Here are the steps to proposing your PhD thesis:
Be sure you have submitted an up-to-date committee form if your committee has changed.
Doctoral Advisory Committee form
A doodlepoll is a great way to find out the availability of your committee. Once they have all responded to the poll, confirm the date with your committee and reserve a room for your proposal.
Two weeks prior to your proposal:
- Send your graduate coordinator your complete and exact announcement so she can email it out. Take one that’s been sent recently and model yours after it.
- Before your announcement can be sent out, send a soft copy of your proposal document to your entire committee and CC the graduate coordinator.
- Print out a hard copy of your proposal and bring it to 114 for public display.
On the day of your proposal there is paperwork that the graduate coordinator will fill out for your committee to sign.
If a committee member cannot be physically present for the proposal, they can call or skype in to one of the conference rooms. Another committee member may sign your proposal paperwork on their behalf as long as the non-present member gives written [email] approval and sends the graduate coordinator proof of it.
Formatting your proposal. There are no specific guidelines. You are welcome to look at past proposal documents stored in our library.
Sources for forming your proposal.
NSF Proposal Guidelines While this may not be an exact fit for your PhD proposals, it gives guidance for the general concept and purpose of a proposal: “The Project Description should provide a clear statement of the work to be undertaken and must include: objectives for the period of the proposed work and expected significance; relation to longer-term goals of the PI's project; and relation to the present state of knowledge in the field, to work in progress by the PI under other support and to work in progress elsewhere. The Project Description should outline the general plan of work, including the broad design of activities to be undertaken, and, where appropriate, provide a clear description of experimental methods and procedures. It must describe as an integral part of the narrative, the broader impacts resulting from the proposed activities. . .”
Research Writing UTS Library