UG Project Proposal Template 19.8.2013

UG Project Proposal Template 19.8.2013
Abstract
The abstract is a single paragraph summarising the proposed work, the expected results and the conclusions. It is written in present tense. It should not exceed 200 words.

1. Table of Contents
How to create an automatic table of contents
You can save a lot of work, if you use some of the more advanced features of Word. You definitely should use the styles provided with this template. To use styles select ‘Format’, select ‘Styles and formatting’ and the formatting panel will appear on the right side.

Use ‘Normal’ style for normal text like this one and for empty lines. Use ‘Heading1’ for level 1 headings, ‘Heading 2’ for level 2 headings and ‘Heading 3’ for level 3 headings. If you do this, Word can create a table of contents with page numbers for you.

To insert a table of content, place the cursor where the table is to be inserted, select ‘Insert’ from the main menu, select ‘references’ from the drop down menu and select ‘index and tables…’ from the pop up menu. Click ‘ok’ in the box and the table should appear in your text. Right click onto the table of content to update it, when you have made changes to the headings or added more text.

1. Table of Contents 2
2. Introduction 3
3. Background 3
4. Proposed Work 3
4.1. Intended contribution of the work 3
4.2. Benefits of the proposed work 3
4.3. Procedures and activities of the proposed work 4
4.4. Expected results and evaluation of the project 4
4.5. Resources needed 4
4.6. Access to a field of study or a domain 4
4.7. Ethical Aspects 4
5. Feasibility: Work plan and schedule 5
6. Conclusions 6
7. References and Bibliography 6

2. Introduction
The Introduction orients the reader to the subject of the project and lays out the purpose of the proposal. You need to cover
o The problem you are going too solve or the research question that you are going to address
o The aims and objectives of the project [aims are derived by applying your theoretical resources of the background section to the problem that you are going to address; objectives are the second level practical aims that need to be attained to meet the project aims]
o The significance of the project [Why is this project academically interesting, why now?
[150 words]
3. Background
The background section includes a short literature review. In the case of a development project it also includes a state of the art review of the solutions to the problem currently available. It critically reviews the information, concepts, procedures and methods most relevant to the project and/or the state of the art of the relevant technical areas. You can only use academic publication and academically sound publications, i.e. journal articles, conference proceedings and books, but for state of the art reviews you should always include conference papers. The background section allows you to collect the most important resources related to your project and to discuss their relevance to your project. Do not report whole books or journal articles; only pick those details from each reference that are relevant to your project. The background section also justifies the project and provides clues how the project aims and objectives will be achieved. [300 words]
4. Proposed Work
This section is the most important section of the proposal. It describes what exactly you want to do and how you intend to do it. What development phases will it have? How are you going to evaluate the project outcomes? [50 words]
4.1. Intended contribution of the work
This section requires the description of the contribution that this project will make to academia. Students often think ‘too big’, when it comes to their contribution. An UG project contribution is only a very tiny little step in the right direction. If your project is for instance the development of an application that automatically analyses editing distances between hierarchical tree structures, you are not revolutionising computing, but you using known resource to make a small but sensible contribution to ontology research by providing something useful that was not available previously. [50 words]
4.2. Benefits of the proposed work
What are the benefits and who will benefit from the finished project? If you develop an educational game for primary school pupils to advance their mathematical skills, the benefits might be advanced mathematical skills and increased confidence in maths. Beneficiaries could be children of the target age group as well as teachers, parents, and other carers.
[50 words]
4.3. Procedures and activities of the proposed work
Refer back to the objectives and identify activities that will achieve the objectives. Identify the outcomes for each activity. Deliverables are tangible outcomes, e.g. requirements specifications, prototypes, evaluation reports, lists of recommendations, project reports and MSc theses. Divide your project by grouping your activities into phases so that each phase produces a deliverable. To create milestones you associate your deliverables with deadlines, i.e. dates by which they will be delivered. Use a table to describe the activities, phases and milestones. [100 words]
4.4. Expected results and evaluation plan for the project
Explain the kind of results you expect from carrying out the project activities: What will be there after your project has finished that did not exist before? Will the expected results fulfil the project aims stated in the introduction? How will you find out (at the end of your project), if your project results actually achieve the project aims? Make an evaluation plan [50 words].

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4.5. Resources needed
What resources do you need to carry out the project? Do you need special software, travel money, special equipment, incentives for participants? How much will it cost and where will (can, may) the resources themselves come from and the finances to acquire them? i.e., who is going to pay for it and why? [50 words]
4.6. Access to a field of study or a domain
For empirical studies and for the evaluation of prototypes you may need participants. Access to a field of study or access to participants is never easy and needs to be planned carefully. Refused access can lead to the abandonment of the research project. If you need access to a field you have to make realistic plans
o how exactly you will gain access
o how you gain the trust and willingness of the participant
o what you will do, if you fail to gain access (develop a plan B). [50 words]
4.7. Ethical Aspects
Write a paragraph about the ethical aspects of your project. Determine, if your project requires human participation or not. If yes, describe your plans to safeguard the rights of the participants. Include the setup of the experiment, field study, survey, etc. and how you will obtain informed consent from your participants. You have to apply for ethical approval, if your project requires participation of humans and you have to do that before you carry out any of those parts that require participation. Set a definite date, when you are going to apply for ethical approval from the ethics committee of the School and from other ethics committees, if necessary. Also think about long term and indirect consequences of your project as well as all uses possible. [70 words]
5. Feasibility: Work plan and schedule
Estimating the time you need for a project or parts of a project is a complicated business riddled with contingencies. If one knew at the start of a project what one knows at its end, many project failures could be avoided. Of course, experience helps, but even the most seasoned project managers occasionally fall hostage to the unpredictability of project development. However, it is still worth planning your project, because it gives you an indication, if your project is overambitious, if your project and all parts of the project are on target and if you are in danger of not completing your project in time. Having to adjust the work plan actually helps you to keep track of your progress, to act on changed conditions in an early stage, and not to spin into panic orbit shortly before submission.
Carry out the steps below and iterate them until you have a workable project plan:
1. Estimate the net working hours that each activity will take and add up the net working time of the activities per phase. Add up the networking time of all phases.
2. If you have a job or if you have other duties that cannot be postponed until you have finished your project, add the total hours of these duties until submission date to the net working hours of your project.
3. Add 12 hours resting time per day and an additional 24 hours (one day) resting time per week.
4. Add 10% sickness and emergency relief (10% of positions 1 to 3).
5. Turn hours into months and days and add them to the start date of your project.
6. Can you actually do all the work you want to do in the time you have got? If you are over the project deadline (which you mostly like are), you will have to make cuts without reducing resting time or emergency relief. Questions to ask in order to consolidate the work plan: Are all estimates realistic? Are all activities necessary? Do you really have to do all these other things? Can you arrange for your duties to be suspended or reduced? Could you quit the job for few months? Could you refrain from going out with your friends for some months? Talk to your family, your friends, and your boss at work, if you can have some time off. Most student projects are overambitious. Can you narrow the focus of your work? How necessary/relevant are the different parts of your project? Can you leave parts of your project out? Are all milestones realistic? Talk to your supervisor about the priorities in your project.
7. Go through the process again and adjust your plans until everything is realistic and fits in the time that you have.
8. Produce a Gantt chart as the final work plan for your project. You can use MS project, but an excel chart will do as long as you provide sufficient detail. Activities need to be shown as days of work. Milestones have to have dates. Etc.Avoid overlaps, unless things are essential to be done in parallel.
[80 words]
Excel Sheet:
6. Conclusions
The conclusions are based on the facts and the planning that you have described in the above sections. They summarise the argument why and how the proposal is worth doing and feasible within the time given. [100words]
7. References and Bibliography
Here you list all the literature that you referenced in the text. The list has to be sorted alphabetically according to the first author. Below you find some fictional examples.