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Guidelines on PhD Thesis Proposal

The aim of this document is to provide general guidelines on the form that is expected of Ph.D. thesis proposals. It is assumed that the proposal will be presented in typescript, with minimal typographic errors, and written in an appropriately mature and grammatical style. If this is a problem for you, then it would be useful to consult one of the many books on scientific report writing, and also to discuss the matter with your supervisors. A proposal should be at most 6 pages of A4, written at a line spacing of 1.5 per line. Each new technical term should be defined on first occurrence, and identified by italicising or emboldening. The proposal must be accompanied by a second document - the full literature survey - which will typically have 50-120 references. Although 6 pages may seem brief, it is the same length as a submission to EPSRC for a major grant. If you cannot get your problem/method/ criteria/ solution/plan/content over on 6 pages, you probably have a problem with lack of focus. A typical thesis proposal should contain the following sections:

Abstract
The proposal should be introduced by an abstract of around 300 to 500 words, which enables the reader to get an overview of the contents of the proposal without reading it. It must include a clear statement of the expected novel contribution to the subject.

Statement of Problem
This section describes the research problem that is to be addressed during the Ph.D. work. It is no use coming up with a problem such as "I want to solve the problems of software maintenance". The Assessors here are looking for clear focus and a clearly identified problem. Also, be sure to identify both the particular problem you are solving and also the foundational issues you are addressing. The latter will consist of the generic problem you are solving, and its solution will enable you to clarify the contribution to your field. For example if you are writing a program slicing tool for a wide spectrum language, your problem is to implement the tool in a well engineered way. This alone is not enough. There must be some generic issues e.g. the novel issues posed by wide spectrum language that can be your contribution to the subject.

Context of Work
The objectives of this section are to show that you understand the context in which your particular area of research fits. For example, if you are undertaking a project on formal methods in reverse engineering, you need to set the problem in a wider context of

software maintenance and in turn to set software maintenance in the context of software engineering. A useful technique is to explain the issues in terms of the historical development of the subject, and/or current industrial problems.

Review of Literature
This must be in two parts. In the thesis proposal itself, a concise synopsis must be given, identifying key trends, latest results, a critical assessment, a reference to just a few key papers, and a summary of the gap in the field you have identified. The thesis proposal must be accompanied by a full literature survey, typically of 30-60 pages, which could constitute one or more chapters of the final thesis. This survey should include a comprehensive and up-to-date review of literature in your area. Appropriate standards for citing work should be used. It is important to stress that although the Assessors will be looking for breadth and depth of review, as well as the inclusion of the most up-to-date references possible, an extremely important criterion for this section is an adequate, critical analysis. It is of no use just summarising work done by others. It is essential to present a detailed critical analysis of the literature so that at the end of this section you can present an authoritative statement of the state of the art, including research that is still required to be done, including your own.

Method
Having defined the problem and shown its relationship to the rest of the field in previous sections, you now need to state the way in which you are going to solve it, and the criteria for success such that you know when you have solved it. Different sorts of projects will use different methods; for example a project might involve constructing and evaluating a tool, developing a mathematical theory, developing a model etc. Adequate attention must be addressed to the actual underpinning of work. Note that the method must be judged sound by established philosophy of scientific or engineering research. If the method is unsound, this could result in the complete failure of the thesis independent of the rest of its contents.

Results
A short summary is required here of the form of results that is expected from the research. Clearly at this point few results if any are likely to be available, but it is required to think about what sort of results will come out of the work.

Evaluation Criteria
This section should establish clearly the criteria by which you intend to judge the success of the work. If you are not clear about this now, it will be much more difficult towards the end, and then it may be too late to take remedial action.

The above represents the minimum requirement; if more work happens to have been done by then, so much the better. However, please do not use diary style in the proposal.

Plan
A brief plan for the remainder of the research should now be given. This should show the write up of the thesis being included in the overall period available for the research. The major milestones should be shown.

References
A list, in correct style of citations used. As noted above, the main reference list will be in the literature survey.

Bibliography
A list, in correct style, of other relevant papers and books you have read (optional).

Glossary
A glossary of terms used in the proposal. Further guidance on the preparation of a thesis proposal can be found in a Computer Journal paper by Lauer. A reference to this is included in the Postgraduate Handbook.