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http://www.dur.ac.uk/cs.old/postgraduate/research/AppendixA.html

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 grammaticalstyle. 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. Eachnew 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 amajor 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, whichenables 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 genericproblem 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 widespectrum 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 yourparticular 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

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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 30-60pages, 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 thatalthough 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 forthis 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 atthe 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 previoussections, 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 atool, 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 ofits 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 towardsthe end, and then it may be too late to take remedial action.

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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 thewrite 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 inthe 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 ComputerJournal paper by Lauer. A reference to this is included in the Postgraduate Handbook.