SLE763 Research Frontiers Project, Trimester Two, 2020
SLE763 Assessment Task Two
Research Proposal Report – Document Guidelines
Background
The purpose of the Research Proposal Report is to provide students with the opportunity to develop
a cohesive and well-planned research project proposal. The proposed project should be achievable
by an individual student within a timeframe of eight months.
The development of a proposal should occur with the mentoring of an academic supervisor(s), and
regular consultation between student and supervisors should occur. Students undertaking the
Research pathway of the course will carry out the project in their second year of study, while those
students undertaking the Professional Practice pathway will cease their study of the topic at the
completion of SLE763. The skills developed through the undertaking of this unit are highly valuable
to all students and are directly linked to a number of important course learning outcomes.
Students are required to write a proposal that demonstrates their ability to consider the major
factors and requirements in the design and planning of the research project. Students are also
required to demonstrate their ability to search current literature and use this as the basis and
justification for their proposed project.
Marks: 40% of the total mark for the unit. Refer to marking template provided at the end of this
document.
Word Count: a strict 3000 word count maximum applies (not including reference list). Only the first
3000 words of your assignment will be marked!
Submission: via the CloudDeakin Dropbox, please check the unit site for your specific due date.
The document requirements provided below outline the criteria that your research proposal must
address. Use the marking template to determine the weighting and level of detail you need to
provide for each respective section.
SLE763 Research Frontiers Project, Trimester Two, 2020
Document Requirements
1. Title of the Research Project
The title of the project is important as this is the first item that anyone will read when being
presented with your research. It should be short (maximum 20 words in length), well-structured and
understandable to a general scientific audience. Make sure you use words specific enough to link it
to the particular field and topic; for example, if researching a microorganism, the actual scientific
name should be included.
In this section also provide the relevant FOR and SEO codes, along with a breakdown of the Type of
Research (TOR) percentages for the project. A link to FOR and SEO codes is provided below and refer
to the information provided in your previous unit SLE761 if you need to a reminder about the
purpose of these codes.
http://www.arc.gov.au/rfcd-seo-and-anzsic-codes
2. Project Summary
* A word limit of 200 applies to this section.
The project summary should be a clear overview of the project. You need to be able to ‘sell’ the
project in a few carefully constructed sentences. Do not go overboard with highly detailed specifics
of the project; instead use concise language to provide the reader with a good understanding of
what the project is about and why it is important.
3. Research Question, Aims of the Project and Expected Outcomes
Your research question really is essentially the crux of what your project is trying to accomplish. The
question being asked must be achievable within the scope of your study program and lead to a novel
research project. It should be a question that is interesting and worthy of study.
Your overall research question logically leads to the specific aims of the project. Most research
projects will have multiple aims, typically between two and four separate aims would be normal for
a research project that is proposed to take place over approximately nine months.
It is important to also define the outcomes and benefits that completing the project will bring. You
should be able to provide clear expected outcomes from the project and how they would provide a
significant contribution to the research area and/or related industry. Think of this section as a way of
convincing an investor or government agency why they would want to fund your project.
4. Project Background
This provides the context of what the project is all about and a focus of why it is important. It should
clearly explain previous knowledge in the area and demonstrate your depth of understanding of the
topic. It should illustrate some of the key developments and breakthroughs in the area, along with
the identification of what still needs to be determined. Although the project background is not large
enough to be a complete literature review, it should cite some of the key studies in the area and also
identify the benefits and unique insights that the proposed project will provide.
SLE763 Research Frontiers Project, Trimester Two, 2020
5. Project Plan and Methodology
This section outlines in detail how the project is to be conducted. What is the data you going to
collect and how will you do it? What are the techniques or approaches that you need to apply in
order to obtain the required data? There is no need to provide every step of a particular protocol
but do give an overview of the types of approaches that will used in the study. Referencing
previously described techniques is good practice and if further technique development is required
this should be stated. If specific equipment or software is required this also needs to be detailed. It is
important to address how the resulting data will be analysed.
Most project plans will be broken down into various sections according to the specific aims, but the
formatting may vary somewhat according to the type of project proposed. Remember to be realistic
as to the type and amount of data that can be produced/analysed; this is an individual project that
needs to be completed within a nine month timeframe.
6. Timeline
An approximate timeline will detail all aspects required to complete the project. A monthly project
timeline is suitable for most projects. Formatting the timeline into a Gantt chart or a detailed table is
a very good idea. A Gantt project planner template can be found in Microsoft Excel should you wish
to use it. The time available for the project is 8 months; you can schedule according to actual months
(e.g. March to Oct) or provide a numerical sequence (e.g. month 1, 2,).
7. Regulatory Requirements and Additional Training Required
All research needs to abide by certain regulatory requirements. This may include internal Deakin
requirements (e.g. Workplace Safety Assessments, Human ethics, Animal ethics, Laboratory
Biosafety approval) or external requirements (e.g. Australian code for the responsible conduct of
research, ParksVictora field permits, permission to access databases, licencing). Provide an overview
of all aspects that need to be considered for you research. If you believe your research is exempt
from certain regulatory requirements, explain why this is the case.
In addition, provide an overview of what training you will require in order to complete the various
facets of the project. This may include safety inductions, equipment training or computer based (e.g.
coding/programming) skills. Explain what is required and where/how you can receive this training.
8. References
The reference list should only include those references that were cited in the research proposal.
Choose a referencing style that is commonly used in your discipline area and ensure that the
formatting remains consistent throughout your document.
Remember to following sound referencing practices, where key statements are supported by
relevant citations. Please take care to ensure your writing is in your own words and does not show
similarity to published material. Use the Turn-It-In practice dropbox on CloudDeakin to check your
work for any potential issues in this regard well in advance of the submission deadline.
SLE763 Research Frontiers Project, Trimester Two, 2020
SLE763 Research Proposal Marking Criteria

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