Suggested Outline for Project Proposal

Writing guidelines for long-term Visiting Scholar applicants to CSHE

1. Title: Does the title accurately reflect the content?

2. Purpose of the proposed study: 

  • What is the intellectual goal?
  • What will be learned through your work? 
  • Is it expressed in concrete, specific, and detailed language?
  • What will be the final output or product(s) of your efforts? Research paper(s), a report, a book, a dissertation? 
  • Are these realistic and doable?

3. Background and Justification

  • Why is this research needed?
  • What is the broader rationale for the project?
  • How does it relate to or build on other work in the area—be specific with names of those   who work in a similar and/or related field and their significant publications.
  • How much work have you already done on this topic?
  • Is it related to your ongoing work in your own country?
  • Will it be a comparison between some aspect of US higher educations and its parallel in your country?
  • How familiar are you with US authors on this topic?
  • Have you already done a literature review, or will that be part of what you would do at CSHE where you have access to English language literature?
  • Will it involve interviews? A survey? [Be aware that in the US it is necessary for the study to be approved by the UCB Office for the Protection of Human Subjects (OPHS). This involves a formal process which requires a UCB Principal Investigator (PI) to co-sponsor your application and for you to receive Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval.]

4. Project Plan: Tasks and Timeline

  • How and when will you accomplish your goal(s)?
  • How have you broken down the steps you will take to accomplish this research?
  • How long do you estimate that it will take you to accomplish each of these steps?
  • Do you have a schedule for completed tasks?  If accepted, can you begin these tasks before you arrive at CSHE?

5. Qualifications:  Please add no more than a paragraph on your specific experiences or qualifications for this project.

6. Reference List: Please provide a short selected bibliography of English language publications or translated titles in English.