Research Proposal for Australian Scholarship 2023-2024: Research Proposal Outline and Sample

A research proposal unveils a research project in aim to get project funding approval, or green signal to commence the research project work. The research proposal document must include scientific facts, funding requirement, and other important constituents as of explained in this article.

It is one of the major requirement of Australian Universities to collect Research Proposals for Australian Awards Scholarships. Admissions of doctoral degree candidates in Universities of Australia are also evaluated based on their submitted research proposals along side with other application materials. Research Proposal is also required to propose your research project to your mentor so you could get approval to start your research.

When applying for Australian Awards Scholarship; your research proposal must talk about significance of your proposed research, novelty of research, how you plan on conducting this research in Australian University, funding & equipment requirement, and how will you be benefiting society with your research outcome.

It can be a great deal to write a research proposal because sometimes students are unaware of research proposal format and writing style. If you are applying in an Australian University for a PhD program scholarship, and here students gets more nervous of how to write an impressive and professional research proposal. In this article i will share with you the secrets of writing a well organized research proposal to impress the scholarship committee.

You need to submit a research proposal if applying for a PhD degree in any of the Australian University. Research proposal is a basic document that expresses the vision of a researcher in proper way for execution of the proposed research project. Writing a research proposal is among one of the first steps of scholarship application as this proposal is then making an image of student in the mentors mind that the student is fluent in the area of interest.

Research proposal is also a way to analyze the candidate’s research design methods, scientific writing capabilities, critical thinking and analytical reasoning approaches.

Research Proposal Outline

So in case of applying for Australian Awards Scholarships, you need to be provide relevant and significant information in your research proposal to get better chances in winning this prestigious Australian scholarship. Following is the general outline of a research proposal for Australian scholarship application:

• • Title
  • Abstract
  • Research Question/Literature Review
  • Research Methodology/Research Design
  • Research plan/Plan of work & time schedule
  • Research work funding requirement
  • Conclusion
  • Bibliography

Elements of a Research Proposal for Scholarship Application

#1 Title of Research (15-30 words)

Here, you need to mention the title of your research proposal and it should be clear, short, scientific, and logical.

#2 Abstract/Synopsis (15-30 words)

In abstract, you will be providing information about what you will research about, the study objective, novelty of research, reasons of study behind it and how you would achieve the results. But be careful here; as  you cannot write a lot about the whole research process here and you need to be really precise in providing information in the abstract. Abstract only creates a summarized image in readers mind about the whole research proposal or research paper rather than describing the whole project in it.

#3 Research Objectives and Literature Review (50-100 words)

Here, you would actually express that why are you conducting a research and what is the main purpose or thought process behind it. You would provide the research question that needs to be fixed with your proposed research work, and a study objective; on which you would be working and some previous research citations to support your idea.

#4 Rationale section (100-150 words)

Depending on literature research you did, mention the research gaps in this section that compelled you to go for this work.

#5 Expected Research Result Impact on Society (100-150 words)

Write down how it will benefit society and your country upon successful completion.

#6 Literature Review (100-150 words)

Clearly state the research gaps you noticed in literature that your studied and mention all the citations to draw a picture of why your research will connect through those research gaps and benefit your country.

#6 Research Methodology/Research Design (100-200 words)

Here, you would propose the research methodology to execute your research project. The research design or steps you would follow in executing your study work, the methods, equipment’s, or tools that you would be using while conducting your research. The advantages and limitations that you think your research would have.

#5 Research Work Proposed Timeline (100-200 words)

Here, you would write about what is the roadmap or plan of your research in accordance with allocated time. You can also request the allocation of required time duration for your research study. Don’t forget to add the time required in every step of your work and the budget that would be needed while conducting the work. You could provide a time schedule for initiating the research tasks and expected completion dates. It could be a rough estimate of time and budget but don’t try to take it too carelessly. This step is important!

#6 Conclusion (50-100 words)

Here you would conclude your research proposal by summarizing the whole document in just few sentences. You need to focus on the main fruit of your project research project and highlight its benefits; so that it can then become the prominent to the reviewers. This will eventually increase the chances of your research proposal acceptance. You may include some expected limitations in your research study, and seek help or suggestions on it. You need to be precise in this area as you are only stating some points and not describing about the whole research.

#7 Bibliography

Here, you could provide some references that you have used while proposing the whole research idea to the mentor. Bibliography is really important in any research to mention every citation to support your ideas, research path, and possibility to achieve final results. You need to follow the proper citation addition format as described by the scholarship committee for research proposal. The standard citation format is numbered reference format for research proposal writing.

How long a Research Proposal be for Australia Awards Scholarship?

The research proposal for Australia awards scholarship must not exceed 1250 words and it must be uploaded online into the application system. The research title can have 15-30 words, research synopsis can have 50-100 words, research objectives may have 50-100 words, literature review 100-200 words, research methodology 100-200 words, outcomes of research study 50-100 words, significance of research work 50-100 words, duration and field work section can have between 100-150 words.

Mistakes to Avoid while Writing a Research Proposal

Now I will mention some mistakes that students normally make while writing a research proposal and they need to be really careful about. Following are some of the mistakes:

• Most students fail to create a clear map of their research in their mentors mind. So you need to write your proposal in such a way that it makes a clear image of your research in your mentors mind. It must describe in simple of what you are really trying to do, the aim behind it, and how you will conduct the whole research and with which research design technique.
• Most students write too lengthy research proposals and it annoys mentors as nobody got so much time to read wordy sentences. You need to be really precise while writing your research proposal so it would attract the mentor to read your proposal and provide you with the scholarship that you deserve.
• Some students get careless while proposing the research schedule or budget which creates and image in mentors mind that the student has not researched on how much funding is expected to be consumed by the proposal research project or how much duration will be required to complete it; so in this case, research proposals get rejected!
• Some students give irrelevant and extra information while writing a research proposal which creates a bad image. Be as precise, clear, talk science, and try to be a one focal point in your proposal as you can be.
• Students need to be really good at English grammar, scientific writing skills, and proof reading. Poor writing skills and grammatical mistakes is a big no in research work writing. It can turn your mentor against you and you will then fail to win scholarship.

If you will follow these basic steps to create your first research proposal for Australian Scholarship application, or for the purpose of getting an admission into any Australian University then you will surely succeed. You can possible increase the chances to win a scholarship for your proposed research project. All you need is to be clear about your research that you need to conduct and also your writing skills matter a lot. If you think you have good writing skills and you are clear about what you want to research about, you really need to apply for scholarship without having any fear of failure.