The Project Proposal - Advice, Format and Content

Project proposals are normally sent to all Field Group Leaders (Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Management in UoB and CEMS and BBS in UWE) irrespective of the apparent topic / content. This enables the 'best possible' interpretation of a proposal in relation to locating a suitable Academic Supervisor. However, if the delegate has already chosen the award for which they are aiming, the proposal is sent to the field group leaders at the chosen university only.

When invited to the Project Seminar, delegates are provided with a list of subject areas which each university department is able to supervise. This avoids the problem of a delegate producing an inappropriate proposal if they are aiming for a particular University award.

The evidence suggests that initially delegates find it difficult to write a proposal that properly reflects what is intended. This highlights the point that experienced supervision early on is vital. It has become apparent during the running of the scheme that only an experienced Academic Supervisor is able to interpret the merits, or otherwise, of a project proposal. As soon as an interested Academic Supervisor is identified further work on the proposal can be started, hopefully resulting in a dissertation both delegate and supervisor find interesting.

It should be appreciated that many of the dissertations do not easily fit into a single topic category. Most dissertations are complex combinations of many topics - and these topics and combinations usually change, as the dissertation progresses, from what the student originally anticipated in his / her proposal document.

Once a Supervisor is found, the student is expected to make the initial contact to set up the first meeting. This ensures a good relationship develops between the two and gets the formal proposal underway as soon as possible.

For further guidance please refer to Q.IP.6: Project Proposal.