Skip to:

  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to accessibility
City, University of London
  • Student Hub
  • Staff Hub
Search
Menu
Home
  • Prospective students
    • Courses
      • Undergraduate degrees
      • Foundation courses
      • Postgraduate taught degrees
      • Postgraduate research degrees
      • Short courses
      • Professional development courses
      • City Health courses
    • Apply
      • Entry requirements
      • How to apply
        • Undergraduate
        • Information for teachers
        • Postgraduate taught
        • Postgraduate research
          • Preparing your application
            • Preparing your research proposal
        • Short courses
          • The Novel Studio Published Alumni
      • Prospectus
        • Undergraduate
        • Postgraduate
        • Short courses
      • Visas
        • Student visas
          • Applying from outside the UK
          • Applying from within the UK
          • Applying for a dependant visa
          • Preparing your application
          • Working in the UK
        • Standard Visitor visas
          • How to apply for a Standard Visitor Visa
          • Non-visa nationals
        • ATAS certificates
        • Brexit and European nationals
      • Study abroad programmes
        • Partnership programme
        • Study abroad modules
      • Clearing and Adjustment
        • Applying through Clearing
        • Applying through Adjustment
      • Alternative entry routes
        • Foundation courses
        • Second-year students
        • Work experience
      • Contact Admissions
    • Finance
      • Funding options
      • Earn while you learn
      • How to pay
        • Payment methods
        • Fee schedules
        • Deposit refunds
    • Accommodation and housing
      • Compare residential halls
      • Applying for halls
        • Undergraduate
        • Postgraduate
        • Clearing
      • Paying for halls
      • Private accommodation
        • Finding a place to live
        • Accommodation for families
      • Short-term accommodation
    • Open events and fairs
      • Campus tours
      • Online chats
        • Undergraduate online events
        • Postgraduate online events
        • Ask a student
      • University fairs
    • Student life
      • London experience
      • Local area
      • Sports
        • Sport clubs
        • Non-competitive sport
        • Competitive sport
      • Social activities and groups
      • Religion
      • Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer plus
      • Volunteering
      • Student wellbeing
        • Mental health counselling
        • Learning support
        • Young, estranged students
        • Care leavers
        • Young adult carers
        • Personal tutoring programme
      • Learn another language
    • Career development
      • Internships and employment opportunities
        • Micro-placements
      • Career pathways
      • Job prospects and graduate destinations
      • Careers team
    • Subjects
  • Research
    • Research impact
      • Research Excellence Framework
      • Research case studies
    • Research strategy
    • Research support
      • Grants and funding
      • Integrity and ethics
        • Research ethics
          • Principles
          • Approval process
          • Approval outcomes and appeals
          • External ethics approvals
        • Ethics guidance and resources
          • Participant information and consent
          • Recruiting participants from City
          • Records management
          • Research conducted abroad
          • FAQ
        • Research integrity
          • Framework for good practice in research
          • Research misconduct
      • Research data
        • Managing active research data
        • Digital research data and Figshare
      • Researcher development
    • Research centres and groups
  • For businesses
    • Start your business
      • Develop your startup idea
        • One-to-one startup advice
        • The Good Entrepreneur Festival
        • Startup camp
        • Startup seminars
        • Side hustle
        • CitySpark workshops
      • Launch your startup
        • Start-up visa
        • Launch Lab
    • Grow your business
      • Fund your business
      • Hire an academic consultant
      • Purchase our intellectual property
      • Purchase a company
    • Develop your people
      • Bespoke training
    • Business impact case studies
    • Access our student talent
      • Recruit with us
        • Santander employability programme
      • Meet and support our students
        • Become a mentor
        • Employer engagement events
      • Placement partners and trusts
  • Alumni and supporters
    • Alumni benefits
    • Global alumni network
      • Networks and Groups
        • City Alumni LinkedIn groups
      • Alumni ambassadors
      • Special interest groups
    • Contact Alumni Relations
    • Support City
      • Donate to City
      • Volunteering
      • Your impact
  • News and events
    • News
    • Events
    • Social media directory
      • City social accounts
      • School and Departmental accounts
  • About us
    • Schools and Departments
      • School of Arts and Social Sciences
        • About the School
          • Athena SWAN
          • Employability, placements and internships
            • English for academic purposes (EAP)
          • Research and Enterprise
        • Department of Economics
          • Research
            • Discussion pages
        • Department of English
        • Department of International Politics
          • Examples of research projects
          • Research
        • Department of Journalism
          • Where our graduates work
          • James Cameron Memorial Lecture
            • Lectures
            • Special awards
            • Winners
          • Journalism scholarships
          • Stern Bryan Fellowship
        • Department of Music
          • 40th anniversary
          • Composition at City
          • Department ensembles
          • Ensembles in residence
          • Industry visitors
          • Placement opportunities
          • Research in the Department of Music
            • The Shahnameh Project: Disseminating Iranian musical culture in Britain
            • Middle East and Central Asia Music Forum
            • Staff Research Interests
        • Department of Psychology
          • Research in the Department of Psychology
            • Staff publications
        • Department of Sociology
          • City Q-Step Centre
        • Centre for Language Studies
      • The Business School (formerly Cass)
      • School of Health Sciences
        • About the School
          • Athena SWAN
          • Community Engagement Committee
          • Enterprise
          • Senior Management Team
          • Selection Day
          • City Health bespoke training
          • Courses
            • Undergraduate and pre-registration courses
            • Postgraduate study
            • Continuing Personal and Professional Development
            • Fees and funding
            • Information for placement partners
            • Occupational Health Checks
            • Contact the School of Health Sciences
            • Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) enhanced check (formerly CRB)
            • NHS finance and grants
          • Internationalisation
            • SHS International Excellence Scholarship
          • Optical Appliance Testing Service
          • Ready to mentor
          • Reference request
          • Research
            • Doctoral Studentships
            • Research ethics
          • Student life
            • Placement partners and trusts
            • Why choose a career in the health sector
        • Division of Health Services Research and Management
        • Division of Language and Communication Science
        • Division of Midwifery and Radiography
          • Radiography undergraduate learning contract
          • Midwifery at City
          • Radiography at City
        • Division of Nursing
        • Division of Optometry and Visual Sciences
        • Disability and Social Inclusion Seminars
      • School of Mathematics, Computer Science and Engineering
        • About the school
          • Athena SWAN
          • Our London location
          • Placements and internships
            • About Professional Liaison Unit
            • Awards and Prizes
            • Employer information
            • Placement and internship schemes
            • Professional development
          • Preparing your research proposal
          • Aviation Management at City
          • Business and Information Systems
          • Civil Engineering at City
          • Computer Science at City
          • Energy MSc courses at City
          • Library and Information Science at City
          • Maritime Greece
          • Maritime Management at City
          • European Micro Gas Turbine Forum
          • European Global Product Realisation
            • The EGPR course
            • The EGPR history
            • The universities
          • Wind turbine design challenge
        • Department of Civil Engineering
          • Placements and Internships
        • Department of Computer Science
          • Data Science - an emerging discipline
          • Research Ethics
          • Student projects
          • Video gallery
          • Cyber Security MSc courses at City
          • Technical skills for MSc Data Science
          • Placements and Internships
            • Professional Pathway scheme
            • Postgraduate internships
        • Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
          • Chocoholic Safe
          • Control system for central heating
          • Placements and Internships
        • Department of Library and Information Science
          • Definition of Library and Information Science
          • CityLIS Courses
        • Department of Mathematics
          • Potential PhD projects
          • Placements and Internships
        • Department of Mechanical Engineering and Aeronautics
          • City Racing Team
            • Building the car
            • Joining and competing
            • Meet the team
          • Placements and Internships
      • The City Law School
        • Academic programmes
        • Professional programmes
        • About the School
          • Contact the City Law School
          • How to find us
          • Free Legal Advice Clinic
            • The School Exclusion Project
            • Pro-Bono
            • Start-Ed Commercial Law Clinic
          • Legal careers
          • Careers advice
            • Pupillage Advice Service
            • Training Contract Advisory Service
          • Courses
            • Undergraduate
            • Professional courses
            • Master of Laws (LLM)
            • The Solicitor’s Qualifying Exam (SQE)
            • Continuing Professional Development courses
          • International
          • Research
            • Working Paper Series
            • ESRC Project
            • Ethics
            • Global Law@City
            • The Critical Corporation Project
            • Academic Visitor Programme
          • Support
            • Athena SWAN in the Law School
            • Financing your study
      • Doctoral College
        • Funding and scholarships
        • Essential information
        • Meet the Team
        • Research Supervisors
    • History
    • People
      • Academics
      • Research students
      • Students
      • Honorary graduates
      • Past students
      • Professional Services staff
      • International agents and representatives
      • Senior people
    • Facilities
      • Campuses
      • Libraries
      • Gym
      • University of London facilities
      • Specialist facilities
    • Work for us
      • Apply
      • Benefits
      • Career development
    • Vision and Strategy
      • Vision
      • Strategy
        • Better
        • Bigger
        • Partnerships
        • Living the values
      • Performance
      • Academic excellence
        • Rankings
        • Education
          • Flexible learning spaces
          • Active and collaborative learning
          • Term dates
        • Student statistics
      • Equality, diversity and inclusion
        • Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy
        • Data and objectives
        • Staff networks
      • Sustainable development
        • Energy management
        • Waste management
        • Biodiversity conservation
        • Green travel
        • Education
        • Sustainable food
        • Get involved
      • Civic engagement
    • Governance and legal
      • Charter and Statutes
      • Rector
      • Council
        • Audit and Risk Committee
        • Corporate Governance and Nominations Committee
        • Remuneration Committee
        • Strategy, Implementation and Performance Committee
      • Senate
        • Board of Studies
        • Collaborative Provision Committee
        • Educational Quality Committee
        • Research and Enterprise Committee
        • Senate Research Ethics Committee
      • Executive leadership
        • President
          • Mansion House speeches
      • Financial statements
        • Financial Summary
      • Legal documents and policies
      • Committees
    • Global City
      • Global engagement
    • Contact us and find us
      • Find us
      • Contact us
      • Staff directory
    • Guidance on Coronavirus
      • Coronavirus guidance for research
      • Admissions advice during coronavirus
        • Coronavirus accommodation information
        • Visa and Immigration advice during coronavirus
      • Student and staff coronavirus statistics
  • Student Hub
  • Staff Hub
  • Prospective students
    Prospective students
    • Courses
      • Undergraduate degrees
      • Foundation courses
      • Postgraduate taught degrees
      • Postgraduate research degrees
      • Short courses
      • Professional development courses
      • City Health courses
    • Apply
      • Entry requirements
      • How to apply
      • Prospectus
      • Visas
      • Study abroad programmes
      • Clearing and Adjustment
      • Alternative entry routes
      • Contact Admissions
    • Finance
      • Funding options
      • Earn while you learn
      • How to pay
    • Accommodation and housing
      • Compare residential halls
      • Applying for halls
      • Paying for halls
      • Private accommodation
      • Short-term accommodation
    • Open events and fairs
      • Campus tours
      • Online chats
      • University fairs
    • Student life
      • London experience
      • Local area
      • Sports
      • Social activities and groups
      • Religion
      • Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer plus
      • Volunteering
      • Student wellbeing
      • Learn another language
    • Career development
      • Internships and employment opportunities
      • Career pathways
      • Job prospects and graduate destinations
      • Careers team
    • Subjects
  • Research
    Research
    • Research impact
      • Research Excellence Framework
      • Research case studies
    • Research strategy
    • Research support
      • Grants and funding
      • Integrity and ethics
      • Research data
      • Researcher development
    • Research centres and groups
  • For businesses
    For businesses
    • Start your business
      • Develop your startup idea
      • Launch your startup
    • Grow your business
      • Fund your business
      • Hire an academic consultant
      • Purchase our intellectual property
      • Purchase a company
    • Develop your people
      • Bespoke training
    • Business impact case studies
    • Access our student talent
      • Recruit with us
      • Meet and support our students
      • Placement partners and trusts
  • Alumni and supporters
    Alumni and supporters
    • Alumni benefits
    • Global alumni network
      • Networks and Groups
      • Alumni ambassadors
      • Special interest groups
    • Contact Alumni Relations
    • Support City
      • Donate to City
      • Volunteering
      • Your impact
  • News and events
    News and events
    • News
    • Events
    • Social media directory
      • City social accounts
      • School and Departmental accounts
  • About us
    About us
    • Schools and Departments
      • School of Arts and Social Sciences
      • The Business School (formerly Cass)
      • School of Health Sciences
      • School of Mathematics, Computer Science and Engineering
      • The City Law School
      • Doctoral College
    • History
    • People
      • Academics
      • Research students
      • Students
      • Honorary graduates
      • Past students
      • Professional Services staff
      • International agents and representatives
      • Senior people
    • Facilities
      • Campuses
      • Libraries
      • Gym
      • University of London facilities
      • Specialist facilities
    • Work for us
      • Apply
      • Benefits
      • Career development
    • Vision and Strategy
      • Vision
      • Strategy
      • Performance
      • Academic excellence
      • Equality, diversity and inclusion
      • Sustainable development
      • Civic engagement
    • Governance and legal
      • Charter and Statutes
      • Rector
      • Council
      • Senate
      • Executive leadership
      • Financial statements
      • Legal documents and policies
      • Committees
    • Global City
      • Global engagement
    • Contact us and find us
      • Find us
      • Contact us
      • Staff directory
    • Guidance on Coronavirus
      • Coronavirus guidance for research
      • Admissions advice during coronavirus
      • Student and staff coronavirus statistics
Coronavirus, latest information for staff and students.
  1. Home
  2. …
  3. School of Mathematics, Computer Science and Engineering
  4. About the school
  5. Preparing your research proposal
Schools and Departments
  • School of Arts and Social Sciences
    • About the School
      • Athena SWAN
      • Employability, placements and internships
        • English for academic purposes (EAP)
      • Research and Enterprise
    • Department of Economics
      • Research
        • Discussion pages
    • Department of English
    • Department of International Politics
      • Examples of research projects
      • Research
    • Department of Journalism
      • Where our graduates work
      • James Cameron Memorial Lecture
        • Lectures
        • Special awards
        • Winners
      • Journalism scholarships
      • Stern Bryan Fellowship
    • Department of Music
      • 40th anniversary
      • Composition at City
      • Department ensembles
      • Ensembles in residence
      • Industry visitors
      • Placement opportunities
      • Research in the Department of Music
        • The Shahnameh Project: Disseminating Iranian musical culture in Britain
        • Middle East and Central Asia Music Forum
        • Staff Research Interests
    • Department of Psychology
      • Research in the Department of Psychology
        • Staff publications
    • Department of Sociology
      • City Q-Step Centre
    • Centre for Language Studies
  • The Business School (formerly Cass)
  • School of Health Sciences
    • About the School
      • Athena SWAN
      • Community Engagement Committee
      • Enterprise
      • Senior Management Team
      • Selection Day
      • City Health bespoke training
      • Courses
        • Undergraduate and pre-registration courses
        • Postgraduate study
        • Continuing Personal and Professional Development
        • Fees and funding
        • Information for placement partners
        • Occupational Health Checks
        • Contact the School of Health Sciences
        • Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) enhanced check (formerly CRB)
        • NHS finance and grants
      • Internationalisation
        • SHS International Excellence Scholarship
      • Optical Appliance Testing Service
      • Ready to mentor
      • Reference request
      • Research
        • Doctoral Studentships
        • Research ethics
      • Student life
        • Placement partners and trusts
        • Why choose a career in the health sector
    • Division of Health Services Research and Management
    • Division of Language and Communication Science
    • Division of Midwifery and Radiography
      • Radiography undergraduate learning contract
      • Midwifery at City
      • Radiography at City
    • Division of Nursing
    • Division of Optometry and Visual Sciences
    • Disability and Social Inclusion Seminars
  • School of Mathematics, Computer Science and Engineering
    • About the school
      • Athena SWAN
      • Our London location
      • Placements and internships
        • About Professional Liaison Unit
        • Awards and Prizes
        • Employer information
        • Placement and internship schemes
        • Professional development
      • Preparing your research proposal
      • Aviation Management at City
      • Business and Information Systems
      • Civil Engineering at City
      • Computer Science at City
      • Energy MSc courses at City
      • Library and Information Science at City
      • Maritime Greece
      • Maritime Management at City
      • European Micro Gas Turbine Forum
      • European Global Product Realisation
        • The EGPR course
        • The EGPR history
        • The universities
      • Wind turbine design challenge
    • Department of Civil Engineering
      • Placements and Internships
    • Department of Computer Science
      • Data Science - an emerging discipline
      • Research Ethics
      • Student projects
      • Video gallery
      • Cyber Security MSc courses at City
      • Technical skills for MSc Data Science
      • Placements and Internships
        • Professional Pathway scheme
        • Postgraduate internships
    • Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
      • Chocoholic Safe
      • Control system for central heating
      • Placements and Internships
    • Department of Library and Information Science
      • Definition of Library and Information Science
      • CityLIS Courses
    • Department of Mathematics
      • Potential PhD projects
      • Placements and Internships
    • Department of Mechanical Engineering and Aeronautics
      • City Racing Team
        • Building the car
        • Joining and competing
        • Meet the team
      • Placements and Internships
  • The City Law School
    • Academic programmes
    • Professional programmes
    • About the School
      • Contact the City Law School
      • How to find us
      • Free Legal Advice Clinic
        • The School Exclusion Project
        • Pro-Bono
        • Start-Ed Commercial Law Clinic
      • Legal careers
      • Careers advice
        • Pupillage Advice Service
        • Training Contract Advisory Service
      • Courses
        • Undergraduate
        • Professional courses
        • Master of Laws (LLM)
        • The Solicitor’s Qualifying Exam (SQE)
        • Continuing Professional Development courses
      • International
      • Research
        • Working Paper Series
        • ESRC Project
        • Ethics
        • Global Law@City
        • The Critical Corporation Project
        • Academic Visitor Programme
      • Support
        • Athena SWAN in the Law School
        • Financing your study
  • Doctoral College
    • Funding and scholarships
    • Essential information
    • Meet the Team
    • Research Supervisors

Preparing your research proposal

Guidance and advice on how to prepare your research proposal in the School of Mathematics, Computer Science and Engineering.

What is a PhD?

Before beginning the writing of the proposal - your provisional plan and design of work and research to be done - it is crucial to understand what studying for a PhD involves.

The primary purpose of PhD study is the preparation and presentation of a substantial piece of original and individual research. You will be expected to research largely self-directed and on your own initiative, with the support of academic supervisors offering their advice and guidance.

A good grasp of what studying for a PhD will involve will not only allow you to better understand if a PhD is right for you, but it should greatly enhance the quality of the proposal you write.

Preliminary enquiries

A good research proposal which gets you noticed and likely earns you a PhD place will take some time to plan and write.

To ensure this time is not wasted on a research proposal which is either inappropriate or for which there exists no supervisory expertise, it is strongly recommended you contact the School directly to make preliminary enquiries and begin initial discussion on your proposed research topic.

The PhD Supervisors page lists the research interests of each academic in the School, while further information can often be found under individual listings under the School People directory.

You should contact the relevant academic to discuss your interests and proposed research area. However if you have more general enquiries you can alternatively contact the relevant Senior Tutor for Research.

What is a research proposal?

Broadly, your proposal should explain the following:

  • what the proposed research is about
  • why is the subject worth learning and understanding more about and what is the intended outcome of the research
  • how you will go about planning for and conducting your research and write-up.

A research proposal taking on these considerations will provide a clear indication of your ability to undertake research study and the originality of your topic to the assessors.

Bear in mind that the assessment and approval process will involve your work being read by those who have not discussed your research; it is therefore important that the proposal is 'stand-alone', that is it is easily accessible and understandable to those other than the academic or academics you have initially consulted with on applying.

A well written proposal will of course also demonstrate competence of your English language and grammar, necessary for taking on - and completing - a substantive piece of writing such as a PhD thesis.

During the course of your academic experience to-date, it is expected that you will have learned skills in writing rigorously and in a style appropriate to your discipline; make good use of these skills when drafting and writing-up your proposal.

Not only will reading the relevant literature as you research your proposal help you in developing the proposal's content, but you will also become further acquainted with the style and referencing practice (discussed further below) used in your subject area.

Try not to become intimidated by the task at hand and bear in mind that you are not competing with established researchers, but only with other prospective students at a similarly early stage of their research career. The evidence of aptitude and genuine potential for research, rather than something close to perfection, is what the assessors will be looking for.

Also, do not fixate on committing to a very precise thesis topic; while a good research proposal will give a good 'flavour' of what and how you wish to research, it remains a 'road map' for what will likely be a somewhat organic process of reviewing and developing work and research once the PhD starts.

Writing your research proposal

Your proposal will likely comprise the headings listed below, though exactly how much importance you give to each section, and whether you include all these sections will depend on what your area of academic interest is and your specific research topic.

As already indicated above, note that PhD proposals are not fully binding. As your work progresses, your ideas will mature, resulting in your research taking a slightly different form from that which you envisaged at the start. Nonetheless, you will be committed to the area - in broad terms - that you identity in your proposal.

Working title/abstract

The title should describe the nature of your project. Do not give uninformative titles. Often students indicate the nature of their approach in the title, for example indicating a comparative study or if a particular theoretical framework is adopted. Being clear helps the School identify appropriate supervisors.

An abstract, should you wish to include one, should be included immediately following the title and should be a short, succinct summary of the proposal.

Overview (statement of topic and problem)

This section should identify the general subject area and how your proposed thesis fits in with this general field, explaining why it is significant/important and stating briefly what contribution to the field it will make and its likely impact. Assessors will be looking for clear focus, identifying the problem.

Aims and research questions

Having identified your research topic you should specify the aims of your research, what research questions or hypotheses you will address and how answering these will contribute to your chosen field.

Literature review

A critical, initial review of the relevant and related literature is required, to indicate your understanding of what is already known and understood, and how this in-turn informs your research questions.

Methods/approach and timescale of research

An important aspect of your proposal is to identify how you intend carrying out your research, to address its aims and questions. Different research topics will use different methods, which you should describe and justify.

For example, you might develop and evaluate a novel algorithm, tool or method; you might undertake detailed quantitative or qualitative studies of technologies in use. Be clear regarding the outcome of the various methods you will apply and demonstrate that you have considered the feasibility of your chosen approach.

It is important at this stage for you to demonstrate that the research you intend to undertake can be realistically fit within the time frame of a PhD, which is three years full-time (plus a further one year writing-up, submission and viva).

Different academics will likely have different expectations here. Some will likely require quite a detailed plan of how you will conduct your research over the course of a PhD, while others will require less detail.

References and bibliography

You should list all the publications and any other sources you have cited in your proposal as references at the end; you should also include a bibliography of any other sources which you have read in preparing your proposal (but not cited).

The Harvard referencing system is used in the School and should be used for the proposal; it is likely that you will be familiar with this system as it is widely used.

However if you have not used this system before, or feel you need to refresh your knowledge, there is plenty of information on the Harvard system available online, including here.

Further reading

  • Bentley, P.J. (2006) The PhD application handbook (Maidenhead, Open University Press)
  • Punch, K.F. (2009) Developing effective research proposals (London, SAGE).

Help us to improve this page

City, University of London

  • Library Services
  • Moodle
  • Email
  • Staff directory
  • Term dates
  • Book a room
  • Schools and departments

Back to top

Contact us

+44 (0)20 7040 5060
Make an enquiry

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Weibo
  • Youku
Social media directory

Find us

City, University of London
Northampton Square
London EC1V 0HB
United Kingdom

Campus map

Our global campuses

  • London
  • Dubai
  • Teaching Excellence Framework: Silver Award
  • Athena SWAN: Bronze Award

Useful links

  • Accessibility
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies
  • City Store
  • Support City
  • Work for City

© 2021 City, University of London

University of London