In this summary, we highlight the main things you should take into account when writing a Research Plan.

Title

The title should be informative but not too long. Include your contact details on the title page.

Abstract

Typically, an abstract contains 250 to 300 words. Major points to address are what to research, why it is important, how you will do it and what the expected outcomes are. Complete your abstract after writing the research plan.

Introduction

This is where you introduce the topic to the reader. Explain the need & importance of the issue, question, or problem you are researching and what you will research, and why. Also explain how your research will help solve the issue, question, or problem?

Literature Review

In this section, you underpin your proposed research with existing literature. Explain what has been done and discuss main theories, debates, methods, and pros & cons. Also, address how your research fits in the literature.

Research Objective & Research Questions

This is where you formalize the aim of research and where you list your main and sub-research questions. Motivate what your objective contributes to the question, issue, or problem at hand and how your research questions contribute to the achievement of the research objective.

Research Design & Methods Research

In this section, you explain your conceptual model and the theoretical framework you are using. From this, you develop your methods section.  Linking back to your literature review discuss, why your chosen methods are appropriate and explain how and why these methods help you reach your research objective.

Experimental/Research Set up

Discuss how you will operationalize your research. Explain how you will carry out your study. Discuss your study population and data collection plan at a higher-order level. Explain your choices in research set up by relating back to your research questions.

Results/Outcome

Discuss the potential results of your study as well as the potential outcomes of your study based on those results. How do they help answer your main research question and help you reach your research objective? Also, discuss the potential relevance of your findings, ideally on more levels than just your research.

Planning

Divide your research into Work Packages, try and identify interdependencies between activities and identify serial and parallel activities. Create a Gantt chart including major milestones and always motivate your planning.

Conclusions

Ensure your conclusions are formulated in a precise, unique, clear, and accurate manner and are supported by the rest of the document. Try and make a statement about the longer-term impact of your work. Ensure your conclusions are consistent with your abstract and introduction.

Remember: Abstract, Introduction, and Conclusions form the key points of entry and exit into your work!

References

Use a consistent referencing style, that is preferred by the field you are submitting to. Use High-Quality references and when using a reference management system, check entries for completeness.

Quality Control

First impressions matter! Thoroughly Proofread your work, check that you have met all requirements in call for proposals, and if at all possible ask a friend or colleague to also read your work and give you feedback.