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Example ProposalsLinksExampleStudent Research ProposalsJapanese-American Internment during World War II(Spring 1999)More Examples:(Spring 2002) (Spring 2002)See alsoDirections & Evaluation Checklistwithheld bystudent requestWR 123, Prof. AgatucciResearch Proposal13 April 1999RESEARCH PROPOSALI.
Example Of Academic Research Paper
Research Topic, Projected Value, Documentation StyleA. The research topic I have chosen is theJapanese-American internment in concentration camps during World War II. I am currently taking a United States Historyclass with Nancy Zens, and a research paper is required for that class.
The only requirement for paper is that its topicis in the era between the Civil War and 1980. I have chosen to write about the Japanese-American internment, which occurredin the 1940s, because it interests me. In ninth grade I was in a humanities literature class and we read a work by a womanwho was in a concentration camp as a young girl in California.
I was ultimately shocked that the United Statescould do such a thing - Iwas also upset that in all of the nine years I had been in school I had heard NOTHING about it - as if it was on its way toremoval from United States history. So, I did a small research paper on the internment my junioryear in high school. I feel it is very important for allAmericans to know about what our 'free ' country did and why itwas done. I think there is no reason at all to forget about this tremendous mistake our country made. I am sure that there aremany people who have never heard about the Japanese-Americans 'internment, and it is valuable and important to know about it andlearn from it. I hope to learn more about why and how a free country DID in fact imprisonpeople - and why it didso while trying to stop another country (Germany) from interning people in concentration camps(as well as for doing other things).B.
This topic is appropriate for Writing 123 because it isinformative to me and my readers. I have previously researched about this topic, but I would like to perform morein-depth, quality, college-level research and learn more about the complete situation. I feel that this will be achallenge and I will learn a wealth of information. Also, thereis a wealth of information for and against the Japanese-Americaninternment. Therefore, I can do an in-depth research of the topic using many kinds of sources, and draw logicalconclusions as well as fulfill the requirements satisfactorilyfor this course.C. The documentation system I have chosen isChicago-Humanities.
My topic 's subject matter ishistory, and historical research papers are usually written withChicago-Humanities documentation system. I have never used this system, and so I look forward to learning and applyingthis style. Nancy Zens was not particular as to which system to use.II. Leading Research Question and HypothesisA. The leading research Question that I propose topursue is: 'WasJapanese-American internment during World War II right?
Was it the correctsolution to the problem? My working hypothesis (I propose) is that theJapanese-American internment during World War II was a result of bad decisions based upon prejudices and was a majormistake for the United States -it accomplished nothing.III. Research StrategyA.
What do I need to find out through research?Why did the internment happen?What drove the government to go that far?Why were Japanese-Americans the only ones interned?Why weren 'tother 'enemyraces' interned?What led to their freedom from camps?Has the heavy discrimination stopped? If heavydiscrimination against Japanese-Americans hasstopped, when did it stop?Have the former prisoners been reimbursed, apologizedto, etc. For what happened to them?What were conditions like before, during, and afterinternment?Why have we as a country tried to hide or forgetabout what happened?B. How/where to find information: After looking inInfotrac 2000 and the library catalog, I have come up with some search terms.
They are asfollows:Japanese-American internment during WW IIWar relocation center+World War 1939-1945 Japanese AmericansWorld War II internmentUnited States concentration campsPearl HarborKey answers/ideas gained on topic: I know that theJapanese attack on Pearl Harbor led to a panic against all of the Japanese race -many thought Japanese-Americans were spies, and thus did nottrust them. The 'only ' solutionwas to put ALL Japanese-Americans in camps, considering everysingle person of the Japanese race a suspect. There was not much research or inquiry pertaining to whether or notthey were truly spies, and they were not given a chance to speak up or try to prove their innocence.The types of primary sources that I plan on using aremagazines, journals, books, and videos. I have found some magazines andjournals that give personal accounts of what theJapanese-American internment victims went through throughout the whole wartime era. One such magazine, called the Booklist,has an article in it titled 'Lifein a Japanese American Internment Camp. 'When I wrote my research paper in high school on this topic, Ifound some books that were written by those who were placed in the internment camps. One that Ispecifically remember was titled I Am an American.
Research Plan Academic Job Sample
I look forward to finding that book again, as it was veryhelpful. Also, Cora Agatucci has lent me a video that is titled Japanese Internment; A Family Gathering.
This tells of aJapanese-American family that lived in Hood River, Oregon, and how they were treated. It is also very helpful. Iplan on searching for other videos that give first-hand experiences. The secondary sources that I plan on consultingare newspapers, magazines, books, and perhaps videos.While taking Library Skills 127 last term I learned that it ispossible to find and read newspaper issues from many years ago. I plan on consulting the library for newspaperarticles from that time period.
I am not sure if they would be considered secondary sources because they are authentic fromthat time period that the Japanese-Americans were being interned, but I know they will be helpful to me so I cansee what people were reading in the newspapers about the incidents at that time. I also plan on finding secondarysources in magazines. I remember one magazine article from the research paper I did in high school that was very helpful.It was in a National Geographic magazine, and described numerous families 'experiences. The article also had many pictures of theconcentration camps which told stories in themselves. Also, I have found one article titled 'Ansel Adams and CivilRights ' publishedin Popular Photography. From the article 'sdescription, I have found that it is full of photos of the camps.I know I will learn a lot from the pictures alone, because they are not interpreted or warped by anywriter, but they show exactly what it was like (a picture is worth a thousand words).I have found that there are numerousbooks written about the Japanese-American internment during World War II.
I plan on consulting books for themajority of the information that I need for reasons why such actions were taken against the Japanese-Americans as well asinformation on reimbursement/apologies for the internment.I plan on using the skills that I learned in LibrarySkills 127 for research. In fact, I have already ordered a book through the interlibrary loan system and I have foundmore that I would like to order. Both the COCC Library catalog and the whole library homepage are very helpful to mein leading me to sources.Finally, if possible, I would like to actually travel to Tule Lake, California, which is thesite of a former concentration camp during World War II. The site has become a walk-through memorial for the internmentthat occurred. By traveling to Tule Lake, I hope to see first hand what the living quarters were like as well as howdesolate the camps were. Overall, I am really looking forward to learning more about the Japanese-Americaninternment during World War II, and I know that having good sources is the key to success in doing so.IV.
SourcesNOTE: I realize that the variance of source types islimited here, but I plan on consulting many more source types later, as I have mentioned above.' The Color of My Skin, The Shape of My Eyes.
' The Yale Journal ofCriticism, Fall 1996, 223. (Journal)Daniels, Roger, ed. American Concentration Camps.Introduction by Roger Daniels. New York: Garland, 1989. (Book)Fondiller, Harvey.
'AnselAdams and Civil Rights: An Uncensored Version of a 1944 ExhibitDocuments Life in a Japanese-American Internment Camp. ' PopularPhotography, October 1985, 92. (Magazine)Houston, Jeanne W., and James D.
Farewell to Manzanar; a True Story of Japanese AmericanExperience During and After the World War IIInternment. New York, Bantam, 1974. (Book)'Life in aJapanese American Internment Camp. Page fault in non paged area. ' Booklist, 1January 1998, 788.
(Magazine)Maga, Timothy P. 'RonaldReagan and the Redress for Japanese-American Internment,1983-1988. ' Presidential Studies Quarterly, Summer 1998, 606.(Journal)Rancourt, Linda. ' NationalParks, May-June 1993, 30.
(Magazine)Stromer, Walt. 'WhyI Went Along: 1942 and the Invisible Evacuees. ' Columbia JournalismReview, January-February 1993, 15. (Journal)© Held by student, 1999.LucyWR 123, Prof.
AgatucciResearch Proposal: FinalDraft18 April 2002Research Proposal1. ResearchTopic Introduction(a) The research topic I have chosen for Writing 123 is focused onour mental health system, what services are provided in Bend,and what services are needed. Theresearch question I wish to answer is: Homelessness among the chronically mentally ill is acommunity problem in Bend as well as elsewhere in the United States: As a community, how can we address this problem? I have chosen this topic partly as a result of my interestdeveloped from my psychology professor last term.
She mentioned in class that there are some chronically mentallyill (schizophrenic) people who live in Juniper Park. Additionally, I recently viewed a program on 60 Minuteswhich profiled a community in Geel, Belgium, that has a unique way tocare for the mentally ill in their community. I was intrigued by the total community commitment and supportof the mentally ill.
In Geel, Belgium, you never see someone sleeping on thestreet. I wanted tofurther investigate their system for caring for the mentally ill andsee if their methods could be duplicated in other communities, such asin the United States. Ifsome of the methods used in Geel, Belgium, could be used elsewhere, asin Bend, this might have significant implications for the services wecan provide in Bend. Ifeel as a community, we have a responsibility to care for those whoare unable to care for themselves.
I do not feel it is acceptable to have the chronically mentallyill living in our community parks or on the streets. I think some ofour social problems are just accepted as part of living in a communityand perhaps they are not addressed as they should be.
In my research, I discovered a model program that was startedin Long Beach, California, as a result of the frustration anddissatisfaction of family members of mentally ill, as well asprofessionals and business people who had an interest in improving themental health system. As a result, the Village Integrated ServiceAgency in Long Beach, California, has received a growing amount ofattention and commendation as a model mental health program. It incorporates a number of innovative approaches that may bevaluable in effecting widespread system change.(b) I believe this is a very appropriate topic for Writing 123. It fits in with the courses I have studied and presents a veryreal problem in Bend that can be addressed in a research topic. Until I viewed the program that focused on Geel, Belgium, andtheir unique methods for providing for the mentally ill, I had notconsidered other community options for addressing the problem ofhomelessness of the mentally ill. It is a very effective method to view problems from otherperspectives to arrive at real solutions that may be helpful andappropriate in our community in dealing with this social problem.(c) I intend to use the American Psychological Association (APA)documentation system for this research topic.
When I consulted our textbook regarding citation formats, Ilearned that “The APA form is a variant of the author-date system ofciting sources, used in the field of psychology and often in otherbehavioral sciences” (Hubbuch, 2002).2. Research Question and Working Hypothesis(a) Myresearch topic is: Homelessnessamong the chronically mentally ill is a community problem in Bend aswell as elsewhere in the United States: As a community, how can we address this problem?(b) Workinghypothesis: This is aproblem not only in Bend, but in large, economically soundcommunities, as well. Itis a problem that must be addressed as a community to have a working,caring system to provide for the mentally ill who are homeless. This involves having a community home to provide for thesehomeless individuals, having a foster care system that supplements acommunity home and having people receiving these services be treated with“respect, dignity and without labeling or discrimination of anytype” (CareLink, 2002).3. Research Strategy Description(a) What do I need todiscover in my research?AssumptionsIn the US you see many homeless people. In Bend we have homelessness.
My psychology professor stated there are probably five or sixschizophrenic people living in Juniper Park. Our mental health system fails to care for the chronicallymentally ill.ResearchQuestionsIs our mental health system adequate? What services are provided in Bend? Why are the chronically mentally ill homeless? What services are needed in Bend?AssumptionsThere is a different approach for thecare of the mentally ill in Geel, Belgium. You never see a person sleeping on the street there.
They seem to have a successful way to care for the mentallyill.ResearchQuestionsHow do the people in Geel, Belgium carefor the mentally ill? Whataccounts for the success of their methods? Would this model be transferable to other places, i.e., citiesin the United States?
If not, why not?AssumptionsThe Village Integrated Service Agency inLong Beach, California, has received a growing amount of attention andcommendation as a model mental health program. It incorporates a number of innovative approaches that may bevaluable in effecting widespread system change. Mark Ragins, who is involved with the Village IntegratedService Agency, visited Geel, Belgium, and observed their system ofcare for the mentally ill in his process of gaining a worldwideperspective of psychiatric rehabilitation.ResearchQuestionsWhat is the Village Integrated ServiceAgency? How did it getstarted and why?
What isit doing differently and what is successful, not successful? Would this approach work elsewhere? In Bend?(b) Wherewill I look for answers?I used Ebsco Host database for a websearch of key terms: mentalhealth; mental illness; psychiatric rehabilitation, Geel, Belgium. I have also searched Google.com. I have found useful journal articles relating to my topic,including an article in the Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, Summer2000, outlining and describing the Denver approach which combines“the best rehabilitation models and influences into one system ofrehabilitation services. ” Additionally,I discovered information about The Village Integrated Service Agencyin Long Beach, California, which incorporates a number of innovativeapproaches in care for the mentally ill.I asked the librarian at the COCClibrary for sources of information about services provided in Bend. She directed me to the appropriate website and the newDeschutes County Mental Health office located at 2577 NE Courtney inBend to obtain information on what services are currently available inBend.
I visited the newoffice in Bend and obtained a pamphlet of information describing theservices currently provided.I have requested two books throughinterlibrary loan, Introduction to Psychiatric Rehabilitationand The Role of the Family in Psychiatric Rehabilitation, whichI hope will offer some valuable insight into how the family andcommunity can integrate care for the mentally ill.Additionally, I have ordered a transcriptof the 60 Minutes program concerning the unique care thecommunity of Geel, Belgium, provides for the mentally ill. Viewing this program provided me with a new awareness andheightened interest to investigate this topic further.4. Sources ConsultedAnthony, W.A.
(2001) Vision for Psychiatricrehabilitation Research. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 25, 1. (Journal Article)Baxter, E.(1997) An Alternative Approach to Recovery-St. Dimpna.mentalhealthconsumers.org.Accessed 4 Apr 2002. (Article)Fallot, R.D., Ph.D.
(2001) Spirituality and Religion in Psychiatric Rehabilitationand Recovery from Mental Illness. International Review of Psychiatry, 13, 110. (JournalArticle)Hubbuch, S.M. WritingResearch Papers Across the Curriculum. Boston: Heinle &Heinle. (Book)Principlesof Psychiatric Rehabilitation.
CareLinkaccessed 12 Apr 2002. (Website)Ragins, M.,MD. History and Overviewof the Village. TheVillage Integrated Service Agency.
Accessed 4 Apr 2002 (Article)Ragins, M.,MD. (2000) A PersonalWorldwide Perspective of Psychiatric Rehabilitation. The Village Integrated Service Agency. Accessed 4 Apr 2002. (Article)Shern, D.L.; Tsemberis, S.; Anthony, W.; Lovell, A.
M.; Richmond, L.; Felton,C. J.; Winarski, J.; Cohen, M. (2000) Serving Street-dwelling Individuals with PsychiatricDisabilities: Outcomes of a Psychiatric Rehabilitation Clinical Trial. American Journal of Public Health, 90, 1873.
(Journal Article)Smith, G.,(Executive Director). DeschutesCounty Mental Health. N.p.:n.p., n.d.Pamphlet obtained 12 Apr 2002Spaniol, L.,et al. The Role of the Family in Psychiatric Rehabilitation.
(Book requested through interlibrary loan 4/12/02)Spaniol, L.,et al. Introduction to Psychiatric Rehabilitation.
(Book requested through interlibrary loan 4/12/02)© Lucy Burrows, 2002.NatalieWR 123, Prof C. AgatucciResearch Proposal: Final Draft17 April 2002DreamResearch Proposal1. Introduction of ResearchTopic, projected value, and documentation style.A).
The topic that I have chosen toresearch this term is dreams. I have always been very interested indreams, both my own and those of others, especially in connection withthe psychological meaning they represent for the dreamer. A littleover two years ago I suffered a tremendous loss when my best friendand two close friends were killed in a car accident. Less than eightmonths later a fourth very dear friend was similarly killed.
Indealing with my loss I found one incredible distraction from the pain-dreaming. Immediately after the accidents I began to notice that mydreams had become more emotional and played a large role in mythoughts and mood for the next day. The night I had my first dreamabout my late best friend we talked about how the accident impactedme, and how he was always by my side, even when I couldn’t see him.When I woke up I felt like a different person, like the dream hadwashed away all of my depression. For the first time in months I wasable to smile just by thinking about that dream. But when I went tolook up the meaning of the dream in one of my dream analysis books Iwas shocked to find the supposed “inner meaning.” According to thefirst book I looked in, a dream of visiting a deceased friend meantthat I would live a long life. Baffled, I looked in a second dreamanalysis book. This one said that it meant things were going to changeforLauderdale2the better for me and good fortunewas in store.
It was at that exact moment that I realized that dreamanalysis wasn’t quite as accurate as I had once thought. In fact,many dream analysis books I’ve since encountered have differentideas about what dreams even are. With all the different theories andstudies there are out there on sleep and dreaming, I decided that Iwould just go find the most accurate theory myself.
I have a lot tolearn about dreaming, and have the desire to learn it. Using thistopic as my research subject, I will be able to engulf myself in theincredible amount of information available to me. I believe that everyindividual can benefit from understanding their dreams, but knowinghow to understand them is the first step. I intend for my project tobe the stepping stone towards accurate understanding.B). The research topic of dreams anddream analysis is appropriate for Writing 123 because it requires acollege level understanding of theories, studies and research. Readersmust be able to figure out the semi complex concepts of brain activityand psychology. Also, very importantly, there are numerous sources tobe found on the topic.
Virtually every source I’ve come across(journals, books, online references) have something related to thetopic. However, it is mainly my desire to research dreams and theoriesof dream analysis that make the topic an appropriate choice.
I havemore than enough interest in the topic to take the project from startto finish.C). The documentation style I havechosen for my topic is the style commonly used by the AmericanPsychological Association, or simply put, the APA form. I feel thatthis documentation style is appropriate for my topic choice becausethe main root behind the study of dreams is psychology.
Dreaming is apsychological science, and the studiesLauderdale3done on the subject of dreamanalysis and interpretation would be best presented in theAPA form.2. Leading Research Question andWorking HypothesisA). My leading research questionsthat I propose to pursue are: What are dreams?
What are the mainfunctions of dreams? Is dream analysis accurate? And what factors caninterfere with accurate dream interpretation?B). My working hypothesis so far isthat dreams are mental images that our brains produce while we sleepto help us better understand ourselves and our feelings.Unfortunately, most forms of dream analysis are not accurate due tonumerous factors that can be very influential on dream content, andare usually not taken into account while the dream is beinginterpreted. These factors can include, but aren’t restricted tophysical stimuli (such as noise, light, temperature), hunger, thirst,the culture you live in, and day to day experiences.3. Research StrategyA).
Through my research I intend tofind:. What are the many theories of thefunction of dreams?. Do all people dream?. How often do people dream?. What are the different types ofdreams?.
Why don’t we always remember ourdreams?. How do different culturesinterpret dreams?. Where did dream analysisoriginate?Lauderdale4. Is dream analysis accurate?. What common factors interfere withthe accurate interpretation of dreams?So far I know that various criticalthinkers and psychologists have conflicting theories of dreamfunctions. Some consider them random thoughts of the sleeping brain,others consider them a result of the digestion process, and stillothers believe that dreams are our soul’s unrestricted out of bodytravels that occur while we sleep. It is fairly widely agreed by sleepresearchers that all people dream every night, with the rare exceptionof some substance abusers.
I have reviewed a few different theories ofdream types, such as lucid dreams, telepathic dreams, and nightmares.I have also uncovered some theories of why we don’t always rememberdreaming. Most theories have to do with the long and short term memorystorage function of our brains, and conditions which limit ourabilities. I have collected many sources on dream analysis already,and am confident that I have many more to go.B). I will look for the answers tomy questions in many places. The COCC library so far has produced tensources that I have deemed appropriate after my exploratory research.The internet sitehad proven very useful, containing an entire link in the home page fordreams and dream analysis. That website, in fact, has led me to asource I was unable to locate at the COCC library or Interlibraryloan. The search commands that I have used thus far have consisted of:psychology, dreams, dream analysis, and dreaminterpretation under the keyword search.
Under the author search Ihave used: Freud, Jung, Koulack and Van Eeden (allleaders in the dream analysis field). I haven’t come up empty handedyet.
I have already collected enoughLauderdale5material to support 75% of my paper,all mainly secondary sources. The bulk of my paper will be writtenbased on the my finding in the book To Catch a Dream, and the Sleepand Dream sourcebook. I am still planning to design and implementa survey for my fellow college students that will ask them to:anonymously describe a recent dream, give a few possible reasons forthe dreams (why they think that they dreamed it), and suggest a fewinterpretations of the psychological meaning. This survey is to be mymain primary source. I will take the data that I receive and analyzeit according to my two dream analysis books to see how closely thegiven interpretation resembles the students’ analysis.Psychology.about.com will continue to play a major role in thedirection my paper goes, seeing as how it is continually updated and Ican continually check up on it. I am also trying to locate 10different issues of the Brain and Behavioral Science Journal,and four issues of the British Journal of Psychology.4. Sources Consulted inExploratory Research“Culture and Dreams.” (2002)Dream Manual.
Psychology.about.com.accessed 3 April 2002 (online reference)Eeden, Frederik van. (1913) “AStudy of Dreams.” Psychology.about.com, 2002.accessed 3 April 2002 (online reference)Gackenbach, Jayne. Sleepand Dreams: A Sourcebook. New York: Garland Publishing Inc. (book)Hamilton-Parker, Craig. TheHidden Meaning of Dreams.
New York: SterlingLauderdale6Publishing Co. (book)Hartmann, Ernest M.D. Dreamsand Nightmares: The New Theory on the Origin and Meaning of Dreams.Cambridge: Perseus Book. (book)Hunt, Harry T. TheMultiplicity of Dreams: Memory, Imagination and Consciousness. NewHaven: Yale University Press.
(book)Kemp, Gillian. “The Five Types ofDreams.” Psychology.about.com, 2002accessed 3 April 2002 (online reference)Koulack, David. To Catcha Dream: Explorations of Dreaming. New York: State University ofNew York Press. (book)Mattoon, Mary Ann Ph.D. AppliedDream Analysis: A Jungian Approach.New York: John Wiley and Sons Halsted Press Inc.
(book)Sloane, Paul M.D. PsychoanalyticUnderstanding of the Dream. London: Jason Aronson Inc.
(book)Wood S.E, & Green Wood E.R.(2002). The World of Psychology. (4 th ed) Boston: APearson Education Co. 135-140 (text book)© Natalie Lauderdale, 2002WR 123 You are Here: ExampleStudent ProposalURL of this webpage: updated: 04 January 2004This webpage is maintained by, Professor of English,I welcome comments:© Cora Agatucci, 1997-2002Cora's Forproblems with this web, contact.
Nearly every applicant for a tenure-track faculty job is expected to include a research plan. Exceptions are rare. Just as rare are programs designed to help doctoral students and postdocs learn how to create a research plan. Which is too bad: Writing an effective research plan is tricky. And until now, there was little advice to be found.Okay, so that isn't exactly true: It isn't hard to find advice.
Opinions, after all, are not in short supply in the academy. What is hard is finding advice you can rely on. We can help.Why? Because we talked to a lot of people. We interviewed and corresponded with faculty and research scientists who have served on hiring committees. All of our sources have experience; some of our sources have a lot of experience. We considered everything, filtered out the muck, and distilled it all down to a general strategy and a few simple principles, with a few variations on the theme thrown in for good measure.
Our aim is to do some of your homework for you, to make sure that you'll never have to read more than you have time for.Furthermore, we'll keep talking to people about this topic, and we'll incorporate new responses into this document as we receive them. As a consequence this piece, like the other tools in the tool kit, will remain fresh and useful when other resources have become dated and useless.So, onward and upward.
What's the purpose of a research plan?It depends on who's asking the question, and who’s answering it. From your immediate point of view, the purpose of a research plan is to help get you hired.The research plan, however, serves another, very important function: It contributes to your development as a scientist. Your research plan is a map for your career as a research science professional. As will become apparent later in this document, one of the functions of a research plan is to demonstrate your intellectual vision and aspirations.
It's also an opportunity to begin to demonstrate the creative and independent thinking required of a successful scientist.Not yet on the job market? Just starting out as a postdoc? A research plan isn't just for demonstrating; it's also for honing and refining. It's possible to function quite well as a postdoc or grad student while giving little thought to your future. Writing a research plan casts your gaze forward and prompts you to begin planning for when you have your own laboratory. And if you've already started to think about your own lab, it will help you to refine your plans.
So take a stab at writing a research plan, even if you don't expect to be on the job market for a while. Think of it as a rough draft, a fantasy trip for your career.But never mind about that. Most of you are trying to get hired. In that case what matters is, what is the committee looking for?The answer: relief from anxiety.Hiring committees desperately want to avoid making a serious mistake by investing institutional and intellectual capital in the wrong person.
The aim of your research plan, then, as of the rest of your application, is to assure the hiring committee that life with you will be pain-free.How do you do this? Provide the committee a compelling, reassuring, believable image of what their life will be like when you are working down the hall.Tell them a story-a believable, credible story-about what your lab will be like 5 years from now: well-funded, vibrant, productive, pursuing a valuable, ambitious but realistic research agenda that meshes well with the department's mission and with the other research going on in the department.Please don't misunderstand: You shouldn't tell them this ('in 5 years my lab will be vibrant, productive, and well-funded.' ); rather, you need to lead them to believe it by describing a research agenda that persuades them that you will succeed. There are two parts to this: You have to tell a good story, and you have to make them believe it. If the story isn't compelling you won't get hired, and if they can't quite imagine it becoming reality, you won't get hired.
How do I tell a good story?First, choose an important subject. If the research you plan is not compelling, no rhetorical skill will make it compelling to a committee of smart scientists. If the research you propose is not manifestly, obviously important, if you don't know why it's important, or if you can't convey its importance effectively, convincing the committee to hire you won't be easy. Note that there are two issues here: believing in the importance of your own work, and persuading others that your work is important.If you don't think the work you'll be doing is important, your best bet is to change fields.
The goal of science may be to uncover truth, but uncovering objective truth is a very difficult thing to do, and doing it requires passion. If you aren't passionate about your work, your best bet is to find work about which you can be passionate. It isn't easy to change gears midcourse, but getting yourself into an important area of research will be well worth the effort in the long term-to your hirability, to your fundability, to your tenurability, and also to your career satisfaction. Do another postdoc if you must.Passion for your work is a necessary, but insufficient, condition for capturing the attention of hiring committees. After all, some people are passionate about, um, peculiar things. To convince the committee to hire you, you must convince them that your passion is justified and that they will benefit from investing in your passion-that is, that your work is important.Be specific. Curing cancer is not a suitable goal for one individual's research plan-exciting, yes, but much too big to be believable.
Inhibiting tumor growth? That's better, says one of our respondents-especially when that general goal is supported by more specific strategies. 'That kind of research can travel down several different mechanistic routes,' this respondent says, 'i.e., angiogenesis, breakdown of extracellular matrix, gene activation, induction of molecules involved-it can use different models-implanting tumors, using different tumor models, in vivo, in vitro, etc.' The combination of a manifestly important goal with manifestly interesting, feasible approaches is the foundation of the research plan.Being specific is not the same thing as including loads of detail.
Being specific means including only as much detail as the job requires-not more. 'Vague generalities are the sign of a vague mind,' says one source.
'This means that the proposal must walk the fine line of enough detail to show the reader that the candidate knows what they are talking about, but not too much detail that it confuses or bores the search committee.' Keep it short and focus on the major themes. 'Brevity and clarity are the most important elements,' wrote another respondent, expressing a sentiment shared by everyone. 'Clear, concise writing. Is a plus,' said another. 'Superfluous details are not just unnecessary, they are often the hallmark of a poor plan.
The specific aims must be clear and succinct.' Identify your goals, state why those goals are important, define your approach to achieving those goals, and indicate the kinds of evidence that will validate your approach. Oh, and do it clearly and succinctly.'
If you were sitting for 4 hours reading such proposals, what would you look for? Clear and to the point wins every time in this arena.' Effective communication requires anticipating readers' needs, giving them exactly the information they need just when they need it.
Constructing a research plan along these lines strengthens your application in three ways: You avoid alienating the committee by boring them; you tell the committee precisely what you intend to do; and you show that you have a subtle mind and a deep knowledge of your field.Can't do this yet? No hurry-consider spending another year as a postdoc, and study hard.Be serious about writing.
Writes one respondent: 'If the proposal confuses the reader in almost any way, it is simply tossed out. I strongly recommend that the candidate have colleagues pre-review the proposal and make sure the English is clear and ideas explained so that a variety of people in the general area can understand what is being proposed and the importance of the work.'
If your writing skills are weak, it might be time to strengthen them. Or hire an editor. And by all means have several people-preferably senior colleagues who have served on hiring committees-critique your research plan.But there were two parts to this, remember? You not only have to tell a good story-you also have to make it seem real, to make them expect it to come true.
How do I make my research plan seem real?Have a solid, well-considered, realistic plan. If you want to get a job at an institution that takes its research seriously, you'll have to convince your future colleagues that you've gotten past the young, impressionable phase, where every idea glitters with promise despite the fact that it isn't feasible and isn't likely to work. Show the committee that, although your high ideals remain intact, your years of graduate and postdoctoral study have helped you to know the difference between good ideas and good intentions.
In the words of one scholar, 'You can tell a 'building castles in the sky' research plan. They are not built on solid data and go to the very bottom of the pool.' Indeed.Include preliminary data. Preliminary data offer the most convincing argument for the viability of your research plan.
If you have them, use them-positive results will be of interest and persuasive to hiring committee members. The nature of your preliminary data and findings will vary-some will have much to share, others might be forced to share very preliminary data.Nothing grounds your hopes and dreams in the real world like good, solid data. Your plan might sound exciting, but will it work? It's one thing to make it sound good; if you can show that you've already taken the first, tentative but successful steps of that long journey, reaching your destination will seem a lot less like a pipe dream.
One of my sources was unequivocal on this point: 'Does the research question build on the preliminary data the person has generated? No preliminary data equals no research question.' Which also equals no job offer at that institution.It is important to remember that just as institutions vary widely in their practices, so too do the expectations of hiring committees. Do your homework: Learn about the culture of the department and the experiences of previous faculty hires.Include redundant approaches. If you want to succeed as a scientist you have to be resourceful. You can't be a one-trick pony. And the focus must be on the science-on the problem you aim to solve-not on the scientist or a particular approach.
No matter how knowledgeable you are, no matter how well considered your research plan, you can't predict the future. And if you haven't done the work yet, you don't know how it will turn out. That means that any one approach you specify might not work, even if it seems compelling. So if you want to convince the committee that you will succeed, give them not one, but two, or even three, compelling approaches, all of which have a good chance of success.
How do I demonstrate my independence?Different institutions expect you to be at different stages of your career. Think of it as a continuum: At one end sit well-established researchers with strong research records, many first-author (or last-author) publications, and their own research funding.
At the other end sit rosy-cheeked, freshly minted Ph.D.s full of enthusiasm, promise, and ideas, but with little yet to show for it. Most candidates for entry-level tenure-track faculty jobs at institutions that require research (that is, most of the people who write research plans for job applications) are somewhere in the middle. You probably won't get hired anywhere if you aren't well prepared to start a productive research program at a scale appropriate for the institution.But these days some institutions and departments are looking for more than that.
Increasingly, especially in the biomedical field, universities are hiring established researchers, even at the 'entry' (assistant professor) level. How is this possible? These days some pretenure-track scientists are setting up their own research programs.
Increasingly, senior postdocs are being promoted to research associate or research faculty positions during what calls the 'postpostdoc' phase of their research career. In that position, they write research grants in their own names and their host institutions sponsor them. Very often these folks have an R01 before they begin applying for a tenure-track job.The key objective if you’re applying to one of these institutions is securing research grants: If you have a grant in your own name, you'll be a strong candidate; if you don't have your own grant, you are less competitive. It's a cynical cop out on the institution’s part, really, taking a pass on the difficult job of evaluating talent and capitulating to the reality of big-time biomedical research: It's all about the cash. Still, increasingly it's a fact of life.
But how do you know if the institution to which you hope to apply is one of these? Ask.Those scientists and institutions-the ones sitting at the experienced far end of the continuum-are exceptional. Indeed, second-tier research institutions tend to expect the most experience; Harvard and Johns Hopkins do not expect you to have your own research grant. Most hiring committees aren't looking for completely independent work; they're looking for original, creative ideas, together with a record of accomplishment. Few people applying for tenure-track jobs have had the opportunity to start their own research programs. After all, traditionally that's what assistant professorships are all about, and most institutions still think that way. It helps to be somewhere in the middle of that continuum, but most committees are still looking more for promise than for guarantees.Demonstrate your promise by displaying your potential and actual independence.
Show the committee that you have the deep thinking and talent to operate independent of your adviser. How do you demonstrate your independence when you have never been given the chance to work independently?Likely as not, all your data were collected in someone else's lab, as a part of someone else's research agenda. How, then, do you distinguish your research from your adviser's research?On paper. It's an apparent Catch-22: You need to show that your ideas are fresh, new, and yours, and you have to show they're grounded in work you've already done, usually in someone else's lab.
Research Plan Academic Examples
It's a tough sell, but most of your competitors are in the same boat.So how do you do it? One respondent said it beautifully: 'The best plans usually build on the prior experience of the applicant but are not direct extensions of their postdoctoral work.' I'm going to type that phrase again, it's so important: The best plans usually build on the prior experience of the applicant but are not direct extensions of their postdoctoral work.Unless you're one of the select few applicants with lots of experience leading your own lab, that's the key to your rhetorical strategy. That's the outline of the story you must tell: 'I did this work as a grad student/postdoc and it was important and it was great. Now, as a faculty member, I want to do something a little bit different, but the work I'm proposing takes full advantage of the knowledge and skills I gained during the training phase of my career.' It's different enough to be original, but similar enough that your years of training aren't wasted.Another respondent wrote, 'Most candidates (95%) stick to extensions of what they are most familiar with, but the key is, have they figured out some rather creative new directions for the research and have they done a good job convincing us that they can do it based on what is already known?' 'Once we have a short list of candidates,' writes yet another source, 'the research proposals are looked at more carefully for imaginative ideas that differ from the candidates’ Ph.D.
Or postdoctoral research.' Get the message?With your adviser's cooperation.
One key to doing this successfully is to make sure your boss tells the same story. It is hoped that you have a good, open relationship with your adviser; if you do, go in and chat and coordinate your strategies. Decide what turf is his or hers, what turf is yours, and what story you intend to tell in your research plan and his or her letter of recommendation. But make sure they don't match too precisely.Is this sort of coordination unethical? There's no deception here, no attempt to pull the wool over the committee's eyes.
On the contrary, it's clarity you're seeking: in your relationship with your adviser and with the hiring committee.Be careful, however: This is tricky ethical territory. The ideas you're claiming must be yours. Don't just take your adviser's ideas and package them as your own, even if your adviser signs off on the plan.If your relationship with your adviser isn't so chummy, you still want to do these same things; you just want to do it more carefully.If you still have time, set up your own lab in the corner of your adviser's. If you aren't applying for jobs right now, there's still time.
Talk to your adviser about carving out your own research niche within the larger research effort, where you do work motivated by your own original ideas, something related but oblique to what your adviser is doing in the rest of the lab. Is the research plan more important in the screening phase or late in the game?In general, research plans are weighed more heavily later in the game, with more readily comprehensible evidence (especially pedigree, letters of recommendation, impact factor of journals, etc.) being weighed more heavily in the early rounds.However, your research plan must be designed to serve more than one purpose. It must withstand intense scrutiny in the later rounds of the job search, and it must make a good first impression. How long should it be?Opinions vary. One person I spoke to said that a research plan should be 'about three pages of 1.5-spaced text, and NEVER more than five.' Another source prefers 'three semi-independent (but related) sub-proposals not more than about three to four pages (single-spaced) each with a half page of important and relevant references.'
That's nine to 12 pages. There is some variation from one discipline to the next (the first of these recommendations came from a medical school, the second from a department of chemistry), but there are few if any standards even within a field. This shows how much of a crapshoot getting hired can be: Because you usually don't know in advance how long a document the hiring committee is looking for, there's little chance of the same candidate, no matter how qualified, getting offers from both of these institutions.My recommendation? Call the chair of the hiring committee (or send e-mail) and ask for advice.
If no advice is forthcoming, aim for five pages, 12-point Times New Roman, 1.5 spaced. Some will think it's a bit too long, others a bit too short, but no one will throw it out because of its length.Remember that we said that a research plan needs to help you through initial screening and withstand careful scrutiny in the later stages. How do you make a good first impression?Keep it short. No more than five 1.5-spaced pages, unless you've gotten different advice from the hiring committee chair.Write it carefully. Make sure that it swings.
If you're a lousy writer, get help.Include an executive summary. Call it an abstract if you wish. The idea is to present, up front, in half a page or so, the information that the committee is most likely to be looking for in the early, screening phase of the search: clearly stated research goals, the most compelling motivation, and the general approach you intend to take.Pay attention to the layout. Keep the number of fonts to a minimum, but make sure the various sections and ideas are set off by plenty of white space, well-chosen section headings, etc.
Bulleted lists are good; page-long paragraphs, bad. And for gosh’s sake, use your spell checker.Use good graphics. A good figure, displayed prominently and captioned carefully, is worth, say, a couple hundred words. 'Clear figures and illustrations,' writes a respondent, 'that can give the reader (skimmer!) a quick (and clear) idea of the proposed research is a must.'
If committee members can get the gist of what you’re saying from a figure without wading through your impenetrable prose, your odds of getting interviewed shoot up.Focus on the work, not yourself. A research plan should tell how great the science is, not how great you are. Selling yourself is the job of your curriculum vitae and letters of recommendation. 'Focus on contributions to scientific knowledge, not research experience and expertise,' writes one respondent.Avoid obvious mistakes. Surprisingly, a lot of people mess this up.
In her list of fatal errors, one respondent wrote: 'Poorly covering or misstating the literature, grammatical or spelling errors, and, near the top of the list, writing research plans that ask for too much effort on the part of the reader-they should be clear and concise.' Avoid obvious hype. You want the value of your research to speak for itself-avoid exaggerated claims of its importance. 'Over hyping,' writes a source, 'is very dangerous.'
How do I make my plan withstand careful scrutiny?Most of this has already been said:Avoid mistakes.Avoid misrepresentations. 'A perceived misrepresentation of any kind can doom an application.' Motivate your work (why must this work be done?).Think it through and present a workable strategy.Use appropriate detail.Include preliminary data.Demonstrate your awareness of other work being done in the field. One respondent said, 'I have seen applications rejected because they appear to have been produced in a vacuum without reference to other scientists.'
Should I include a research hypothesis?There is some disagreement here among respondents. One respondent listed a hypothesis among the essential features of a research plan. Others preferred a broad-brushed approach: 'Is the research question a good question? Is it big enough, but with answerable individual questions so that the question generates a research path that could be followed for some time?'
Including a hypothesis is unlikely to hurt you (assuming it's done effectively), and it'll keep you in the running at institutions where a hypothesis is required. Other advicePresent more than one good idea. Even the best idea might fail to pan out, so you need to have a backup. Furthermore, presenting more than one idea will help convince the committee that you aren't a one-trick pony. Your research plan should be coherent, with a theme common to all your work, but not so close that they seem to be shades of the same idea.Customize your research plan to the institution you're applying for. It's pretty obvious, but you wouldn't send the same research plan to Johns Hopkins University and to Swarthmore College.
And speaking of Swarthmore: Research plans sent to predominantly undergraduate institutions should be carefully designed to coexist with substantial teaching loads and to benefit from the participation of undergraduate students.Comments, suggestions? Please send your feedback.