Final Project: Research Proposal

1. Final Project: Research Proposal Tectonic Geodesy

2. Purpose • If you go on to a career in science, your career will live or die based on your ability to write research proposals. • Scientific writing is a critical skill that is not exercised enough in coursework. • Writing a proposal on a topic forces you to do intensive research and critical thinking about your proposed research topic.

3. Important Elements • Hypothesis to test • Best if it is a real test and not just a strawman • Exploratory proposals (what will we find) can work but you have to make a good argument that convinces people there will be something interesting found. • Provide motivation (Why should we care?) • Describe previous work, needed background • Provide a coherent work plan • Provide a realistic budget

4. Characteristics of a Bad Proposal • Can’t see the forest because of all these danged trees. • It’s so obvious why my idea is important that I don’t have to tell you why. • I wrote the Project Summary and Introduction at the last minute, and hoped you wouldn’t notice. • The science-free proposal: A detailed description of what I plan to do will be compelling even if nobody can tell if there is a question to be answered or whether anything important will be learned. • A vague description of what I will actually do is fine because you know I will do the right thing.

5. Characteristics of a Good Proposal • Clearly poses an important question that must be answered. • Conveys a sense of excitement about the problem. • Project Summary is your first impression. As with meeting people, you want to make a good first impression (“first meeting”). • The first few paragraphs are critical in confirming that first impression (“first date”). • Background clearly presented, and work plan clearly desribes the steps that the work will take (the analogy gets dodgy about now).