Writing a research proposal

A research proposal explains what you plan to research, why it matters, and how you will investigate it. Your proposal is also how you get matched with the right supervisor.

A proposal helps you clarify your ideas, plan realistic research, and demonstrate your understanding to your module leader or supervisor. It also shows you are aware of the relevant literature and have chosen a suitable research approach.

What a proposal contains

A dissertation or major project tests whether you can plan research in a realistic and focused way, with methods that match the research question. At postgraduate level, a proposal may also need to show how your research will contribute to the field.

Most proposals follow a standard structure. However, your assignment brief will clarify any course-specific requirements — follow that guidance first.

Research question, aim, and objectives

A research question defines what you will investigate, while the aim explains what you hope to achieve. Objectives break the aim into specific steps that show how you will complete the research. Guidance on developing these is given in Developing a research question, aims and objectives.

Rationale

This states the reason your question is worth asking.

You'll need to identify something that is missing, unclear, or not fully explored in the existing research. For example, an understudied area, a limitation in previous studies, or an unresolved issue.

You must also explain how your research will address that issue. You don’t need to claim a major contribution to your field. It may focus on studying a group or context that has received little attention, using a different method from previous studies, or producing more recent data on a topic.

Literature review

Here you'll need to demonstrate three things:

• that you understand the topic
• you can identify what is already known
• and you can justify the proposed study

At this stage you don’t need to have read everything. Instead, focus on identifying the main themes, debates, findings, and limitations in the existing literature. Explain how these relate to your proposed study.

Methodology

This section describes how you plan to collect and analyse information and why this approach suits your question. The level of detail required when explaining your planned research methodology varies significantly between subjects. Always refer to your assignment guidance to confirm what is expected in your context.

Research methods and approaches are covered in our guidance on Understanding research methods and Primary vs secondary research.

Ethical considerations

Identify any ethical issues. If your research involves human participants, you must address consent, confidentiality, and the right to withdraw. You must receive ethical approval before collecting any data. If your research uses existing sources rather than collecting new data, ethical considerations are more limited but may still apply.

You will receive more detailed guidance on this through your degree programme's research methods teaching.

Learn more about the University’s policies and guidance around research ethics.

Project plan and timeline

Set out a plan — a realistic timeline showing the stages of your research. For guidance on planning longer projects, this is covered in our guidance on time management.

Key considerations

Make these decisions early. They affect the direction of your entire proposal.

Page last edited: 25 August 2026
Next review due: 13 August 2029