your proposal draft each week
  • Evaluate and reflect on your work with help from your peers, course educators and mentors
  • Collaborate with your peers and find ways to solve possible challenges during your PhD studies.
  • Explain how you will organize and structure your PhD
  • Identify previous relevant research to discover gaps and why your research matters
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